experiment in gardening - the prequel

I have an area outside my front door that was available to landscape/garden. I live on the wrong side of the street for sun, so mine is a shady flower garden. and after a year of living here, I finally planted.



the hole was 6 inches deep, so first we had to bring in dirt (no picture) and then we put peet moss and manure on top. too bad we didn't think before we did it, because all of the sudden we had too much dirt in the hole. so we had to dig out the dirt. and after calling around trying to find someone who needed dirt, and finding no one, we put the extra dirt in the wheelbarrow and the garbage can I'm supposed to use for lawn clippings (it's a 55 gallon can, and it was full).



then we tilled.



and planted. you can see hellebore (the plants with the pink flowers) and hosta's (the green ones). we also planted a bunch of bulbs (where the skewers are) and seeds.



and after a few days my hostas looked like this. I guess my experiment was a failure. or I planted too early (it was quite a few weeks ago now). luckily lowes took the dead plants back, and I got these "well of water" things to go around the hellebore and the hydrangea I've planted since then (no pictures). I'll take them off when it's not quite so cold at night.

I'm still waiting to see if the bulbs or the seeds take. fun times.