Sara's Birthday Garden

I haven't had a chance to post anything on the garden we put in at my daughter's house for her birthday. Here goes!  This clematis we planted this year shows some of the problems a gardener faces in her front yard.  Notice the deep shadows--although the clematis loves its new spot. And Sara wants a matching one on a fan trellis for the other side of the front porch.

Here's another clematis bloom in brilliant sunlight--on the same side.  That's the problem! With huge maples on the other side of the driveway and a dogwood and a Japanese maple in the island bed in front of her porch which faces south, the lights and darks are extreme.

Here's a view of the island bed in between the front porch and the street, looking toward the driveway. These plants are under the dogwood and the Japanese maple trees. Sometimes they are in direct sun but most of the time in dappled shade.

Turning around, here's a shot from the driveway up towards the front porch, terraces, stairway and sidewalk.  Deep shade and extremely bright light at the door itself make this a tough place for plants.  But the shade plantings are doing fine:  hostas, astilbes, etc.

This view from the front sidewalk to the lawn shows the sharp contrast from shade to sun--and it changes as the sun moves westward across the front.

So here is the area we planted for her birthday--two terraces near the door and stairs. It was in deep shade as we started in the morning.  The upper terrace was in sun by noon.

Now the upper terrace has a ninebark shrub to cover the foundation and grow tall to reach the porch height, hoping to balance the plantings on both sides of the doorway and cement stoop.  There are two 'Wine and Roses' Weigelas in the bed also. The will stay lower and reflect some of the colors of the ninebark with a smoother, shinier texture.  We also added a Heuchera to lighten the bed and reverse the colors found in the other two bushes. There are similar Heucheras or coral bells in the other two beds surrounding the front stoop.

The lower terrace is along the stairs and driveway at the garage door. It was in deep shade until after noon.  There we placed a Hydrangea 'Invincibelle Spirit' which blooms pink. A very striking and unusual plant.  We'll see how it does there...  Some coleus and a trailing sedum add color and texture.

And lastly, on the upper terrace, we planted the companion Clematis 'Henryi' to create symmetry on the front stoop. Again, the dark shadows and bright spots were tricky to photograph--and may be trickier to garden.  Time will tell how successful these choices were for Sara's birthday.