I was on vacation, returned yesterday, happy to get so many responses to my post, and wonderful feedback. Coolplantsguy - yes, I do love peonies and heirloom plants for that matter, I just don't have the room though I admire them in my neighbors yard. The one we had toppled from the weight of the blooms, I don't know the variety, they were here when we purchased. Thanks for the suggestion, I will consider if I ever find the space again...my lawn gets smaller with each passing year. LOL. Pat, you make me chuckle. I'm like you. I spend so much time planning and thinking things through over the winter, only to find later that I don't like the combos or placement, so I plan again for next year. Some of my plant combos happened by accident & some I've followed suggestions when researching companion plants. I'm still learning how textures compliment eachother, and other things I didn't know to think about a few years back, but it's fun to learn. Summer is too short though. Prairiemoon, I also have Astilbe planted next to my Annabelle, and I enjoy the contrast of the red plumes and darker foliage with the brighter green backdrop of Annabelle. I've learned it's best to NOT fertilize it once it's established, it makes the blooms too heavy and they'll topple. Still, the rain does make them flop, but mine usually bounce back, I have one staked with a support, but it was just planted this year. I also cut my dianthus blooms back before I left for vacation, and returned to a new flush of blooms, the foliage tends to yellow on me though, I need to stop watering, I didn't realize they're drought tolerant. I forget the variety, it's got blue spiky foliage and red flowers. I will have to do more research on hellebores...we added a raised planting bed/retaining wall with a row of purple leaf sandcherries on top, and I'm looking for an underplanting in full sun; the sandcherries will be trimmed into a tree form once established. For now, I planted yellowish hostas at the base for contrast, but I know they won't do well in full sun. I'm glad to hear about Sedum Angelina, mine will be delivered some time this week, now I'm really looking forward to growing them, I just worry about our new dog, she's so rambunctious - she's a chihuahua boston terrier mix, the cutest thing, she likes to grab my plants and tug on them..I'll have to get her some more toys. I was thinking of amending my soil for the iris, adding more grit for drainage, we'll see if that works. I had one aster that bloomed for me, but it was spindly, a combo of dry soil in this area and minimal sun, but my campanula that I moved not too long ago is doing much better, must be the sun. I have to move the asters, just trying to find a location. It's funny about the Autumn Joy Sedum, my husband keeps telling me to pot them up since I can't find the 'right' place for them, I'll have to try that. I do like the blooms, very pretty, and they grow amazingly large after transplanting a single stalk, very impressive. I will try to post a pic of William Baffin rose when I have a chance..the pic is not mine as mine is only a few months new and I'm still learning how to prune them to shape, but my friend has one along their property and it's a stunner, grows upright almost like a tree canopy, and does well in our zone without protection and is disease resistant, with prolific blooms, but I know they have to trim it back regularly, it's a monster. Give me a couple of days and I'll try to post here if I can figure out photobucket. Of the climbers, I have Don Juan and Sombreuil. They died back almost to the ground, but new growth emerged in the spring, so they're still puny and it's the end of July, though I also transplanted them in early spring. We'll see next year if they do better. I purchased Smokebush 'Grace' and 'Golden Spirit' - I've read there's some potential winter die back, mine is only a month new, but I've also heard that they grow like weeds once established, so even with winter die back they'll grow like crazy. 'Golden Spirit' has new growth in a pretty lime green color and grows more upright in form whereas 'Grace' fans out. 'Grace' grows at a house up the street from us and it's just beautiful, especially with the smokey plumes. I ask my husband to slow down every time we drive by. :) Phyl in Chicagoland, I'm embarrassed to post pics. I still consider my landscaping in the beginning stages, most plants aren't mature or established yet, I've moved a lot around, still a work in progress. I had problems with photobucket last time I tried, but I'll see what I can do. I'll tell you though, do an internet search on 'Nancy J. Ondra', I came across her website when researching plants (that's where I got my iris and lemonbalm combo inspiration from) - her garden is to die for, absolutely STUNNING!!! I peruse her garden pics whenever I get the winter blues. Mxk, I was also looking at the Iris pallida but wasn't sure if it would look odd to mix these with the non variegated type. If you like the look of Jacobs Ladder, it reminds me of a shrub, Carol Mackie Daphne. Same variegated foliage, with pretty spring flowers. Connie, this is also my first year with wave petunias and I love them, I have them in hanging baskets. I've read they are self-cleaning, unlike the regular petunias, but I still deadhead here and there. I'd do them again, definitely. The foliage is also very pretty. Gabby, I used to throw tags away, but as the gardening world became more intriguing to me, I've learned to write down the names of my plants on a 'map' of my yard...LOL. Mostly in an attempt to overcome winter blahs, I also compiled a list of plants that need deadheading, cutting back, dividing, etc. so I know what to do come spring. Daylilyluvr, ok, like I said I'm an 'advanced' beginner in the gardening world, still in my learning curve. LOL. I had no idea Sweet William was a biennial. I've had it for two years now, the blooms are stunning, but this year it got all brown and ratty after blooms were spent, I chalked that up to too much watering. I cut it back and it looks like a few blooms are starting to come in again, but I had to remove old dried stems. Web says if you don't let it self seed it will shoot up more stems and act as a perennial...looks like that's what's happening for me as I likely cut back the spent blooms last year too. Crunchpa, my favorite person from the container gardening forum. LOL. I have a TON of containers this year, maybe too many. It takes me over an hour just to water everything, and that's just the containers, but I think I got overzealous and overstuffed them this time around...still, I wouldn't go without my containers, I'm hooked. I love that moss sedum, I'll have to try it. You always have the best pics. I still have dirt to cover until everything is established, I'm waiting patiently though my transplanting doesn't help either. I was looking into that red hot poker at one point, if I remember correctly I think it goes dormant mid season and then comes back again later?? Or am I thinking of something else? Pretty. I'll have to research more of the suggestions here, though I'll probably be losing more lawn in the process. :)

I grow all the ground covers mentioned here in zone 5a. Given the lighting you mention, I presume it to be partial sun to partial shade. Here's the scoop on them, with their soil requirements. Sedum: needs full sun (6 hrs/day); any soil. Thymus (thyme): full or nearly full sun; soil on the dry side, it will rot in too much moisture or shade (mine grows in gravelly soil, some of it in less than full sun where it does well); will inhibit grass; takes a while to establish; recommend woolly thyme or Thymus serpyllum (Mother of Thyme), 1-2" tall; evergreen; once established spreads vigorously; suppresses grass and other shallow rooted weeds but will harbor seeds of tap-rooted plants like Columbine; deer resistant (deer-proof for me). Lamium (dead nettle): does best in bright shade; likes a rich (fertile, humusy); prefers moist soil (will tolerate some dryness but will not flourish); pretty good at suppressing grasses once it fills in; handsome in flower (white or pink); deer resistant (deer-proof for me). Should be mostly "evergreen" for you in zone 6 (KY). Gallium (sweet woodruff): same light and soil conditions as Lamium; beautiful in flower (late spring); dies back in winter, re-emerges in early spring; self-sows and will "pop up" and spread in places that it likes; can be mowed (but why?); does not suppress grass, but almost does; deer resistant (deer-proof for me, and I love this stuff). Asarum europaeum (European ginger): super attractive, and a favorite as well; a slow spreader but fills in densely; prefers partial to full shade and rich humusy soil, constantly moist (but not wet); grows so thick it suppresses just about everything; also check out the more readily available A. canadense (wild ginger). A.e. is evergreen and deer-resistant (although they nibble A.e. in winter, but it grows back just as densely come spring); A.c. is deciduous. All like soil that drains well; all are easy to divide for propagation (anytime during the growing season); all hardy for you in KY; all (except Sedum and Thyme) will meet your light conditions; all are attractive, and, given the site, their habits are respectable. Note that only the Thyme can be walked upon (occassionally). Yours idea is a kind and respectful one. If you can bring yourself to adding manure and/or compost to the planting areas, do so. Fertilizers should not be necessary (I never add them). Happy tending, and send us pics. [Pics of Asarum and Gallium through google images or at my site: follow the link on "my page" to Rhododendron garden for Asarum e. or Woodland garden for Sweet Woodruff.]

I've used a seed mix called "Fleur de Lawn". It's a mix of lawn daisies, and dwarf grasses. In the summer it needs to be mowed maybe once a month. I've let it go all year in some places, without creating a wilderness. If you visit the link I included, click on the "ecology mixes" in the menu on the left, and then "fleur de lawn".

These grow in full sun for me: Cranberry as long as it's not dry, average moisture with organic soil is fine. Veronica 'Georgia Blue' in my garden is in an average moisture area also, so I don't know if it likes it dry. Mums - I have two, both of which spread. Chrysanthemum weyrichii (I have 'White Bomb', but there is also a pale pink type) is only a few inches tall until it blooms in autumn with 6" stems, and an unnamed variety that's about 1' tall with very double coppery colored flowers. (You are welcome to come get some of either if you are ever in central NH.) Androsace - Many are fussy rock garden plants, but I have one that's been easy and has slowly spread in the 3 or so years I've had it. It's in a well-drained area. I'll try to find the species name for you. White flowers in spring, dense small leaves the rest of the year. Sempervivums/hens and chicks spread slowly but densely enough to be weedblocking. Thyme - wooly seems to work best for me as a groundcover, likes it average to dry. If you want something taller: Siberian Iris and the old-fashioned daylilies will spread, and with division will fill space relatively quicker. Average moisture or wetter for the Iris Clematis 'Mrs Robert Byron' is a non-climbing clematis that will fill quite a bit of space on the ground a couple of feet high. Size-wise is often described as a monster. Nepeta will root where stems touch the ground and so will fill space over time, more quickly if you move the new plantlets. Makes a dense, weed-blocking mound in my garden. (Again, if you are headed this way or want a garden field trip, I'd be happy to share.) Lysymachia puntata/ yellow loosestrife Old-fashioned German Iris makes a pretty dense groundcover in my garden, spreading slowly but densely over time. I have another plant (I'll try to take a photo if it ever stops raining!) that spreads rampantly that I got from another gardener. Magenta double flowers with large toothed leaves. 1 1/2' tall. (I'll share - if you want it.) Lambs ear/Stachys self-seeds to make a groundcover. Needs some care as far as cutting back flowering stems and will invade lawns, etc. Mints, both the culinary mints and bee balm. That's what I can think of so far. Some of these are sort of thugs, while others will play well. Depends if you want to fill space in a weed-blocking, soil-holding way or slower-spreading ground covers. There are other threads on groundcovers over the last couple of years if you do a search.