This garden is beautiful! You did a great job! What wonderful inspiration. We are still at war with the English Ivy in our shade garden, but almost all gone!

We're planning: Ferns, Heuchera, Astilbe and Solomon's Seal (possibly Brunnera and Hostas) The Ferns and Solomon's seal were already here (trying to salvage what I can).

No apology needed.....keep them coming.

Thank you!

I used to think English ivy was gorgeous climbing up the side of houses and fireplaces until I had to deal with it in my yard. Good grief - what a pest! I don't want it anywhere near me unless it's contained in a pot. ;)

Octopuslove, it sounds like it will be a beautiful garden! I like Brunnera and bought 3 but they're still tiny. I like Astilbe too - I have three that bloom early (I don't know what kind they are) and three that I got last year that are supposed to bloom late.

Ferns are another I like, especially Japanese Painted Ferns. So many plants to choose, so little room. lol

I don't have Solomon's Seal but I do have some Toad lilies. I started with two plants and wound up with this this year. Holy moly! I'm glad I didn't buy more. I have plenty to share with my Dad. I do like them though - the blooms are so delicate ad it's nice to have some color in the fall.

Really lovely Stephanie. A reclaimed area is always so satisfying. Amazing the growth that can occur in just a couple of seasons. Great looking garden!

Thank you! I like it more than I thought I would. I never gardened before this and I enjoy sitting on the back porch with a cup of coffee and a cat in my lap watching the birds in the bird bath and the different textures and colors out there.

Edited to add - it may sound crazy, but I like moving plants around until they're pleasing to my eye. Not excessively but if they're not quite right it's kind of like paint by numbers to play with placement. ;)

stephanie, you are doing a nice job! I like Halcyon with the Japanese gras.

And you are not the only one to move around plants...I keep most hostas in pots for years until I decide where to place them finally.

And relaxing with the cat is my second best hobby after gardening...

In your climate (zone 7) look for heuchera with villosa in the name; they are the heat tolerant ones. Caramel, Brownies mentioned before are villosas. However Caramel has shrunk for me over three years. But it has not died and there's definely living offshoots that could be broken off and replanted. Over many years of loving and planting heucheras only "stormy seas" and Palace Purple have had exceptionally long lives. But even they died eventually.

And lovely progress on the garden. The mulch pulls it together

Stephanie, lovely garden! I love to see the progression. I am sorry others are having difficulties with Huechera, but am glad to know that I am not the only one.

Very nice! Progression pics can be so satisfying. It's good to see how far the garden has come. It's one of the best things to be able to look out over something beautiful you've had a hand in creating.... cat in the lap is special, too!

Hostas spoiled me by doing so well, along with Brunnera, Astilbes, J. Painted Ferns, they all get bigger. So heucheras took me by surprise when they shrank in size or faded away.

My experience in my northern Illinois garden with heuchera..... they need a few hours of sun and don't mind drying out now and then. Here total shade means lack luster growth or no growth at all. Adding heuchera to the garden in the fall has been futile for me, not enough time to get established. Every zone has a different set of needs, 20+ years here, I've learned a lot through trial and error. The one heuchera I have that thrives in all conditions is Autumn Bride.

Sherry

I know what you mean about taking before and after pictures. I've been irritated in the past when I didn't take before and after pictures of areas of our house when renovated. Before and after pictures seem to speak volumes.

You've done a great job of transforming the area! It is a good size so you can change it up if desired.

I love the grasses too. Love to see them sway in the breeze. I'm another one who struggles with heuchera. On the plus side though, last year I broke off a stem of heuchera and planted it. I am happy to say that it survived the winter and is looking great! I am going to do it again this summer with the leggy heuchera.

stephanie It is beautiful. You did an amazing job.

Add me to the Heuchera killer. I started out ten yrs ago buying them like crazy. Wasted big bucks. I only buy them if they are five dollars or less. Having great success now by planting them in coir pots place them in the garden. In Fall I remove the pots from the garden and place them next to the house, lay them on their side and cover them with the fall leaves. This has worked for three years this is my fourth year. Not one loss and big increase.

I will take pics and explain the process and start another post to show the process. Planted in the coir look like they are planted in the ground and you can place them where you need/want color. Do not want to hijack this post.

The coir pots sound interesting Marquest. What exactly are those and what media do you use for the heucheras?

The coir pots sound very interesting, I look forward to reading more about that.

I've tried more sun more shade and more or less water. My soil is acidic and I've wondered if that made a difference but everything else does well and don't want to fiddle with soil pH and mess up the apple cart.

As promised I have posted how I managed my problem of dead Herculeras. I did not want to go off topic in someone else post. I am enjoying the before and after post. I like watching the development.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/4628410/m=3/my-heuchera-problem-solved

Thank you marquest, I think I'm going to try it. The ones in pots do much better than the ones in the ground.