I would imagine it is easier to establish them as bare roots. There is not the stress of being transfered from pot to ground..? It's just dormant, and waiting.

With baited breath?... the company expert said that the roots were refrigerated and would be ready to plant immediately on arrival from the beginning of next month - that sounds awfully early to be putting plants into the cold, cold ground.

Could you not pot them then transplant when you felt happier?

Yes, bought 6 recently. The mild weather has meant that they are all poking up (which is a concern because of frost damage). Bare root Hostas work well - just make sure it doe snot take weeks to reach you.

Good point, Kildermorie.

I have often bought bare rooted ones. I usually grow them on in pots until I am happy that they are fit and the soil is ready for them. I find transplanting an easy option as you can be certain of there placement.

Thank you all for your (as always) good and useful advice, which will be followed.

We have a local british hosta and hemerocallis society recognised hosta grower in Worcester - she has been on the telly, if that means anything?! Web address is www.hostahem.org.uk/suppliers.shtml

Ooh, Thanks, Avkq - always pleased to hear of new sources of stuff - especially dedicated plant growers, rather than the massive, faceless companies that grow everything and specialise in nothing. Being on the telly doesn't necessarily mean an awful lot, though.

sleep Gattina sleep. What else is going in this bed?

The shade will be deeper towards the back of the bed, and in spring and autumn, the front of the bed should be almost sunny.
I'm planning a basic structure of skimmias, hydrangeas, a small rhododendron and a couple of pieris, with interspersed hostas, ophiopogon and heucheras, plus, for colour, annual geraniums, lobelia and begonia. I was considering a purple cimicifuga, but I think they probably get a little bit rangy for the space available. I'd like to see if I can have another go at germinating astrantia and hellebores, too, and maybe an appropriate fern or two for the deeper shade by the wall. I'd REALLY like to find something that will provide perfume - particularly in the evening - maybe nicotiana or night scented stock? Any advice or suggestions are always gratefully received, Pimpernel!

I did ask!...Let me find out what cimicfuga is in my world.

You can see I've been giving this a lot of thought, can't you? (and not a little fantasy!) Don't worry about the cimicifuga (fleabane, I think) - If I can't spell it, I'm certainly not going to be able to grow it! I keep going back to Mossy's garden photographs and thinking that if he can manage to get all that structure and colour into such a small and shaded area, I should be able to come up with something at least semi-interesting. My two biggest challenges are lack of moisture and a slightly alkaline soil, but I reckon if I'm careful and diligent with my compost, my watering and my feeding, I shouldn't have too much of a problem. Oh, I forgot bergenia - but I'm not completely convinced about that.

I wonder if Daphne odorata would work, trachelospermum jasminoidies, Plumeria and Clivia miniata....Aquilegia grows just about anywhere and Dicentra as well.

Gosh, P., I don't know any of those, except aquilegia, which we have loads of, and those do quite well in sunnier spots. Homework needed!

Night scented stock is a wonder - flowers forever, looks somewhat disheveled in the day but comes to its own at night, and still going here in December, though not so strongly. Winter flowering vibernum also produce a lovely scent and pretty pom pom type flower heads at this time of year on leafless stems. Or, to screen the back, some evergreen winter jasmine, though you have to keep on top of this to stop it spreading through branching. I believe it does well in all sorts of situations. Nicotiana will pop up everywhere in your garden forever.

The only time I ever tried to grow Nicotiana was about 20 years ago, and the seeds that were supposed to produce delicate stems, about 24" high of fragrant white flowers, were still growing at 5', and had stems about a centimetre thick, the blooms were very small and insignificant, and had no scent of any sort! I already have a massive viburnum growing elsewhere in the garden, and the space I have for the shade garden is very limited, but the night scented stock sound lovely. I have been slightly put off by the scruffy appearance and motley shades of the flowers, but let's hope that the other inhabitants will draw the eye away!
Thanks for the website address, by the way, Avkq - there are some very useful contacts on there.

bergenia can give good evergreen ground cover!

I keep forgetting that you're half way up a mountain.

(:o))) You wouldn't believe it, P, the night before last, we were driving home at sunset, remarking on how clear and beautiful the sky was (we could see right across Modena, down in the plain and about 60 miles away), and how calm and spring-like everything looked, and at about midnight, I went outside to lock up and the sky was clear as a bell with millions of stars, and 40 minutes' drive away, on our friends' mountain, there was a snowstorm, and on the next mountain over after that, there was impenetrable fog. Mountains can b****r up weather and forecasts something rotten. We mountain folk have our own personal microclimates (not always a good thing).