Mid-Atlantic Gardening: Sally's Plant Swap: After Word, 0 by UMD_Terp

UMD_Terp wrote:
Thanks Ruby. Scare me off?!? I felt very comfortable at the swap, it was great. I wish I was there longer so I could chat with everyone. There are many things to learn, experience, and experiment with. I was happy that I was able to contribute plants and inspire Gita to start Persian shield cuttings! I've got the bug to try and overwinter more of the coleus this year so that'll be interesting.

While I am here, does anybody have any experience with Abelias?
http://gurneys.com/fragrant-abelia/p/73970/

I am trying to redo a bed for a friend's mother and am looking for a good easy foundation plant, she shut down my late blooming azaleas which were extremely cheap. She claims the blooms don't last long enough. Of course they do, there are cultivations that bloom for a month putting out buds slowly and as we all know the encore series there are azaleas that bloom in the fall, and repeat bloom!! I apologize for the tangent, I wasn't very happy at the time. Anyway it is the bed has very rich soil and is pretty moist from a downspout that I'm diverting, faces south but it is shaded by old tree that is very holey. I wouldn't plant anything that needs full sun there and I wanted something easy and maintenance free. My other thoughts were a Viburnum.


Second question for all the shade gardeners. My neighbor recently gave up on a patch of lawn that just won't grow any grass. He is going to make it a shade garden but he is a big xeriscape person. I recommended the usual physcandra, ferns, and hostas but I couldn't really think of anything else. I think he wants more of a groundcover than a perennial bed.

My false shamrock bloomed somebody gave from the swap!!! Who was it!!! Check it out.

Aspenhill, I would LOVE your shade garden. Definitely my style.