Starting a shade garden

We've never had so much shade in a yard before! It's very nice and we want to take full advantage of it by starting a shade garden beneath the deck. This space is the view from Ken's art studio, so we want color and variety without blocking the view into the back yard.

There were some vines and bushes already here. We've moved things around a bit, but are grateful for the bounty already planted all around the house. This morning, mid-May, we planted a variety of bulbs and corms and pips––lilies of the valley, caladiums, ferns, hostas.

We left a spot for hellebores, a new shade plant we want to try. They are beautiful shade lovers, and just the right height for this space in front of the windows.

The view from a living room window. I know this will be a favorite spot to sit in the cool of evening.

We are excited about all the wildlife we have in the city and bought a bird feeder on Mother's Day to see if we can attract some finches and other birds. Within a few hours of hanging the feeder, we had our first visitors!

We discovered several hostas growing along the side of the house and moved a couple of them to the corner of the shade garden. I've always wanted to try hostas and have never gotten the chance.