Lady's Mantle in every garden

Lady's mantle or alchemilla is one of my favorite garden perennials. It's one of those plants that can be paired with just about anything like a good table wine-it looks great in a flower bed, on its own, or in front of something a little taller and more dramatic since it doesn't get too large. I really like it planted at the base of a pretty patio tree like witch hazel, a vine maple, or a star magnolia. The simple chartreuse spring flowers look lovely against almost anything. And that way you get to see one of its best assets-dew that collects on the gorgeous scalloped leaves. On a cool spring day the droplets will stick around all day providing a great backdrop for pixies and other playful miniature garden sprites.

Lady's mantle likes to stay moist and it's best suited to bright areas of the garden while avoiding noon sun and heat. Plant it in a place that gets lots of morning sun and dappled shade in the heat of summer.

Bloody sap suckers

Scale sucks. Literally. These nasty parasites steal your plant's vital essence and leave your plants malnourished, notched, and vulnerable to attack from ants and other opportunists. Scale can be difficult to diagnose at first glance, but take a close look. Do you see a small, waxy, flat looking thing that doesn't seem to be part of the plant? Look closer. Do you see tiny little bugs lined up in a row not far from the waxy flat thing? Those are the babies and that flat larger thing is the female mothership. She doesn't move but her babies aka "crawlers" do and they like to eat.

What to do? Kill. Parasites are a real enemy apart from being disgusting creatures that are disfiguring your lovely trees and perennials. Because scale protects itself by exuding a thin secretion over its body they can be difficult to eradicate with ordinary pesticides. Isolate the plant, scrape off the motherships and the babies with a butter knife, then dip it in a kill solution of your choice so that you don't infect the rest of the garden (vinegar, ammonia etc). Spray the entire plant with Neem oil. Go ahead and don't be shy. Spray the undersides of all leaves, the stems and any new foliage. Agricultural oils will suffocate any remaining hold outs on your plant.

Check your plant regularly and spray regularly until you feel confident that your plant is safe from nature's little Dracula.

Shrinking violets and other shy shade beauties

Shade gardens often get overlooked as their loud, colorful full sun siblings get all the attention. But subtle, quiet lush beauty can occur in the shade instead of just using the area for rusty bike storage.

If you have a shady area, first determine how much shade it actually gets. Watch it and document it over the course of a sunny day-remember the light will change come summer so keep that in mind. Is your shade dappled, or is it full shade? The trickiest shade to deal with is the often confusing "part shade." It doesn't have to be. Just make sure you know when and where hot sun hits. You'll want to know which areas get hot afternoon sun because this is the exposure that could potentially burn the leaves of shade plants esp in the summer.

Next, buy a good shade plant book for your region. There are a gazillion. Better yet, go to a trusted nursery that has a good shade plant selection. Don't forget shade loving natives.

Think about what you would like out of your shady spot and design from there. Do you want a cool seating area? If so, build around that. Do you want a serene moss and fern garden where you can pray for thinner hips? Get the moss going now since it takes some time to establish and keep it nice and moist. How about a secret garden where you can hide from the tax collectors? Or a mysterious woodland garden with a winding path. If so, get the larger shrubs going like japanese acuba, fatsia japonica, or a shade loving hydrangea.

Something else to think about while planting in the shade-if you want a little burst of light, consider plants with light green foliage, variegated foliage, or light-colored flowers. Some shade perennials I like are native columbine, brunnera, astilbe, lily of the valley, sweet woodruff, maidenhair ferns (and others), bleeding heart, lady's mantle, ajuga, and foxglove.