Shade Perennials Planted

Yesterday it turned very warm and we had a high of 26 degrees.  The sun was extremely bright and I could only work in the garden for a short period, it was just too hot for my east coast unacclimated self.
So I only added some top soil to this front bed and placed pots where I wanted the plants to be.

This hydrangea survived the winter and a few crocuses have popped up beside it. Behind next to that small upright bamboo stick is the climbing hydrangea which is putting out new growth. The one planted in the bed by the side of the house hasn't made it through the winter, that bed is shallow and I think there isn't enough soil there to give good growth. It may only support annuals in that bed.

But I was thrilled to see the climbing hydrangea survive; this is one of a few plants that I loved in Halifax and I was doubtful that it could grow in Ontario's colder zone, but it has!

So in this bed, I have planted 3 Lady's Mantle, two reblooming dicentra (one pink, one ivory), a blue bird columbine, one cinnamon fern, and two astilbes. These are bare root perennials bought from nurseries, so they will take a while to put on some growth.
This bed gets morning sun, and then it is shaded for the rest of the day. The part of it closest to the front steps gets little if any sun.

And I was thrilled to see that I have a forsythia in the front garden. I thought it might be, but this morning the yellow flowers came out and it looks great for having had no attention paid to it for years I would guess.

And in this bed, called the shade garden - it gets morning sun and then a little afternoon sun that filters through the birch trees all around it - I have planted two hellebores, one pink and one plum, one Lady's Mantle, two brunnera Sea Heart (they are already putting out their tiny blue flowers) and one old-fashioned bleeding heart.

I have plans to continue digging this bed all along the side of the yard, but that is a lot of work so I will just dig out what I need to plant the waiting perennials. I read on one blog that you should get your potted plants into the soil as quickly as possible because they dry out in the pots and they need to get their roots established as soon as they can. So I will hurry along and get the rest of the perennials planted in the next few days.

The back yard is being fenced today and tomorrow. The sun-loving perennials are waiting in pots for that to be done, then I will get them into the ground. 

I have planted two rows of leeks and three rows of carrots in one of the raised beds. And my tomato plants begun indoors are going great guns and they will soon be ready to go out into the real world.
All very exciting after years of frustrated gardening in the rocky ground of Nova Scotia.