So far the garden looks great

==>>>

so.. if i understand ... it looks great.. but you have an itch to fix it ...

i simply ask.. what is to fix??? .. one might suggest.. you dont need to fix it.. is it aint broke ...

lack of sun will make plants hyper-extend... or lack flowering ... you are not seeing such.. according to your words ...

there are a many reasons to resort your plants... even just for the heck of it ... but dont blame lack of sunlight ..... unless it is actually a problem ... and it doesnt sound like it is ...

have fun in your new house and garden ...

ken

Hi lepages,

Welcome to the world of gardening.
Your dilemma is in reverse of mine. For several years I wished for a sunny front yard garden but the street trees grew larger and larger blocking any sunlight I originally had.

Anyway, over the years, I gradually added shade loving plants. My front garden was doing so well I came to love the shady garden. Then last year, the trees were cut down due to disease. This year, my shade loving plants are suffering.

Your Phlox will do fine in partial shade. If you have sunnier area, you can move the others there. Meanwhile, I would like to suggest that you add shade loving plants to your garden. There are many beautiful ones to choose from.

I have the following plants in my shady area:

-Hosta (you have hundreds to choose from. They come in various shapes, colors and sizes: green-blue-yellow-white, as small as a tea cup, as big as a small SUV and anything in between. Visit the Hosta forum. The folks there are crazy about their hosta).

-Solomon's Seal
-Lamium maculatum
-Mayapple
-Jack-in-the pulpit
-Mertensia virginica
-Geranium (I am partial to Rozanne that blooms from early summer through hard frost)
-Alchemilla mollis
-Brunnera
-Pulmonaria
-Primula
-Heuchera
-Heucherella
-Tiarella
-Ajuga reptans (some people hate this, but I love it)
-Bleeding Heart
-Epimedium
-Oakleaf Hydrangea
-Thalictrum
-Japanese grass - Hakonechloa macra
-fern
-Chelone
-Money Plan
-Hellebores

I am sure other gardeners will give you a list of their favorites.
Visit the Hosta forum and the

woodlands ) forum, and Heuchera forum if you are interested.

Happy shade gardening, lepages.

Thanks for the replies. The main concern that I have is that most of the plants were pretty well established once I planted them. I'm concerned that the problem would be next season. Are you telling me that if there was a problem that I would have seen it already? I really don't want to move things around if I don't have too.

The plants will let you know if they're not happy in the bed where you planted them. It may take them a season or two but they will make it clear.

I've planted hosta, hellebore, heuchera & others pitimpinai mentions above in beds that get about the same amount of sun as you posted yours gets. I've also planted many full-sun perennials in parts of my garden that get a limited amount of sun. Healthy soil and sufficient moisture are generally more critical to plant health than hours of full sun.

Thanks for asking this question, I have the same problem (although in my case I'm the idiot who never really bothered to see how much sun the area actually got, I just knew that at some point during the day it got sun. LOL) and I've planted some full sun perennials there..and have seen some thrive but others looked not so good pretty quickly.

Personally, I would definitely suggest planting some shade loving plants there moving forward...Also maybe Tulips as they tend to bloom when the trees don't yet have leaves on them, so they would get a good amount of sun during their cycle. Early spring bloomers would probably be a good fill for that type of location I would think.

Pitimpinai - great list!!!!!!!!

I think that I will probably just move the plants to a sunnier location. Hopefully it's not too late in the season. Does anyone know if it's ok to transplant this time of year in zone 6?

Transplanting this time of year should be fine in your zone. But the bed you are moving them from has sun iin the hottest part of the day; if you are planning to replant it with shade loving plants, you may be in for trouble. You'll need plants that can take very hot sun, but not too many hours of sun--tricky.