Shade garden inspiration II

I hadnt thought of thet ,its a great idea. I will keep it in my garden notes thanks.

Cindy, I've tried microbiota a couple times and it has failed miserably.
I don't think it enjoys our heat / humidity.
I'd be interested to see if you have any better success in Indiana.

Ohhh - I'm still a way from actually buying one and planting it. I had thought that it might be a candidate for the replacing the contractor foundation planting in the front of my house since I have a shady front yard. Still have never planned out a new design. And the thought of tearing out 3 30-year old yews and some other poodle-shaped 6+ ft tall monster is daunting.

Love "poodle shaped". Some of us call them "green meatballs". Quite unnatural!

I actually feel sorry for the poor thing.

Oh the gardens are really waking up now and looking so beautiful this year!!! New trilliums are open. Hostas almost up. And of course looking geourgeous... Very colorful spring in my shade garden. Will try to take a few photos. Ronna

Its been a wonderful spring,lots of hope for summer lilies,annuals etc.

Some of the shrubs have been blooming outrageously - maybe due to all of the wet, cool weather last summer? I have one azalea that's literally covered in flowers and it's been in my garden for 12 years or more but has never bloomed like this. I am curious to see if everything else is going to bloom so well.

Things are popping up here
http://picasaweb.google.com/jgentle4/GardensMay4SomeFerns

Cindy - same with one of my azaleas. It's never been so loaded with flowers.

Not very inspirational yet, but I thought I'd share my new shade garden, filled with hellebores, an astilbe, bleeding hears ('Gold Heart', the yellow-leaved variety), some violas I started from seed, hardy geraniums and, of course, some of my favorite hostas. All are brand new plants, so they're small and spaced far apart, but given time I'm sure they'll look nice and lush. How can they not do well with our guardian dragon keeping watch?

ge - Irises already? That's another thing that's going to go gangbusters for me is Irises. I don't think they'll bloom until next week yet but I've already put the plant supports in place for them (ahead of them for once).
Kayly - All of the different textures and foliage colors are going to look great! What do you use for mulch? Almost looks like cocoa bean hulls.

Ge- that link won't open for me....I'll try again later.

Kayly, that's looking great. I love the color of your house, too, and how it will contrast with everything.

ge - It's so nice to see your tulips and irises and hostas. Lovely colors!

Cindy, you guessed it--that's cocoa bean hulls. I thought I'd give it a try in this small area. It gets some morning sun and good air circulation, so I'm hoping it won't develop mold, which I've heard can be an issue with this mulch. Also, my dogs are fenced in the backyard, and this is in the front, so I'm not worried about them eating it and potentially getting sick.

Noreaster, thanks for the compliment! I like the color of my house, too. That color is just on the wood screened porch, and the rest of the house is built using a special brick from the Milwaukee area called Cream City Brick (in part because of its creamy color).My house is an 1890 Victorian farmhouse.

a walk thru my forest this morning

Dick

close up

I have dwarf iris, not tall beardeds.Everyones beds look great.

DIck, your podophyllum looks lush and vigorous! Spotty Dotty? Kaleidoscope?

Kayly - you're right about the mold. I tried it several years back in the front of my house but I'm thinking it's too shady and it developed mold. Your spot is much more open with better circulation. Doesn't it smell wonderful?
Dick - I like the natural look of your space.
My little blue crested iris are blooming now. The German bearded will bloom next week.

Thanks for your help everyone. I planted the Giant Hosta garden with grasss and transplanted some small hostas and Heuchera PlumPudding.

Golly ge - you don't mess around. Your plant placement is really going to show off the foliage colors. One of my favorite foliage color combos.

I even have room for more lilies.

Robin
the large one is Spotty Dotty
just to the right of it under the Arisaema are the still young Kaleidoscopes

Dick

Oh, you have them both. Lucky man. I'll have to look at your picture again.

I had a small Kaleidoscope at one time, but didn't see it up this year.

Heuchera Amethyst Myst, Digitalis purpurea, Hosta Grand Tiara and Bressingham Blue underneath Quercus macrocarpa x virginiana.

l to r: Geranium sanguineum striatum, Aquilegia Origami Yellow (from seed), Heuchera Chocolate Veil, Hemerocallis Brocaded Gown, Heuchera Snow Angel, Geranium macrorhizum Alba, Hosta August Moon under Water Oak. Schizophragma hydrangeoides Moonlight on tree. Miscellaneous rhododendrons in background finishing bloom.

I had 3 Origamies bought last year. They didnt come back. I was so bummed out. I had heard they are hard to keep.
Nice gardens.

Dick, I have two variegated podophyllums, but each still just sports 2 or 3 leaves,
despite being ~5yrs old.
They seem healthy, but invariably a leaf gets broken, or eaten by some varmint,
which takes out half the plant, so they never seem to get beyond their current size.
Seeing yours gives me hope that they may fill in some day.

Oops, didn't attach the picture.
Here's one of my podophyllum's getting ready to bloom from last year.

killdawabbit, I just bought 'Grand Tiara' for my garden. It sure is a lovely hosta. I like all of the Tiara hostas. You have some very pretty spots there!

Thanks, Kayly.
ge, My original Origami didn't come back. These seedlings I raised last spring and planted last fall. So I don't know if they will return. I guess I will save seed again just in case.
I love the tiaras too. I also have emerald and diamond.
I love those mayapples. I ordered one a couple of weeks ago but I have forgotten which variety. It is a mottled form.

Beautiful podophyllum! And here I thought they only bloomed in white.
ge - Sorry to hear about 'Origami' - I had it on my "want" list but you mentioned that they're difficult to keep. I like my little 'Corbett' but it's not vigorous for me at all and I hold my breath each spring.

Hosta Francee, Rhododendron Mary Fleming, Heuchera Purple Petticoats.

Okay everyone! I am going to start a part shade rock garden what is a good fit for this? I will try to take a picture of it... I really am not to much of a fan of sedums and things. I got three awsome rocks from the side of a road. T stand or sit on there sides. But can you pretty much put what ever you want in them? Your own designs? Just want some info on them/. Thanks Ronna

YIPPEE glad this thread is continuing into a new season.

Ronna, you could do mini hosta in a rock garden setting....or some smaller heuchera would be nice too. I know you don't like sedum, but one of my favorite things is sedum ternatum, which grows and flowers in the shade...I have many areas about to be covered with little starry white flowers, and I really love it. I'll take a pic in a few days.

Here's a wide view of one of my garden beds from today.

Very nice layout

Love that brick wall. What's the greenery at lower right, just above the brick wall?

Convalaria?