OK this is the last new bed for Fall planting. The area I was working with has a Northerly exposure in the back of my house. It has morning sun and deep afternoon shade supplied by the house. When I first thought about this bed, I thought about this picture from Paul's tour of the 2010 AHS gardens.

But the area I have is a bit larger than this and the plant choices were greatly effected by what I saw on the 2011 AHS tours. So I decided to use this bed as a place to put some of the blues I like and to add in red/purple as another color. As I planned this it occurred to me through looking at pictures on GW and other places that blue Hosta, especially big blues look better when offset with a lighter color, so I added some gold and some soft green to the palate. Here's what I got.

This is looking down from my deck towards the bed.

The two Hosta in pots are Beet Salad and Purple boots. I elevated them in order to emphasize the colored pets. The little tree in the foreground left is a Forest Pansy Redbud. It will provide even more shade as it grows. The conifer in the middle is a Japanese Umbrella Pine. It will get big but slowly, and it has a big wall to fill behind it. The big blue Hosta is Blue Mammoth. To the left of it is Lakeside Frosted Mint to provide some contrast.

I think I may add some red Hellebores also to fill in things before they get larger. Here are some of the individual plants.

Hydrangea 'Twist N Shout'

Silver Bay

Frank Lloyd Wright (got a little crispy in the sun)

Alligator Shoes

Here are the Hosta in this bed:

Alligator Shoes

Designer Genes

Neat and Tidy

Jimmy Crack Corn

Lakeside Color Blue

Silver Bay

June

El Nino

Autumn Frost

Blue Mammoth

Lakeside Frosted Mint

Ultramarine

Lakeside Dragonfly

Frank Lloyd Wright

Ice Age Trail

Non-Hosta Plants

Sciadopitys Verticillata

Hydrangea Macrophylla 'Twist N Shout'

Heuchera 'Berry Smoothie'

Heuchera 'Dark Secret'

Pinus Strobus 'Soft Touch'

Dicentra Formosa 'King of Hearts'

Dryopteris erythrosora 'Brilliance'