Jim and Sharon Baily

The development of our garden has been a learning experience. Having moved from a relatively sunny location to a nearly shaded yard 12 years ago, we have spent a great deal of energy learning how to transition from sun-loving to shade-loving plants. We have always been a large fan of hostas, which seemed by far the best choice for numerous locations in our yard.

The gardens began where marshy areas and a free running raspberry patch once stood. Scratched-up from the laborious task of removing the berry bushes, a lovely horseshoe garden was formed along with a path leading to the woods. The gardens continue to expand not only along the wood line edges, but also into our quaint woods as well as areas we haven’t even considered gardening before.

We still have a few sun-loving plants, including but not limited to monarda, gooseneck loosestrife, and Dame’s rocket which together provide a fantastic show of color and blooms for our woodsy landscape, and continue to try planting them in places not conducive for their growing conditions. Paying particular attention to pruning, even with some successes and some very marginal results, we continue to experiment with trial and error in the shade. The results are for your enjoyment!