Quote Originally Posted by Russian Blue

My hostas and ferns thrive in my shaded areas of the garden.

Also, you may want to substitute the planter boxes with container gardening. I noticed that planter boxes dry out often, where a deep pot/container seems to do better for the flowers.

Good luck! I'm hoping not too kill too many things this year in my garden.
Those planters did dry out a lot! That surprised me! That might have been part of the problem, along with the lighting and the fact that I'm not a good waterer if things like that aren't right in front of me, lol. Outta sight, outta mind kind of thing. Guess I'll have to BBQ more this year since my grill is on the back deck, that way I'll see the plants and remind myself a lot more, lol.

There were hostas here when I moved in. The previous owners had planted them along the white fence of the neighbor's house. I actually Freecycled them, and had someone come and dig them all up. I wanted to put mulch down, or do stonework there. Now it's just mossy, and icky. I didn't have the guy who did my deck do any other landscaping (we were talking about me doing something to save me $$$, and I never got around to getting stone to put down). I'm not one for taking care of a lot of plants and bushes and all that other stuff. I grew up on a 100 acre farm and moved away from there for a reason, lol. I just want some green I have to take care of here and there.