Let's be honest....what have you bought so far this winter?

No, it's just the neighbor's back yard, which he never uses (an elderly man). But who is to say the next people that move in won't have kids and put a brightly colored jungle gym right there. That would be just my luck, lol.

Our neighbors put in a trampoline with the high sides right in view of my back yard which prior to had trees as my view. I told DH that it was awful - well a couple weeks later they moved it to the other side of their house. DH said I scared them off!

That's funny, my neighbors to the back did exactly the same thing... they put it in the middle of their yard and then moved it to the side out of view. ☺

Oh yeah, a trampoline would be peachy too. I'm glad your neighbors moved theirs for you...sometimes it's worth it to be scary!

Well, I didn't think they heard my comment, but they might have!

That looks like a great area for a JM! What's in the middle where it seems to be empty? The problem roots are there? How about moving one of the hostas and planting there? How much sun does it get? AM sun?

Hey, we used to have a trampoline! Luckily, it fell apart just at the age when DD#2 was too big for it and our homeowners insurance wouldn't insure us anymore and we started hating it. But nobody except us could see it, fear not. It was a good way for the two little gremlins to blow off some steam. x, C

Victor, I'm not sure which spot you mean by middle? My little fountain is in the middle of the pic, to the right of the chartreuse hosta. That hosta is gonna be a big'un which may or may not stay in that spot.

The oak sucker tree that I outlined is where the problem roots would be. It's probably a 20" diameter stump surrounded by those suckers. My FIL told me it would be impossible to remove. (but he also thinks the suckers need to go.)

As for light, it's tricky. I think the left half of what you see in the picture gets some sun (afternoon)...except of course for the things sitting in the shadow cast by the sucker tree. The right half of the pic is more or less dappled shade all day because there is a leaning cherry tree that shades it (you can see the branches of that in the top right corner.). I kind of panic about what would happen if we ever lose that tree, because then I'm afraid the entire bed would get too much sun for my shade plants.

But somehow, someway, I really want a JM. I also forget to mention that I am very close to the ocean, if that matters. We seem to stay pretty warm, considering.

What's the 'structure' beneath the larger hosta in the rear? Can that area be used? If you can't bring the pot in, you can just do a good job of wrapping it with bubble plastic - multiple turns. If you can, put it in the most sheltered part of the garden and if possible, put chicken wire or something around the whole things and fill it with leaves. People do this with hydrangeas to assure blooms the next year.

Oh yeah, I do that with my hydrangea. I told myself that would be my ONE plant that I baby, lol. I planted it before I found out it was only rated to zone 6...don't even know why the local nursery carried it, if that was the case. This year, I built a styrofoam box around it...which blew off the other day in the wind. Now I've got it tied down, but it looks like it's back to the drawing board as far as winter protecting the hydrangea. I didn't do the wire bin full of leaves this year because I had several branches break off under the weight of the wet leaves and ice, etc.

That area with that larger hosta is raised up a bit and separated from the Lily of the Valley by a stone wall...though I expect I'll have runners to deal with regardless. I use a lot of hypertufa containers mixed in with my planting, and my idea was to make a really big one for a JM and put in where the sucker tree currently is. When you bury a JM with leaves for winter, do you entirely encase it, or just bury the pot and roots?

Here is another view of that spot I think you're talking about.

If the pot is small, I would consider sinking it into the ground somewhere if you can. As for the leaves, the main thing is to protect the roots, but if you can do the whole thing without too much effort, I would.

I have a weeping katsura in a container that I am leaving outside this year. It will be my experiment. I only wrapped the pot and added a lot of mulch on top. I put it in a corner location. We'll see.

ooh - what are the purpley and green foliage thingies?

Heuchera.

those are really pretty - i know i've seen many kinds at nurseries and never really been interested, but that is particularly pretty. (i think there is one called amethyst i have looked into getting...)

There is also a coralberry named Amethyst. I have it - gets pink berries.

no comment.

Here it is:

That Heuchera is "Guardian Angel"

Amy - scroll down and check out some of the many colors / textures available.

http://www.gardencrossings.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.main&alphaKey=G-H&whichName=genus&showIntro=0&hardinessZone=&typeID=

Noreaster - I just ripped out about 100 Lily of the Valley this fall, out of frustration because the runners go EVERYWHERE! Don't worry, I have a million more! I planted Columbine and Primrose in their place.

wow!
now i remember why i never got any! i do not buy $15 plants.
i really wanted one of the dark purple ones, but by the time they went on sale, there'd just be the kind of plain ones...
(and of course, anything called "amethyst"!)

Sue - LOV are hard to get rid of permanently. We have two areas that I have to check frequently.

You can find them cheaper. I was just using the site to show the variety.

Strangely, I planted LOV about ten years ago and still only have a handful!

i do remember them always being fairly pricey... i max out at $10, and i have to REALLY want it for that...

Same here - very dry soil under a maple tree.

Yes - relatively dry soil near a Norway maple. Now that I took it down, let's see...

They must be scared of you Victor, seeing that they're so well behaved!

My FIL also has fairly well behaved LOTV, Victor. Ours came with the house. I'm pretty sure the only things ever planted by the original owners were LOTV, and some daylilies. I have removed a lot of LOTV, and I sunk some plastic edging with I *hope* will keep it contained in a few key areas. As you can see, I still have an ocean of it and it's mighty happy LOTV. I know it's a nightmare plant for a lot of people...it may end up being one for me, too. But, my husband likes it, and I do sort of like having a really large area of groundcover. I don't know, maybe I'm crazy, but the uniform look of that sort of appeals to me. I have thought about replacing it, but I'm not sure what would look good. I'd probably give in to my hosta addiction and just fill the area with more of those....but I don't think that is what would look best. Another reason I think about replacing it is because I know it is very toxic to dogs if ingested. My guys seem to ignore it, but there is always that concern.

Amethyst, I bought my heuchera locally. Perennials in nurseries here seem to run about $8-10 on average, I'd say. One place gives you a discount the more you buy.

Nor, the more I look at the last photo, the more I like the location of that big hosta for the JM. It appears higher, so the drainage would be better. Drainage is very important for them. It's probably the number one cause of failure. Hostas are no big deal to move.

It's very pretty Nor, and I think Victor is right. I'm looking forward to mine this Spring. There's always room for JMs.

Victor, I moved that big hosta into that spot last year (I had it about two feet forward, close to my little rock wall there. I did it at a brilliant time of year- something like mid August, as I recall!!! I never sweat so much in my life, and swore that that thing was never moving again, lol. I will have to think it over. You are right that the drainage is probably good there, and it woud like very nice near the rock ledge and my fountain. Hm, now you have me thinking...

Do you have any suggestions for specific cultivars I should look at? The hosta again sits in dappled shade all day...only gets direct sun at the very end of the day.

I like your mill stone - I think that's what I might get.

Wow, so many to choose from. First, decide what leaf type you like. They range from the very thread-like dissectums all the way to the palmatums, which come close to resembling other maple leaves. There is a big range in between. Then you need to decide upright vs. weeping. I think weeping would probably look better there. Then you're down to color - color in all three seasons. In summer it will either be deep red or green. Here are two good sites to browse:

http://wildwoodmaples.com/
http://mountainmaples.com/trees.php

I have bought from both but now I buy mainly from Wildwood and Fairweather gardens. I have gotten a few from a local nursery.

Sue, too bad you couldn't stick a dozen LOTV pips in with those seeds! They are the flower for people whose birthday is in May, and the more our Norway (and Japanese - ordinary huge Japanese, unfortunately) maples grow, the more shade and consequently the less grass we have. x, C

Carrie, I'll write myself a note to get some to you this Spring! Anyone else?

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I have lots of BIG plants to trade - we could have our own mini round-up, without the weed-killer... x, C

Nor - I do like the look of the whole field of LOV. For me it crept into areas where I didn't want it and that's always a problem.

What the heck does that mean?!!!