combo week, day four

How long can she keep this up?

Oh, I could do this for a while.

Today I feature ground combos.  I have been working on my perennial gardens since Charlie was born, and as any gardener knows you have successes along with failures.  Plants that look great in the greenhouse, but don't survive in the spot you picked for them.  Plants that don't come back, after several successful seasons.  Plants that grow taller, or wider, or smaller, than you had planned.

Plants that self seed and take over (another post, for another day...).

You have to be willing to adapt and change, or else just let the chips fall where they may.  And enjoy the successes, even when you don't plan for them.  My garden's main job is to surprise, and delight.

This combo is by my front step, just last year I pulled out some shrubs that had been hiding the front of my house for years.  I planted new goodies, and this year accented some Snow on the Mountain, Heuchera and a Barberry shrub with a 'Big Red Juicy' Coleus.  (that was it's name, I'm not making it up...)

In a shady section of my yard, you will find some white Astilbe (very soon to bloom) mixed in with Lamium (the yellow blooms are gone, they were so pretty!), a variegated Hosta, (don't ask me which one it is, did you know there are over 700 kinds of hosta? And there is a garden here in the cites that you can stroll through that features as many of them as possible?) and a Spirea shrub in the background.  I tucked in some orange impatiens throughout my shade gardens for little pops of color. 

In another shady section, Solomon's Seal accented with more heuchera next to a boxwood shrub, and a lily soon to bloom.

 I love this little section, more heuchera (by now you can tell I am a little obsessed with that plant) mixed in with some wood violets, another variety of hosta, and some more orange impatiens.

Who says there is nothing to grow in the shade besides hosta?

In my back garden, more Heuchera (this one is Key Lime Pie!) with Dianthus and Lady's Mantle.  (My favorite plant after a rain, love how the droplets collect on it's leaves).

Here, my 'Miracle' Heuchera, with a dainty Sedum I found at a new garden shop in Bemidji last summer, along with two more kinds of Heuchera and more  impatiens.  Happy Happy!

Fun combos are not just for pots and window boxes.  Be a garden artist and create your own palette of color and texture.