Thanks, Katie. I was afraid of that. It's too bad - it looks like a lovely cultivar and it is supposed to be hardy and fragrant as well. I guess I'll have to be content with the many fine cultivars that are available here. I don't have room for all the ones that I would like to have, so naturally I have to wish for one that is unavailable! Holly

There are a couple of big differences between your hedge/house and the one in your picture (which I agree - it looks dynamite there). First, the house in the pic has very different proportions from your house. It's more squared off, whereas yours is much wider than it is tall (from these pics). The windows in the inspiration house are tall and narrow, whereas yours are low and wide. The inspiration house has some fairly "busy" woodwork, while yours has a simple, clean style. The structured hedge for the inspiration house is off-setting some of that elaborate woodwork, and the length of the hedge is providing some balance to the tall, narrow look of the house. The same hedge on your house is reinforcing the low, wide structure of the house. You have a pretty structured, clean look to the house, and the structured, clean look to the hedge is making an overwhelming sense of "structure". It makes it look boxy and plain, and takes a lot of the potential character away from your (very nice) house. Also, the others who commented that the hedge is cutting your lower windows in half horizontally are right, and that's just reinforcing this impression even more. There are a lot of things you could put in there that will complement your house's style and still give you privacy in those windows. If this were mine, I'd want to balance the structured look of the house with a much less structured look in the lawn. You can do that if you replace the hedge (is that boxwood?) with another evergreen hedge that has a rounder, more mounded character. You can also provide balance by making a nice, deep, curving bed in the front. I would suggest rhododendrons, or azaleas, but planted with some space in between them, not as a wall of greenery. You'd get your privacy in the windows, they'd break up the horizontal effect, they're pretty low-maintenance (as long as you get ones that are appropriately sized, and I'd suggest ones that aren't likely to get above 4 or 5 feet tall, max), and you get flowers. In front of those, I would put some nice summer-flowering perennials in. Daylilies would be nice - you don't get much lower-maintenance than a bed full of daylilies. You'd want to have several different types and plant them in drifts so that you get nice irregularly-shaped blocks of color throughout the season. Hostas would also work for you - if you want something a little "formal" looking you can front your bed with a nice edging of small-ish hostas - this can give a very finished look to a perennial bed. I also agree about putting something in that rock wall. Creeping thyme is lovely and low-maintenance. Campanulas would soften the look really nicely too.

Went to hear Raymond Evison give a talk just last Sunday here in Portland. He has a new book out which is about clems for smaller spaces. I've always just walked past his entire patio series but he convinced me that they are worth the price. He also has a new collection called FLORA which are even more compact. The first one released here is Bijou. Filigree will be in the states in '09. Both are so pretty, petite and covered with flowers. Mr Evison says that they are putting the emphisis in their breeding program on the smaller, longer blooming clems. There is a wholesale nursery here in the Willamette Valley that grows his vines but even here first and second year availability can be spotty. Look later in the season. And yes the "ponytail cut" was recommended. He also varied a little from what I consider conventional wisdom about pruning new transplants. He said no matter what the pruning group, the first spring after putting the clem in the soil, trim to 12". Much thicker lusher plant no matter which type.

Warning, "basket/cart", magically added items on several occasions including after I gave cc info during order confirmation. Not impressed yet, will let you know if this is resolved before shipment and condition of plants upon arrival. Can't win em all. Can't blame me for biting the bait at $4.