I pretty much plan my own beds, but I've been gardening for a bunch of years and am a plant nerd, so have a pretty good mental vocabulary of plants to work from. I plan my beds mentally with only general guidelines (ie green fern of approximate height and width, or gold-leaved evergreen shrub of an approximate size, or a perennial with medium sized variegated foliage) and then go peruse local nurseries for shrubs, vines and perennials along with websites for vines and perennials. I find that easier than trying to find a specific plant that might not be available in my quite rural area. Before I plant I physically lay out all the larger pieces still in the pots on the site and tweek as needed so that it looks good from different angles, and then add the perennials and groundcovers. Unless this is an area where no one ever goes in winter and no one can see from inside, I agree with Duluth that you might want to seriously consider some shrubs, a dwarf tree (on the outer edge of the bed or in a bulge so that it's far enough from the house) or at the very least a birdbath, sculpture or some ornamental trellises or tuteurs with vines growing up them so that there is some winter interest and some taller interest during the summer (since many of the taller perennials are for sun.) I'm attaching a link with a bed I planned for year-round interest, though unfortunately the one illustrated is in full sun, so the plants can't translate. I'll plan to go out and take some photos of a shade mixed border that I have as well. I worked on both these beds (which are 2-5 years old) to get not only flowers (since perennials usually bloom for only part of the season), but also a range of foliage size, texture and color so that even out of bloom there is something going on. Another thing to consider is the amount and type of light you have. The north side of a building will have shade, but if there are no other structures or trees nearby, it will be a much brighter shade (and you will have a wider plant palette) than if you have overhanging trees which create dense shade. Also, your east and west ends may get some sun morning or afternoon during the growing season. A final suggestion if you want to do the work to plan your own beds - go to the public library and get out lots of books on shade gardening, especially ones with photos. What your local library doesn't have, you might be able to borrow by requesting a loan through your local library from other libraries. (NH has a wonderful state-wide interlibrary loan program.) Go to Fine Gardening Magazine's website and search for shade garden articles and check out what (if any) garden magazines your local library or gardening friends get. This will give you a feeling for what plants are available, what you like, and how they can be combined in a design. Another good book for design of a mixed border is The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs by Tracy DiSabato-Aust. Have I given you enough homework to keep you busy during the long winter months? ;>) Please report back on progress you have made. I love to see and hear about others' gardens. Here is a link that might be useful: Summer and winter bed

someone at walters gardens... who grows millions of hosta per year.. suggested to me.. that by the time the scapes are above the leaves .. in other words.. by the time you see them ... the energy is spent ... you would be too late to make a difference .... besides... after flowering.. in july or so.. they start extending new roots... storing energy for next year ... they will do this.. whether or not you cut off the flowers ... so whats the point ... i wonder if we talked about whether the flowers scapes extend on stored energy from the prior year [they come up in spring on stored energy] .... or whether.. since the leaves are unfurled by this point.. they are utilizing currently processed energy ... hmmmm ... if there was a brain cell with that knowledge.. it is long gone... lol ... but i dont think there was ... ken

Saltidawg thanks for the link, I think I found that company also thru a link but I need BIG 28 x 28". I put a call into them anyway, maybe they can point me in a direction.

That was written last night just as the library was closing, so I ended more abruptly than I intended. Our story was more give and take and a real discussion, less abrupt than the way I ended it here. It seems to me that we have as a society become more self-centred, less concerned with the welfare of others and of the community than was true in earlier generations ... and "locations", possibly, as I grew up on a farm near a village and our village and church was mainly long-term residents, so it had become somewhat like larger, or extended family. As a farmer I learned of the importance of being in tune with the earth and using resources carefully and with discretion, not wasting them. The fact troubles me that while small, single-horse-drawn covered wagons delivered milk, bread and ice to homes in cities, about 70 years ago, that they began building refrigerators about 60 years ago, that a substantial percentage of the ones that they built 50 years ago lasted for 40 years ... but that a substantial proportion of the ones that they build today last for about ten years. I feel doubly troubled: that we're wasting precious resources, of petroleum and iron ore, smelters, cutting and shaping machines and trucks to haul the parts ... including plastics, which are also sourced from petroleum. It took millions of years to produce it, and we've been using a major portion of the earth's supply in the last less than 100 years. It seems to me that our grandkids will be angry with us for our wastefulness, our profligacy. Secondly ... when the engineers, who haven't become stupider in the last 50 years, build a fridge and sell it to me with a smile on their face, that'll last about a fifth as long as they could make it to last ... ... I feel cheated ... sort of like being mugged (without a gun). That's without making reference to all of the pollution and global warming that are being generated by these wasteful ways that we've developed in recent years. And are guaranteed to become more acute, as millions in various parts of the world become more prosperous. Dad taught me that when I was doing a job ... that I should do it RIGHT! (And when I didn't ... I had to do it over again). Plus ... when you work with folks scores of thousands of whom have left their former lives and become refugees in another part of their war-torn country with nothing but the clothes on their backs, as you learn how the small things of life become precious to them, you learn of the value of all aspects of this, what I believe to be God's world, that S/He's entrusted into our hands and expects us to make use of as responsible stewards. ole joyful