Sheryl, if you could see my neighbor's flower beds, both shade and sun.... you would wish you were HER neighbor! After you see these photos you will see why I trust anything she says about perennials. She and her husband have a business where they install perennial beds and then care for them. They don't do ponds or grass or snow removal. Just perennials. Their home garden is where they bring clients to show them plants and what can be done. I am happy that I see a couple of the big sun beds every time I pull out of my driveway. They are busy ALL the time from just before the ground thaws in the spring till after the ground freezes in the fall. I often see them out at 11 PM with flashlight hats that look like coal miner helmets weeding and deadheading their own beds. They work harder than any two people I have ever seen. They have had their own business perhaps 7 or 8 years now. Even in this economy, they are swamped with clients.
Part of one of her shade gardens -- she was so embarrassed there was a hose out when I happened to come over. Like having a hose out in a garden was a bad thing! LOL
another one... shade with some sunny area, leading into shade again...
and, for the heck of it, a little garden art... she doesn't have a lot of garden art, just a few things here and there...
she has a few hosta.... (hundreds of them!)
and knows her way around planting containers
And, she has some pretty awesome big beds in the sun too.
