Where's my machete?

Hi Jasonf ...
What a variety of shades of green and different types of plant structure...!
very attractive... not overplanted...looks lovely :o)

oh thanks TT - yes, I love foliage integration. I do find it harder to avoid the blues and pinks together - eeek! Even at several metres apart, it seems to jar the senses, whereas foliage doesn't seem to do that. I've used the variegated Lamium in front of the fern to meander through the understory, thereby linking the area together, but the photo does not successfully demonstrate that. Lots of fun though. Enjoy the summer.

Yes, sometimes colour clashes are just too much, aren't they ...... I once dug up a quite large Ceanothus and moved it to a better location where the blue flowers fitted in much better with other plants around... I'm glad I did it ...

... good idea about the variegated Lamium :o)

It looks great to me Jasonf. I like green planting as well as colour, I don't think any colour clashes (that is apart from blue sorry TT) I am not a blue fan, come to think of it blue or white are not on my lists. I have some blues with iris's etc and hardy geraniums but must admit I like the pinks and purples much more. But Green is my favourite colour, I love anything in green, think that is why I like the springtime so so much, seeing all the various shades on the trees as they break into leaf.

I don't think it's overstuffed, Jasonf, I think it's ideally planted to stop weed growth...isn't it?! ;0) and it's lovely!!

oh, I wish Libet - delving a bit closer as I lift the sides of plants, so much woodruff and celandine, buttercups and creeping jenny, and all those wonderful things, that you think, "I'll just let that grow on to see what it is", that always ends up being an obnoxious weed, from which one flower will produce a thousand offspring - eeek!!!
Oliveoil - you know, many years ago, I had the good fortune to witness an outstanding rainbow that lasted over 30 minutes. In that time, I learned the beauty of colour, and how it is so especially important to place a colour adjacent to it's companion colours in the rainbow. It works for me, as does the sparing use of white. Vital in the garden, to make all others shine forth.
TT - ceanothus is such an often ill placed plant, isn't it; probably the hardest, but for me, because they flower at similar times, I have mine ahead of a yellow Freemontodendron. Vivid, I know, but one has got to do something with that anaemic pastel blue, eh? :)

Blue and yellow....you can't go wrong there really Jason! If this pic. is overplanted then I'm afraid my whole garden is also! I know what you mean though, you can't necessarily see the weeds, but the blighters are down there, growing, spreading and seeding!! lol

Too true KS63 - I had the misfortune last year of not clearing out the spreading buttercup. Left to self seed, I had an absolute plethora of yellow buttons all over the shade garden. Looked great from a distance, but my back felt the aches and pains after removing over 300 of them!!!
(It was probably only 30, but my back never feels that good when weeding, especially before I start doing it - hehe).

lol...I find a kneeler is the best solution, but you have to be careful when you do anything that involves reaching out in front of you. That's how I got sciatica the first time, terribly painful for three months! so take care!

oh yes, I know. The hours I've spent lying on my back, pumping my knees up into my chest to release the trapped nerves, and all I got for my efforts was a bruised tailbone, but it is oh so worth it, when viewing the compost heap!!!

lol!