That gave me 49 square feet of new bed space. I reduced that by half when I used a big pile of whole brick pavers to make an "almost too small" patio extension. Then I lucked out and received the wrought iron patio bench from a family member. It was an almost perfect fit. On summer evenings it's the place to sit if you enjoy the fragrance of Lilies
The peonies were in their 3rd year in the pots... and a little later than the day the picture was taken they put on a wonderful show.


When they said the Culver's Root was slow to develop they weren't kidding, but I love their slender racemes of tiny, tubular white flowers. Within a couple more years I should have a nice clump that stands out nicely.

There are three clusters of 3-5 'Blue Mouse Ears' Hosta in this bed... I still think these are some of the prettiest of all hosta blooms.


One other container grown plant that has absolutely no trouble attracting my attention each time I'm on the patio is the 'Sharp's Pygmy' Japanese Maple I've now had for 2 years. It was a chance seedling when discovered in the early 1980's and is touted as one of the smallest palmatum cultivars. New leaves are pale green with red overtones, mature leaves are a great shade of apple green, and fall foliage is deep orange to scarlet.



One last plant: In the background of this last photograph you can see a very small Rhododendron 'Yaku Prince'.