Good advice from Mrs D.

I love catalogues for the info and inspiration. Also if you have a really good local nursery, the better local gardeners will know about it. Go there and ask questions.

I've been gardening over 20 yrs, and have found local-grown plants often do better than ordered ones. We have a lot of nurseries around, but I'll pay more at the one where they propagate the local plants - it's been here forever.

And if you get chummy with neighbors, you'd be surprised who's willing to share sprouts.



Also like Mrs D said, don't let the failures get you down. I lose plants every year. It's part of the challenge. And then you really feel triumphant sometimes, when you get them to thrive.

It's all part of the game.

My sis asked me why I did so well at this. I told her two rules in my garden -

1) if I like it it's a flower, if not it's a weed.

2) pull the dead stuff out before anyone else sees it. Then you always look like you have a green thumb.

Keep on trying with things too - I moved my Red Hot Poker, which is supposed to be really easy to grow - every year for the 5 yrs I've had it. Finally, it's blooming.

Some things I have that might work for you - Toad lily, turtleheads and monk's hood, maybe jupiter's beard. Bulbs might work.

I think rhodedendrons and azaleas like acid soil, but they may need more light.

The shrubs will be a challenge because they contribute to the acidity of the soil. But I planted purple coneflowers, forget-me-nots and hollyhocks on an acid bed where we just took out shrubs and they are doing well.