Shade Gardening: Holy giant astilbes!!!, 1 by JudyinGA

JudyinGA wrote:
Kiddawabbit (I always picture Elmer Fudd when I see your name up there :-) I know to "never say never" but I do want grass in the front of that bed ... one day if I can ever get something to grow. That area is shaded by a huge tree in the summer but gets almost full sun in the winter. Good thing all the shade plants will be sleeping under mulch. Hadn't thought about dwarf conifers but had given some thought to a small Japanese maple in there somewhere. I didn't mention it but there is also an eleagnus planted on the end, hopefully to hide my front porch from my neighbor's sometime in the future. They're supposed to be fast growing, thick and hardy. I do have six azaleas there already .... Hinos ... my favorite. This side of the house faces almost due west and gets the full brunt of the weather as it rolls through. Have tried azaleas on the other side and they did not do well. Too much sun.

Behind the bench, I had entertained thoughts of putting a small trellis (wrought iron painted white), with a couple of clematis(es?) and a climbing rose. The back side gets a lot of sun since that is the south side. I have ordered a Zephirine Drouhin rose which I felt would do well there. I have a Nelly Moser clem and wanted to put either a red or white clem with it. The jury is still out on that idea.

Here's the whole area from a little farther back: