I know I will be the lone voice of dissent- I love my Algerian ivy, which covers my 316 foot long, 6 foot high chain link fence. I think it's one of the most beautiful plants there is. At my garden tour this year, a visitor said it was the backbone of the garden and his favorite feature, since it blocks out the ugliness on every side. It requires no water at all, gets no diseases or insects, fills in completely, and doesn't cause allergies. Drawbacks? 4x a year pruning, bent over double and on a ladder. And we are fortunate to have goats next door or we would also be paying dump fees 4x a year. I don't care for the cape honeysuckle as a privacy hedge. It got too woody and required too much pruning, which took all of the flowers off. I tore mine out. On the plus side, it grows really fast- faster than the ivy. Renee

Quack grass is difficult to eradicate, you may have to use Round up three or more times, spraying anything that remains green every two weeks until nothing remains. start now to make sure all roots are dead by the fall when you hope to plant. Cardinal flower, snake root and blue lobelia do not like full sun. Cardinal flower, lobelia and iris should not be allowed to dry out ever; especially in full sun their soil must be always moist or wet. Blue flag is suited to full sun. Canada anemone grows in partial to full shade, growing in sun will slow it down but I still would not recommend planting it at all unless you plant it as the only species. Plants suited to moist, full sun conditions include Joe Pye Weed, Bidens (beggar ticks), Veronia (Ironweed), Monarda didyma, Turtlehead, bog goldenrod, rushes, cattails and sedges. The Iris seeds may not be viable if they have been allowed to dry out since collection, they are best sown immediately after collection. Sowing after drying out means that germination will be slower, if it happens at all, likely two years. All your seeds need to be cold treated before they will germinate, that is they will need at least two to three months of cold, moist conditions before returning to warmth. You can achieve that by storing them in the fridge in moist vermiculite until the spring and sowing then or by sowing in the ground now and letting Mother Nature do the rest. Scattering the seed on the prepared surface (kill the grass/sedges, don't fertilize or add soil) then covering with a light dusting of sand or fine soil will work. All your plants will produce small seedlings and grow slowly. You will need to mulch them and remove competing weeds for the first year and likely the second year as well. An alternative to sowing in place is to sow into seedling trays around March next year, after the seeds have spent August to March in moist vermiculite in a baggie in the fridge. Place the trays in a sunny window. When the seedlings have true leaves, pot them on into 2" pots filled with good potting soil and keep in bright light for them to grow on. Round Up the ditch again in April and May if anything green appears, then cover it with 4" of mulch or straw (do not use hay, use straw -- hay has seeds). When danger of frost is past in late May or June, plant out the plants. With this method, the plants get a small head start, you know where the plants are so you can pull the weeds and you have mulch in place immediately after using Round Up.

I agree with Eucalyptus sideroxlyon. It's certainly a beautiful species which attracts lots of lorikeets & honeyeaters when in flower. How big is your backyard, cpzzz? I ask because this species grows to about 20 metres so you'd need to consider location of utilities, shading of neighbours & proximity to your house.

UPDATE 2020 JUNE I was planning to check the progress in May and then again in July, but all travel is off this year due to COVID19. So luckily for me, I have a close family member that has been checking on the project for me as well as pulling the ferns every couple of weeks to allow the other plants a chance. Another reality for me is that the deer on this island are overpopulated and will eat everything they can, which makes matters even more tough. In May I was sent photos of new growth that was popping up which turned out to be bunchberry dogwood, a species I didn't plant and that I have never seen in July. Then when my relative checked again in a couple of weeks, the ones that were initially there were gone and others had popped up. So i presume the deer eat thee every year and never allow them to grow to maturity so I don't see them in July. As of 2 weeks ago, out of the 75,000 or so seeds I planted, exactly one was positively identified, one of the Wild Lupine seeds has made it and is growing! Supposedly it is deer resistant so fingers crossed. I should have more updates throughout the year and will check in about the progress. One other good piece of news was that the small blueberry plant I dug up and moved to the area last September, has survived the winter and is growing fresh leaves. That's really wonderful news because I only watered it one time before having to leave, and now 9 months later it's alive and well. So I will be able to repeat this many times over now (whenever I can get to Maine) and hopefully in 3-5 years I can establish a very large area of low bush blueberries. It's been very dry in Maine so far and my hope is that the other seeds I planted are still waiting to make an appearance somehow. Presumed Bunchberry Dogwood The Blueberry plant I transplanted in september and survived (pic from this May) And here is my one confirmed successful seed (so far), the Wild Lupine (from June)