wiseheart | So, it is party time again, folks!

Each year this time, we launch my virtual birthday party, which starts on October 1 and ends on October 9 at midnight, sharp. The goals of the party are to post as many comments and collapse as many threads as possible, on as many new pages as we can. It is always great fun, as you can see if you check out the similar entries of the last few years.

This year, I'll also throw the real party at mid-time - and post the recipes of all the food that will be there for you, so that you can all participate if you want to. Virtual food has no calories.

Fandom-related discussions are as welcome as the ones about coffee or chocolate (just to name a few favourites from previous years), and, of course, pictures and recipes of birthday cakes. ;)

So, drop by, tell your story, post your pics or silly poems, ask questions you always wanted to ask and have a good time!

Soledad, in excited expectation

Oh, and by the way, to provide birthday gifts hobbit-style, I've got a revived story and a Kansas 2 update for you.

Enjoy!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That's one of the things I always plan to do... but I never seem to get there.

We largely stopped gardening more than a decade ago for various reasons, so you can imagine the mess... I enjoy planting new plants (particularly if they don't immediately die) but I'm rubbish at weeding, watering, &c&c

I love looking at the plant catalogs. But they lie!! They claim all sorts of plants are good for "partial shade". Hah! I have a few stalwarts that have thrived over the years, and I'm pretending that the weeds are a wild garden :)

Me too! I think it depends a bit on what the canopy is -- things do very poorly under conifers, for example. The very shady beds we have we've had luck with prostrate juniper & tsuga, green & even golden yew (though it loses most of the yellow tint), bergenia (the hardiest plants ever -- I forgot a cutting and left it in an empty pot with just some newspaper for over a decade during which the pot turned on its side, got covered in building dust, and ended up completely hidden under the hedge, and rescuing it this spring, the thing is now enormous & flourishing in an area that's shaded 90% of the day), alchemilla, some geraniums, a dark-green-leaved hebe that we didn't plant, and ivy of course. And on the shady side of the house a couple of cotoneasters are flourishing and a honeysuckle is clinging on to life despite the fact that it's in an alcove and never gets direct light. The rose we planted on that side isn't doing too well, though; it grows and flowers a little, but it's more susceptible to disease than our other roses.

We have a lot of wild garden -- it's very good for birds & other wildlife!

I have a kerria! It grows like crazy and blooms every spring. Unfortunately, without thinking I planted it near a dogwood that has pink blossoms. Doesn't really go with the yellow :D But it's doing so well that I'm not going to move it because who knows what would happen then!

We've got oak, maple, beech and yellow poplar, very large and a lot of them. In the winter when the leaves are down I'm always fooled into thinking I have more sun than I really do. I can plant spring bulbs with no problems--as long as they're not the kind the deer and squirrels like. I should try Bergenia. The bleeding hearts have gotten huge and come out faithfully every year, I have white violets that have spread everywhere, the hostas do well as do the ferns. And we have some huge old species Rhododendrons and a Korean lacecap hydrangea that seems to be fine in the shade.

I'm also a criminal who has allowed one multiflora rose bush to stay in the yard. It's the only kind of rose that will bloom, but of course it's an invasive. We're near a small park that teems with them so I figure my one bush isn't the tipping point. Not sound practice but...

It sounds a really lovely woodland garden! I'd love to have hostas but we have a big slug problem; the bergenia seems a bit more slug resistant. We have a big old lacecap as a wall shrub that was here when we came but got the builders' treatment last year; luckily it is recovering -- it must be very robust!

It's good that you can plant spring bulbs, they're always cheerful. We're trying to do that this year but haven't got round to putting in the majority yet -- last year the squirrels destroyed 90% (even the ones they're not supposed to like) and the builders trampled the ones that did come up, so we're putting them under wire mesh, but that takes more time of course so most of them are still languishing in the kitchen.

What's the problem with multiflora roses? Around here it's invasive rhododendrons that are the problem escapees.

Well it does sound nice, but that's because I haven't mentioned the weeds, etc. It's a benign neglect sort of garden.

Here are the sad facts on the Multiflora Rose:

http://www.nps.gov/plants/alien/pubs/midatlantic/romu.htm

That said, when they're blooming (huge bushes) all along the paths of the park and the roads in June, they're beautiful and have a lovely soft scent.

Ah, I know all about benign neglect gardens. We have more nettles than any other plant (sadly including grass).

The Multiflora cultivar Rambling Rector is widely grown over here; it doesn't seem to be invasive though it does get warnings not to plant it in too small a space. I don't think roses have been widely used in agricultural hedging -- traditionally hawthorn is used, though one does get dog roses in it from time to time, but they're native here.

There's a big problem with Rhododendron in the UK -- it's invasive and seems to be capable of growing absolutely everywhere.

Oh, and in the other shaded bed, there's a kerria that grows like mad and flowers quite well, and a purple berberis that has been surviving despite being totally smothered in other plants/trees for years.

But of course your climate could be completely different!

So, it is party time again, folks!

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