I am interested in Daturas and Brugmansias and live in Seattle. I have several Datura Inoxia that are about 6" tall if you are interested in a trade.

Hi "grass guy" - Thanks for responding. I went and found a description stake. It's Festuca Rubra "Jughandle". It looks like the picture in the grass link below. I like what I have (in the picture) and I'd like something like that covering the whole area. It doesn't get tall. It gets a lot of sun there, so it seems a bit difficult to maintain, but maybe when it takes hold better it will be more robust (my hope). Do you think there is something similar better suited for us and that might spread, or do you think we should stick with this (we would have to find more)? thanks again! Here is a link that might be useful:

Thank you both achnatherum and praireigirlz! A combination of a couple Overdams near the steps, and a border of the Hameln continuing down to the driveway I think will work very well here. I was a bit lost, but now I am found! LOL... honestly, thanks for the suggestions. I think the K Foersters are bit too tall for this spot, but I think I have another spot for a few of them. I do like the look of this grass, and I prefer grasses that have a chance of holding up under some snow over the winter. Lining that walkway with the Hamelns, with some annuals in a bed to widen the planting area should deter the postman (and others) from making paths through my lawn! I now envision about 5 Hamelns along the walkway, leading to two Overdams, the last of which would be planted alongside the first step of the porch off the railing, on a part of the garden bed that then runs under a picture window. That should (I hope) flow nicely into that garden bed which has the zebra grass along with other plantings. Thank you so much for the suggestions!

I love all these plant ideas. Most I've heard of, many I've grown, and some are going to open new doors for me! Thank you, everyone! PeaceofMind - I had totally forgotten cleome. I grew it in California; it got over 5' tall and wide. It's wonderful. Gardening for seven years in California, and then moving to North Dakota is a shock to the gardener's soul. Still, "Bloom where you're planted!" has always been my motto. Roses; Lavender Lass, NHBabs, and MNWSgal - I'm going to study the roses you suggested. I would love at least one rose in the garden. Stepping Stones - I'm picking up several large ones today. I have a couple 12" stepping stones in the Hosta garden. While they do the job, I sometimes have to stand on tiptoe with one foot on a stone, then bend and stretch to reach whatever I'm fixing. My old stiff body is starting to rebel at such gymnastics, so more stones are in order. I checked out a neighbor's large garden the other day. She has pathways of stepping stones through the center, and branching off to the various areas. Her stones are all larger, 16" or 18" in diameter. It's so easy to "walk" through her garden. Once the plants are up you don't even see the larger stepping stones. Idea stolen! LOL Restraints and Issues - My front yard is flat; the deck is flat; the front of the house is flat. There is one tall, but puny, white spruce tree to the left of the gardens. I keep all the bird feeders there. They are a source of amusement and joy during the long winters. I sit near the tree in summer and enjoy not only the feeder birds, but the Purple Martins at the end of the garden path. I drew the outlines of the gardens to miss the tree's shade and keep the garden plants in full sun. Past the Driveway - I cannot plant anything to the south (left) of the driveway. Wes keeps a 14' trailer and his boat, parked to the left of the garage. He has to pull them out into that grassy area before getting on the driveway. I do have a potting deck and bench against the fence. We measured and tested the clearances before he built it. Purple Martins - From the spruce tree, on the other side of the gardens, near the drive way, is the only place in our three-city-lot sized yard that I can have the 15' tall Purple Martin pole. It's just visible in the upper right corner of the first photo, and in the background of the "tomatoes" photo. Their colony has to be 40 feet from trees in every direction; they have to have open flyways; there cannot be tall plants near the pole, etc. My PMs come first. They arrive every mid-April, raise their young, and leave the first week of August. I have hosted them every summer since 2003. I will try to not go all weepy and happy talking about them, but because of them I can't have anything too tall in the gardens. The obelisk is fine; it's far enough away. The tomatoes closest to the pole was worrying them last year so I'm not putting tall plants past the middle part of the garden. If it came down to the garden or the Purple Martins, the birds would win hands down. Still I hope to make this a colorful, scented, interesting, balanced, and pretty garden. I want to make the hummingbirds, butterflies, and all the little warblers and wrens happy while they gobble bugs. Shrubs - I could not put any shrubs in the garden that get more than two or three feet tall. Do you think I could get a sense of "height," "structure," or "design" with shrubs this size? Suggestions? Steps and Deck - We've discussed putting shrubs on either side of the steps, near the deck area. We both love evergreens and the angled steps make two perfect niches for shrubs. I just need to research what would do best. I would like them to be no more than 5-6 feet tall; they could be slender, or they could be more conical but no more than 3-4 feet around at the base. I would set them out from the corners so when even when mature they would not look squeezed in. Wes' main concern with the clematis on the deck is the moisture, and the stringy dead vines all winter long. My beloved Jackmanii could be cut down every fall. I don't know what the problem really is. I know he would not mind a grouping of evergreens along the deck as long as he could get between them and the rails. If I staggered them and grouped them correctly they could add a sense of a background to the garden. Any suggestions on evergreens? We would not want to have to prune them. Winter Interest - I don't have to worry about this. Once the 3'-4', or more, of snow falls, nothing is visible. We put tall orange stakes at the edges so Wes can snow-blow my path to the birdfeeders without hitting the garden rocks. I didn't have this problem with my California, or Delaware, or Arkansas gardens! :) Last Spring - This was taken last year on June 6. We had just started planting the veggies; some of the Purple martins had returned and Spring was in the air. We don't plant things before the end of May here. We're expecting snow this Friday. You can see the areas by the steps where I could put two matching shrubs. Do you think those two, and maybe three (?) something near the right end of the deck would help give some backdrop/height to the gardens? I'm moving the flag pole bracket (on front facing left post) to the left of the front door. That will move it back 8 feet more away from the birds. It "bothered" them last year. Here is most of the front yard. Our yard goes from the privacy fence and white garage on the left, to past the bird feeder tree to the right. The back yard is just as big, but it's filled with trees, is in full shade all day long, and is the summer domain of the two mostly-in-the-house pups (huge hunting dogs.) No gardening to be done back there. :) That leaves the right-hand section of the front yard to fulfill all my gardening fantasies. You can see the other side of the steps which are begging for an evergreen, the tomatoes, and the PMs' gourds. He pulls the trailer or boat out often in the summer. Thankfully not enough that it destroys the grass. I hope to get a new system for the birds by next spring. I want to elevate the gourds up to 18-20 feet. They'll feel safer, and it will take the gourds out of the line of sight from the street to the house. From mid-April to early-August my yard is filled with the joy, the wonderful songs and calls, and the aerial flight displays of the voracious flying insect eaters. The ones with the lighter colored chests are the fledges (babies just learning to fly) from last year. The dark "black" (iridescences purple) ones are the males, the ones with dark grey chests are the females.