Big plans?

As many of you know, I'm a person of extremes. I'm not one to wait a couple of years to slowly decide what fits perfectly in the garden. I'm "extratensive," as psychologists say. In other words, I prefer trial-and-error and hands-on problems solving.

My style translates very directly to how I've gone about gardening. I dragged my sister-in-law to a nursery in late June and drove home with the car full of plants. They were all whims of mine: the berries, a grape vine, a tree peony. Meanwhile, I had absolutely no plan as to where I'd put these treasures, or when I'd have time to plant them. So these gorgeous plants sat out in the boiling sun for several days before I planted them and consistently watered them. Let's all pray I won't parent like this...

"Garden Tales" is my effort to plan ahead. I can show you all the pictures I want of single plants, but who really cares if they don't all look good together?

The above picture is of my backyard this July. My neighbor cut all the vines from our adjoining fence, so we lost the vines you see there. My goal is to find the perfect vine to cover each fence in our yard. I was thinking about climbing hydrangea for the north-facing wall, 'cause it's said to do well in shade. I think I'll fill in the shady area in front of it with three humongous hydrangea bushes.

Yay! Thanks for helping me plan! I'll let you know how it goes. Meadowbrook Farm is having a 40% off sale...