The Expansion

I have big plans for my garden.... and those plans just keep getting bigger.  Last year, I worked hard on an expansion of the main bed, that sits at the side of the house.  I wanted to bring it all the way down to wrap around at a tree, which was hard to mow around.  Then I put in a rock wall as an end cap.
This is a photo of the project as it neared completion.  The next step was to fill in all the empty space with plants.... I'm still working on that part.
Beyond the tree is the front of the house, which is mostly shade.  I have a nice fat row of hostas along the edge and few little ferns, astilbe, and columbine.  Needless to say, it's boring.

....So, this year's expansion will bring this main garden along into the front of the house, connecting the sun bed to the shade bed, with a stone path that runs right through it.
I've looked at enough shade beds in magazines...I want one of my own!  They are the most tranquil of all the garden styles, being filled with varying shades of lush greens and blue hues.  Being mostly composed of foliage, and less flowers, the shade bed offers a completely different look to the garden.
....This is where I started today ..... --------->  The edge of the garden.

<--- This is after 3 1/2 hours of sod removal by shovel and trowel .... a very difficult form of labor that seems highly close to slow torture.  Thankfully, I had help.  Greg helped for the first hour, giving me a big start, then I recruited the kids to help when they got home from school.  Since they were grounded for the day, originally, they were happy to have something to do to work off the punishment.  :)  It helped us all out in the end.
Now that the hardest part is over, the fun begins and I can plant in my assortment of goodies!

The mail lady dropped off a box from Michigan Bulb Company right in the middle of my sod removal torture.... it was full of shade bed plants!  Oh Joy!  The hours of back aching labor has just won is reward!  I quickly tore into my box.  Lots and lots of sleeping roots lay in bags waiting to be planted.  Only a few could be planted right away, others will wait until I know for sure the frost is gone.  Three Fern Leafed Bleeding Hearts found their new home in the dirt, as well as a Silver Wings Siberian Bugloss.  Soon, the others will join them.


After I was finished with this huge project, I was able to walk around the gardens, ripping out weeds, checking on emerging plants, watching for new ones to come out.... and noting which ones will be flowering soon.  My crocuses are just finishing up, which means the forsythia and tulips will bloom soon.

Today, I had one daffodil open...as well as a little nest of primroses.
Very soon the excitement of watching flowers open daily will be here ..... For now, I will have fun planning on what to fill my new shade bed with!!  It will be exciting to put my bench out there and sit down among all the hostas.  :)