I'll bow to laceyvail's greater knowledge, but having spent 30 some years in Maryland where dogwood did (pre blight)/does abound, it does have the potential to reach some size. On our wooded lot, in the forest-like setting, the native dogwood tended to have tall slender trunks with a lacey canopy. However, a lovely one in the open on the front lawn was a sizeable tree, both height and width-wise. I'm just saying the potential for some growth is there and the OP's is planted close to the foundation. Daylilies (hemerocallis) are different from lilies (lilium) and without putting your nose right in the throat of a daylily - like Stella d'Oro which is yellow flowered - you'd get no hint of a scent. Some other groundcovers to consider: Phlox subulata (moss phlox) Moss pink, moss phlox or creeping phlox is a pretty common rock garden plant, but it also makes a good ground cover on poor, bare soils. It does do better when not competing with other things, though. It'll form a dense mat of foliage, which is covered in spring with masses of flowers in pink, purple, or white. Mine will often get a light reblooming throughout the summer and into the fall. Sedum (Stonecrop). Many different kinds ranging from tiny mats only a few inches high to plants 2 feet tall. They're used as ground covers, in rock gardens, on slopes, between stepping stones, etc. Most sedums are spreading or creeping plants that will root from broken branches or fallen leaves. Very easy, undemanding plants. From "How Stuff Works" - How to grow leadwort: Plant in well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Leadwort likes full sun or part shade. It will rot if the soil stays too wet, especially in winter. In most of growing Zones 5 and 6 plants die to the ground in winter. Apply a light winter mulch, and wait until growth resumes in mid-spring to cut stems back to the ground. Plant only in the spring: Leadwort needs a full growing season to get roots established. Uses for leadwort: Plant as a ground cover under shrubs and small trees and interplant spring-blooming bulbs such as crocus and daffodils." Late to come up means literally that - other plants may be well up before a "late" breaks ground in the spring. I experience that with platycodon which is the last to break ground here. Having gardened a long time, I know where the patches of it are so I know not to dig or plant over them. It's always good to put a marker over late breakers to alert you. And most information on any kind of plants will show you pictures of them at their peak of magnificence -rarely their fall die-back or spring emergence looks. You're kind of left to figure that out on your own. It's all fun and it's all a learning process no matter how long you've been at it. Despite any degree of gardening expertise, no one's immune from unintended consequences - something that just doesn't look right, failure to thrive or survive a winter even though it's supposed to, doesn't make the neighbors stop dead in their tracks. A good local garden center can be a wealth of information.

Amy - I go walkabout my garden every morning/afternoon and mentally move plants around for a more pleasing appearance. I figure that at some point I'll find the time to actually, physically move them but I don't let it stress me out when the seasons pass and nothing has changed. With a garden, things grow and change at their own pace so I don't worry that it's not 'picture perfect.' Maybe someday it will please the eye, maybe it won't, but whether that happens is secondary to having a garden where I have the option to change it any way I like. Re the astilbes: I grow them in groups of three plants, all in part sun. They get midday sun but morning and afternoon dappled shade. As long as I keep them watered, they do fine. I wish they bloomed longer but they're still one of my favorite perennials. My Virginia bluebells are gorgeous in spring but by the end of May they've completely disappeared and there's no trace of them. I'm wondering if what you've got is something other than VBB. Here's what mine looked like this year: Whenever I start feeling like all I do is garden, I stop and back up a few steps and think about how much I enjoy gardening and why. I hate the heat and the bugs and the aching muscles and don't particularly enjoy watering during dry spells but it's all part of the experience. I just put up with the bad because the good brings me so much pleasure & satisfaction.

Hi- Thanks for the feedback. I'm in zone 5a. I had been thinking maybe Patriot based on pics I have seen online, I'll have a look at Minuteman as well. I'm not sure when it was planted. We bought the house last year and the gardens had been neglected for at least 2 years. This picture is early summer- around the last week in June when the hosta looked its best. As summer progresses the leaves burn and fade and it starts to look quite unhappy. I have another of similar size, but a different type in full sun that is gorgeous in the early summer, but extremely unhappy right now. I plan to move it as well, I don't have a pictures of it before it got sun damaged though. I was thinking about putting beds for the hostas along one or both sides of the house or the side of the garage, so no tree roots to worry about. The east side of the house has a porch like the above picture and the hosta could hide the support columns. If I planted them on the other side of the house or along the side of the garage the beds would be adjacent to the foundation, and the dripline might be an issue in some spots. I could also consider some hostas under the crabapple tree on the right side of this picture would that be compatible? The neighboring plant is a hydrangea that I had just planted- Little Lime.

Littlebug - glad to hear from a Missourian here, thank you. Yes, that lower bed of yellow is Zagreb and is VERY hardy and proficient, much more than the Moonbeam I had at first. And I do have 2 different beds which have Shasta Daisy. Andy, thank you and I have really been thinking hard about a good reblooming Daylilly, maybe red. I actually have one whole bed of Daylilly and another smaller portion of bed with different daylily but they all do fantastic in my zone and soil. Also have Shasta Daisy in two beds. Your Echinaceas are beautiful and especially like the red one. That is why I liked my Gaillardia because it had red edges and I have, after looking closely to my pic above (use the Zoom to make larger) I actually think I need something other than solid yellow, which is why I liked my Gaillardia because it had red edges. In the 11 years of having this perennial bed I have tried MANY different perennials, and quite a few just don't like it here, and therefore I will probably do some more doubling up on the varieties of those which have done well. I also have to work with what is available at my nurseries. And Echloane, thanks again. As I mentioned above I have several Daylily beds but they do best of anything. So this is a very good possibility. I have some great ideas here, and learned about flowers I have really never heard of before, I have pots of annuals in this bed right now and may just live with those for right now unless I just happen to see something more permanent the next time I go to Kansas City. I am also a Bluebird Nut and cater to them, especially around this nesting time, so they take up a lot of my time, monitoring the nest, feeding mealworms, etc.