I have a bird house garden, a gnome garden, a prayer garden, a buckboard garden between. All are shade. Hosta, astlbe, bleeding hearts...The village of bird houses is out front so it gets the most comments. The prayer garden is out my kitchen window and features a border made from cement bricks. I imbeded all the names of God from the bible into a "brick". Of course angels,and saint statues abound. The buck board was there when we moved in. My gardens grew around it. The gnomes are prominant in the spring. As the summer progresses they are mostly hidden among the hosta. Color is at a premium in a shade garden, so I supplement with brightly colored gnomes.
Over the years I have seen statues of different fairytales. I wish I had bought them up as I found them. That would be a fun theme. Bop over to Garden Junk or Garden Accotuments. You can find some great ideas there. Use the search feature.

My major theme is a "woodland" garden. Then there is my native shrub hedge, my trillium bed, my Rhododendron, Hellebore, perennial and bulb bed, my alpine stone wall, my astilbe bed, my asian plant bed and my pteridophye ptrail.

Hi folks,

here's what I am working at: "My little old house in the woods".

While the rest of my property gets enough sun, the house itself is in shade most of the day - nestled at the foot of a steep hill, huge (mature) ashes towering over it.

Since I can't take these trees down, 'cause they're keeping that hill in place, I chose to further extend that given theme.

So I planted even more trees (maple, dogwood, wild cherries and pines). I want the whole front yard covered in moss and ferns, growing right up to the doorsteps. Boston Ivy has wrapped up half of the house so far.

So I'm waiting for the day when my house will be called the 'witch cabin' :)

Rose

Besides that, roses are my passion.

Fairy tale with gnomes ,fairies, Angels,etc.
Felix

Everyone,

can you please post some pictures of your gnome gardens? I am currently working on one, my son named it "Mushroom Kingdom". Would like some ideas from other mind-like gnome lovers.

Countrynest, love your bench and the gnome picking from behind.

Thanks!
~Natalie

you can make a lovely shade garden using different colors of white, You could use the groundcover 'sweet woodruff' spreads`each year. Also put in white "bleeding heart' gives some height. Add a white and green based Hosta, and some: "lily of the valley" georgeous perfume.
When the groundcover gets going and the lily of the valley which is a little taller then intersperse low growing Hosta and the larger bleeding hearts, you will have a very interesting show that will light up a dark corner and will grow every year.
Mrs Greenthumb

Here is a link that might be useful: home