If you want a small tree at the right end of bed (near corner) then putting in a Hydrangea that's NOT a tree, won't work. You'll need to find another place for it. Earlier I recommended PG Hydrangea which can be grown as a small tree. Burning Bush, common Lilac or Philadelphus coronaria are other large shrubs that make good small, multi-trunk trees. For planting a large groundcover bed, you'd want to arrange plants in rows with the leading row in line with the front edge of the bed, but set back a uniform distance from it. Usually, the same spacing between plants works well as the front set back distance... so let's say for Hosta, 18". Then space them 18" apart in the row. 18" Behind that row is another row laid out in the same manner, except that you would place these plants not directly behind the first row, but offset them so that they are staggered relative to it. Continue the process until you have reached the back of the bed and filled it up. Since you are planting around trees, just don't place a Hosta where the tree is. You can come close, but not so close that you are struggling with tree roots (the tree being the Dogwood) as you don't want to disturb its ability to grow. When the Hosta grow, they will nestle around the tree trunks just fine. Though you PLAN the planting beginning with the first row, you'd actually install plants beginning with the last and work your way backward so you are not crushing installed Hosta as you plant more. That's the manner in which you'd approach laying out a normal large bed. Now let me contradict that. If your bed is only 4' deep from front to back, the above instructions would only allow you to place 2 rows in the bed. That'd work OK, but if you have sufficient Hosta and want a full look more quickly, keep the plant spacing the same, but adjust the row spacing so that you can fit in 3 rows...say each being 12" apart. (Spacing would now be 18" o.c. x 12" rows.) Whether you install whole Hosta clumps or split them up is a factor of How many you need vs. how many you have available. Split them if you're going to need a lot of Hosta or if the clumps are so huge they just need splitting.

If your NM is a new planting and currently only grows with one stem it would be best to keep pinching it this year to help it put up more stems from the ground. Also all clematis are pruned hard in the spring the first three years to allow more energy establishing roots. I haven't grown either of the annual vines you mention but have heard that moonvine gets very large leaves and stems so don't think that I would put it with a clematis. Others may have a different opinion. If NM is a young plant I think it would overpower her. I prefer to add another clematis to the same trellis rather than annual vines. I don't have roses but I planted clematis near a couple of bushes last fall so they could climb the bushes. Seems to me that planting them both at the same time makes sense. Hope someone with experience will respond to your questions.

It's still young, so I would leave it be as it's building it's roots. However, you can pinch it a bit now to promote side shoots. After it blooms you can cut it back to about 1' and will possibly get a second bloom and maybe more shoots. Suzy

You can and you should. :) Next spring, when it is time to prune your roses, cut them down to about a foot tall and then pinch the new growth as it comes up. This should make them put up multiple vines from the crown. The more vines, the more flowers. I'm not sure in your zone if you have time to do it now or not. All clematis benefit from hard pruning the first few years to get them to put up more vines. You might give them some alfalfa meal or pellets too. I use pellets bought as horse feed (no salt, no additives) very cheap at feed store. You can buy meal boxed as fertilizer but it is much more expensive. I have been tossing alfalfa pellets around the yard since last summer and I think the results are great.