Vita would be disappointed

She "hated the sight of too much mulch" and "loved her borders to be packed." Sissinghurst, Sara Raven

But it is what it is... an attempt (below) to figure out what plants will be happy under this evergreen which manages to create both dry shade ("Dry shade. Dreadful words." Virginia Woolf's Garden, Caroline Zoob) or dry, nearly-full sun. A recent scouting foray in my neighborhood tells me that the daylilies will flourish given time. The hostas are slowly growing. The catmint was sad and had to be removed. I keep my fingers crossed for the false blue indigo. The black-eyed susans, or whatever kind of rudbeckia they are, look like a whole lot of nothing right now, but in late summer they carry the whole bed. The geranium is abloom and, if a varmint quits digging under it, will mayhaps be happy in its home. Sedum (autumn joy) is happy anywhere.  And that just leaves the Bradbury's monarda. We shall see.