What will I do when I finish everything on the to do list? Marked off this weekend:
- Weed around hydrangea, surround with coffee grounds and fresh mulch
- Weed, mulch and fertilize rhododendron/hosta bed
- Weed, mulch and fertilize perennial shade garden
Just look at that hydrangea, I put down so many coffee grounds that I
didn't need to apply any new mulch:

VPH weeded this bed for me and I threw down a bag of mulch. Now if only we could get the grass to grow below this bed (I've given up on the area by the bamboo fence):

I'm so pleased with the way the perennial shade garden looks. VPH weeded here (lots of tree roots coming through the old stuff) and then I put down a bag and a half of mulch -- so not my favorite job:

The reverse angle:

I was so inspired by Layanee's post on her container combos that I went back to Ocean State Job Lot and bought the huge container that I had my eye on for the shady side of the house -- earmarked for the dirt slope where nothing will grow. It was only $28 and I was so tempted. It's freaking huge. The citronella torch next to it is 4 feet tall to give you an idea of scale:
I brought home (clockwise from one o'clock) a hosta fortunei 'Francee', white impatiens (more on them in a moment), polemonium boreale 'Heavenly Habit', and heuchera 'Amethyst Mist':

The white impatiens came in cute little straw pots. Note that the label on the plastic handle says "Sustainable Resource" and "Simply Plant":

That's all well and good, but then they throw the whole concept away and put the adorable straw pots in a plastic tray with a plastic handle:

I had VPH rescue the lysimachia from bastard garden (it landed there when I didn't feel like cleaning up the fall planter table arrangement and then thrived). It joined the hosta and heuchera in the enormous new planter (I probably should have said earlier in this post that I blatantly stole Layanee's container ideas):

The polemonium boreale, white impatiens and the rest of the lysimachia went into the last hanging basket up on a maple nearby:

I stuck the rest of the impatiens into a few ceramic pots I had on hand and balanced them on some large tree roots. The hanging planter on the left is the new one:

I couldn't resist a few other inexpensive planters. I'm not sure exactly what will go in this one, but I know I like how it looks on that stump, so the frogs will have to find a new home:

This one (the smallest) became the new home of the rose that my friend brought me when she came over for dinner last year. I may stick a few other pots on the lily pad stepping stones in the wildflower patch until the wildflowers fill in (cross your fingers that they actually do):

The last big job that I have, and probably the one that I've been most looking forward to, is planting all of the herbs that I've been collecting:

I have to find a home for the lemon grass, 4 thyme plants, 3 sages, 3 different types of purple basil, 3 sweet basil plants, an unidentified basil, cilantro, rosemary, parsley, and chives:

I have the herb 1/2 barrel and a hanging planter to fill. I may also use the pretty blue container on the stump. The lavender will stay in the container it's in and the Mammoth dill has already perked up from being transplanted to this container:
I'm going to have to find a place for these sweet basil and cinnamon basil seedlings:

Did you notice above that all 8 Red Peter pepper seeds that I planted have now sprouted? I'm only going to have room for 4 of them and so far no one has wanted the other 4, but hopefully I'll find a friend who will take them. Speaking of vegetables, I pulled out some plant stands and a little white side table for the pots containing the Royal Purple bush beans. Can you even see that in the below photo?:

It's officially outdoor time in Heather's Garden. The cushions are on the chairs, we had our first cook-out (with guests) today, and our first fire of the season (if you look closely you can see the burning embers in the fire pit):

I have a few new items on the to do list. The Adirondack chairs and footstools purchased at Christmas Tree Shops last year (selling for $10 more this year), did not weather the winter too well. To be honest, the paint started flaking off almost immediately and one seat slat broke last year, but gorilla glue got it back together again. I bought some white spray paint and will see if I can salvage at least the chairs, but it's not looking good for the footstools. I don't think storing them in the cellar would have made much of a difference. I bought nice wood ones last year from an on-line service that I like which we never put together (they're in the basement in their original boxes), so getting them assembled and seeing if we like them is item number one because I don't want to sit in these filthy, flimsy things anymore:

I'm so excited about my self-coiling hose for next to the potting table, the gray hose is already attached to the other one and on the hose cart. The chicken wire and posts are for to list item #2 -- a leaf enclosure. Apparently VPH's leaf pile/bastard garden is leaning on our neighbor's fence and he wants it moved. There's a spot between the big shed and the fence that will be perfect for a wire circle full of leaves:

All in all it was an excellent Memorial Day weekend and it looks like we may just get everything in before June 1st -- except pentas, which I haven't seen anywhere! What am I going to do when there's nothing else to plant?