Planting in Indiana

Seems every year I am chomping to plant.  Here in Indiana, they say not to plant until after Mother's Day.  I took a chance and planted today- but planted in planter boxes.  I used to live in zone 5 and now I live in zone 6a.
I buy a lot of plants at Farmer's Market and for the past few years I've bought from two people.  This year I found a new guy at Farmer's Market and I really like his plants.  And, he has good prices.  He sells his hostas five for $25.00.  I bought seven hostas from him, a begonia and a columbine.  Below is the beautiful begonia.  I love begonias because they remind me of my paternal grandma.  She always had begonias. 

Begonia

 We have two planter boxes beside the carport.  I've always planted the lower planter box with colorful annuals.  The last year or two I started mixing in some perennials.  Doug lets the chickens free-range,  and they have torn my planter all to hell.  So I decided I needed to put in larger plants.

lower bed

 The other problem I've had with the upper box is the cats thinking they can use it for a litter box.  So I planted a lot of hostas and the columbine and then we gathered stones from the creek and I edged the beds with the stones.  Hopefully that will keep the cats and the chickens out.

upper bed

I was just doing some hosta research online and it said there are approximately 45 species of hostas and 600 varieties.  I bought my hostas on two different occasions and I was trying to get a lot of variety and I'm happy to say not one is the same.  Here are all of the hostas that I purchased: 

Queen Josephine

Great Expectations

Fragrant Bouquet

Ann Kulpa

Golden Tiara

Thunderbolt

Paul's Story

I've been keeping all of them under the carport since we bought them.  It was hotter than blue blazes today (about 85 degrees) so I took the plunge and planted.  I think they will be fine.  As long as I can keep the cats and the chickens out of them!