Expanding the Triangle

Normally I don't start thinking about next year's garden until at least after Christmas, but this year is different. It's not even Thanksgiving but I've pretty much decided that I want to expand my growing and space, and where.

We have a very small area of space next to our entry door that I call "the triangle." It is a triangle. I have some hostas there, lady's mantle, Jacob's ladder and a purple heuchera. I've decided in the spring I will enlarge the triangle by removing the area of lawn under a nearby saucer magnolia.

I haven't figured out exactly what I'll be planting—I'll leave that for after Christmas—but I do think I want to keep it simple. I'm thinking more hostas, Jacob's ladder and maybe some Siberian bugloss—Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' is Perennial Plant of the Year for 2012, by the way.

How about you? When do you start planning next year's changes? Do you have ideas for what you'll do new or different in your garden in 2012?