Mariposa,

Those plants should be fine in your partially shady location.

Hosta 'Patriot' is named that just because someone chose to give it that name. 'Patriot' is used fairly often in plant names, likely because it sells well. There's no red-white-blue connection between the hosta and its' name, unless you consider the leaves blue-green and the flower lavender-red, lol. The leaves are the typical green and white of a variegated hosta and the flower is the typical lavender bloom.

I hope for summertime blooms they're going to use something a little more heat tolerant than petunias, which would be lovely in spring and even early summer. Where I like in southern OK, petunias (other than the 'Laura Bush' petunia sold by Wildseed Farms) will struggle in the July and August heat.

Hope all is well there!

Dawn

You should like the Endless Summer hydrangea. It blooms on new and old wood, so it makes for more blooms.

I have Patriot hostas. I think they are very pretty. The white and green are a nice contrast. I love the blue hostas as well though.

Hi Dawn,

All is well on this end. I finally hired some men to dig up roots, clean up my yard, trim hedges/bushes, and mow so it looks pretty decent right now. We are doing some of the work ourselves to keep cost down!

I figured once the hard, back breaking work was over, planting should be easier :-) Makes me feel more in control of things instead of being overwhelmed and giving up on gardening. I know how satisfying gardening can make one feel, and I want that fix!

Am not too sure about petunias either because I have tried them before and they usually wilt and die during the height of summer. I'm a big fan of Marigolds though and they are pretty tough so maybe I should substitute Marigolds? I've had them in full sun, so not sure about the partial sun thing, though I could put them in the area that gets the most sun. Impatiens like shade, don't they?

BTW, what do you all recommend "mulch" wise? Cypress mulch? Someone said hay, but I don't have time to run around and find hay. They were cautioning me against Cypress mulch because of issues with termites???

Hi Mariposa,

It sounds like you've made some decisions and taken some actions that will make gardening more enjoyable and less stressful for you. I'm glad to hear that. With all the non-gardening stress in your life in recent years what with the family illneses and all, I think that gardening ought to be your stress-relief and not an additional source of stress! It sounds like now it will be.

I think marigolds will be fine in part shade. They might not bloom as much as they would in full sun, but I think they'll still bloom. There are many warm-season annuals you can use for seasonal color, so I say plant whatever you like and whatever you think is pretty. Most "full sun" flowers perform well in part-sun locations too because, frankly, in our very hot climate with all the intense sunlight too, full sun can just about be too much sun for some plants that love "full sun" in milder parts of the country.

Impatiens like shade to partial shade and there are some new SunPatiens (they are gorgeous!) that take a lot of sun too (see the link below). If your partial shade allows for sun for a part of the day, as described in the link below, then SunPatiens might be a good choice for you. However, SunPatiens need more sun than regular impatiens could tolerate, so you wouldn't want to plant them in full shade or they'd get stretch to find light and get leggy.

I use straw and hay mulch when I have a ready source of it from ranching heighbors, but otherwise use bagged hardwood mulch, grass clippings from our yard and chopped/shredded autumn leaves. However, we've never really had a termite problem in our area....I know they're in our county, but we haven't seen any around our house. If termites are a problem in your neighborhood, you do need to be very cautious about the kind of mulch you choose. I'd probably avoid cypress mulch because I've always heard it attracts termites (although I have no firsthand knowledge of that). If it were me, I'd probably choose pine needles if they are available there, and cedar if they aren't. Cedar mulch seems to repel insects pretty well when I use it.

Dawm

Here is a link that might be useful: SunPatiens

Where would I find cedar mulch? Probably not at HD or Lowes, right?

Yes, family issues have really drained me over the years.

I am excited about my yard once more, and think that I will hire someone to do a major cleaning after Fall and early spring, so we can really get out there and begin gardening.

My plan is to have some raised beds built too, but probably not now.

Never mind. I called Attwoods in BA and they have the Cedar mulch on sale, so I'm heading out there! Woohooo am so excited to start getting my plants in the ground.

You might look at sun coleuses too. I used them last year in an area that was getting too much shade for sunny annuals, but not full shade, and needed a "pop" of color.

(sun coleuses are NOT the same as coleus :) )

Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: sun coleus pics

How about a bee balm or pineapple sage? Some of the salvias have such beautiful flowers and some need partial shade, like the pineapple shade.
Maybe a potted mint?
Also, Thai basil or the purple basils are beautiful and still bloom in partial shade.

I love my Hellebores!

In my morning sun areas I have Rose of Sharon, Solomon's Seal, Coral Bells(Heuchera), kale and pansies left over from fall, Angel Trumpet, Hicks Yew, Prickly Pear cactus, Shasta Daisy, Lemon Balm, and Lily of the Valley. They are all doing well. The prickly pear is even blooming for the first time and I just moved it there last fall from afternoon sun. Daffodils have not done well there.

I just realized how hodgepodge my plant list is. Lol! I'm basically at the collecting stage and then as things grow and divide I'll expand my beds and hopefully it will be a little more -what's the word- ...orderly.

I am looking for an evergreen to plant with Hostas in a partially shaded area in zone 5. My white vinyl fence is unbelievably boring in the winter. Any ideas?