P.S. I love purple and blue, btw :). Though I won't be too picky, almost all of my garden is purple and blue in the front of the house, accented with lime and silver-gray foliage.

I am considering Salvia Black and Blue for this area...

Is Black and Blue salvia a perennial in your zone? How about Great Blue Lobelia? Although it likes it wet, I find it does well even in dryer conditions and the part shard is not a problem.

Are you sure you really want perennials in that small spot? I don't mean to sound to directive, but I'm betting those iris are going to continue to multiply and spread, leaving even less room for their neighbors. Also, if it's so close to the porch and gets lots of up-close viewing, I'd vote for something that will bloom all summer into fall. My favorites are Cosmos and Zinnias. If you really want perennials, what about roses? Or what about climber like clematis? I haven't grown very many, but I think there are some that bloom later in the summer. Of course, clematis would definitely need staking. I'm not being very helpful, am I? What about an ornamental grass that would give you pretty plumes that could last right through the winter? Not very colorful, though. Oh, maybe Liatris (Gay Feather)? They might not be quite tall enough, though there are different varieties that are taller, but not as pretty under close inspection. How about some asters? New England Asters are a beautiful purple and are quite tall without needing staking. They do get shaggy looking at the bottom by late summer in my yard, but I don't do any watering.

Well, that's all I have time for. Help I was helpful. Enjoy your hunt for something that makes you happy.

Martha

IMO, Victoria Blue Salvia gives off way more blooms than B&B. A grouping of VB looks like Lavendar. More blooms than leaves, and they're drought/heat resistant too. They'll stay in full bloom until frost and will come back the following year. To get the look now, just buy a bunch of medium size plants and place them close together.

Only thing is, your Iris will take over any perennial you grow there. Have you considered moving some of the Iris to a place where they can go wild and not worry about the other bedding plants?

I love Iris and other bulbs, but one of the reasons I don't grow any besides Daylilies (which was given to me) is because they're only pretty for a week or so. lol.

Martha-

thanks! You might be right about getting pushed out as the Irises continue to expand... maybe a hardy perennial will push back?? :) I'd hate to have ONLY irises coming back each year in that stretch of garden. It's the (only) bed right by the front door to my home, so it needs color and interest.

Liatris might be perfect, that is what my uncle recommended as well!

Asters don't seem to like my garden in this spot, though I had only tried smaller varieties...

And yes, Cosmos or Zinnias would work too, or such an annual - I just prefer something perennial so it comes back each year in this key spot (and earlier than annuals).

I'm also willing to divide the Irises every few years, starting later this year or next year, esp if the trade off is some room for long-blooming perennials. Heck I guess I'd even move them completely, but they seem very happy where they are now that they finally bloomed, so I probably should leave well enough alone (besides controlling/division) :).

oakleyok- yes I hear you about bulbs and short bloom, I wouldn't normally have planted them at all but since they were an heirloom gift I threw them in (if anyone want to see them or read more I posted about them here - http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/iris/msg051125225142.html).

Now they're by FAR the most prominent thing in the whole garden! Not such a bad thing, my mom loves even the foliage and how it gives good height and reliable lushness and spikey contrast to the rest during the non-bloom time.

Bev2009 - oh maybe B&B is not perennial by me, I will check! :) I will also look at the one you suggest.

And I see folks saying the Iris will indeed strong arm anything else I plant, darnit... Well they will need to be divided regularly or moved then at some point because this is my big prominent bed in front the of the house and I don't want it completely full of - or dominated by- Irises forever. hmm!

How about moving the irises to the rear of the bed and planting lavender in the front?

Nicole, your irises sound pretty. You talk about dividing them every few years and moving the extras to have enough space.

I decided to donate my extra daylilies to our local Daylily Society for their big annual sale and it motivated me to clean them out at just the right time of year. Lots of groups would be happy to have any extras that you have. Win, win!

Liatris would be perfect. You can move those irises around any time after bloom. They are not fussy. You can also cut the foliage back a bit if it gets floppy.

Both liatris and irises dislike too much water, so that would be a good choice.

Renee

I have tall phlox that is taller than the iris foliage and blooms later than the irises. Maybe "David" or "Nicky" would suit you. For me, they self seed so I have plenty of baby phlox to spread around and also give away. Another idea is to put a trellis behind the irises and grow clematis on it.

Can you put a vine on your porch railing? I like the idea of clematis. Sweet autumn clematis blooms later and smells wonderful. It is a very strong grower and I would imagine could hold its own with the iris. But, an older specimen does get very large and covers a big area. Not sure if you could trail it over your railing, and it would also trail down over the iris, which might not be a bad thing since they will be done by then. Mine forms a bit of a waterfall covering 2 large spirea and my porch railing. It is one of my favorites and the honeybees love its bloom later in the season.

But, I have heard in warmer climates it can be a bit of an over-achiever! LOL! OK, some say it can get downright invasive. I've never had a single seedling from either of mine but it is something to check into.

{{gwi:672733}}

For the July/Aug timeframe I would have suggested echinacea, but you mentioned having it elsewhere. I think Liatris would fit the space, but suspect the bloom time would be earlier than July/August for you since it's earlier for me. What about tall sedum?! It should fit the space, will be tall enough, won't run rampant, has a nice contrasting foliage w/ the iris and similar watering demands, and it should give you the color you want for July/August and beyond.

I have found that Salvia Black & Blue is a bit floppy in part sun in my experience. It does seem to like a fair amount of water in my garden, foliage looking a bit tattered and not blooming quite as well if it doesn't get regular moisture. I grow it as an annual and can't imagine my garden without it. I saw it first about 5 years ago and it was love at first sight; I've grown it every year since then in large pots where I can enjoy the hummingbirds coming to visit it.

I was thinking along the same path as T2D, though not sweet autumn since it can be a seeding nightmare in warmer areas. There are a bunch of less vigorous, long-blooming clematis in blue shades: Rhapsody has a reputation for really long bloom and a lovely mid-blue to blue-purple color. Venosa Violacea is another stunning one, with a wide, deep-purple edging that bleeds into white tepal centers. VV will bloom from July through August in my garden, and Rhapsody (though I don't grow it) should provide at least some flowers virtually all summer with heavier flushes at times. Both are fine in part shade and have the potential to get 10 to 15 feet, but you could either give them a good-sized oblelisk or as T2D suggested give them some string or netting to help them along your porch railings. If you don't want to look at dead vines all winter, both can be trimmed to a couple of feet for winter (and VV really should be) though it will delay Rhapsody's bloom start a bit if you do that. Clematis does like more moisture than iris and shouldn't get dry (regular moisture and mulch are recommended) so for either clematis or if you decide on the Salvia B&B you might want to put in a loop of soaker hose under the mulch to make watering easy if there isn't regular rain. If you want to restrict it to the obelisk, there are shorter clematis that should bloom well, particularly some of the ones that were developed by Raymond Evison which along with their sales names will have a name that has Evipo and a number. Alternatively, ones bred by Kivistik tend to stay below 6 feet at most and have a reputation for being great plants. Below I've given you a link to a good source of the Kivistik clems. With clematis, you should plan to either get a good-sized plant or expect to wait a couple of years for the plant to grow to a good size. It's worth the wait, however!

Here is a link that might be useful: Kivistik clematis at Hummingbird Farm