I would nix the all-perennial look in Cincy - you will not have anything there for 5-6 mos out of the yr., and go for shrubs and evergreens - an 8 ft wide border could be very beautiful. Have you seen the following Blue Holly - red berries in winter and shiny leaves - try Blue Boy and Blue Girl for evergreen hollies The deciduous hollies for heavy crops of red berries Various azaleas and dwarf rhodos like Purple Gem can be tucked up next to larger shrubs for a little shelter or even large rocks- huge spring color in a wide array from white, pink, purple, red, yellow Pieris - You have Mountain Fire for red foliage, Valley Valentine for hot pink flowers in spring, etc Variegated Osmanthus and Hollies - there are a number of evergreen variegated shrubs - even the mounding or prostrate Euonymous Hypericum Albury Purple - burgundy leaves, yellow flowers, red berries - a cornucopia of color Buddleia - as someone mentioned - a butterfly magnet The red and yellow twig dogwoods - you would be amazed at how screaming colorful they are in winter 1 Witchhazel for bloom in January - I have Jelena that I put by the driveway and I have a big smile every yr in Jan as I pull in and look at those flowers lilacs and dwarf lilacs late spring- I am very partial to Donald Wyman which is the nicest lilac I have ever had the flower panicles are just enormous - like a bunch of grapes An arbor with hardy roses and clematis mixed on it There are large flowered clems that bloom spring and fall, and the viticellas like John Treasure or Betty Corning that bloom their hearts out all summer long. You can also pair in the Sweet Autumn Clematis with another clem to give a giant send off to summer. Dwarf Magnolias like Jane-magenta & Butterfly - lt yellow The dwarf chamaecyparis like nana and nana Aurea Weigelas Beauty Berry - Callicarpa If I had a border like that I would mix in Trumpet, Asiatic, Oriental and Species Lilies Rubra and Alba, and L. Black Beauty which for me is often almost 7 ft tall, and also Dahlias - which will bloom heavily till a hard frost and can some get to 5 ft tall- I have taken my dahlias in during Thanksgiving week before. Also lots of bulbs like crocus, leucojum, narcissus, tulips, alliums, fritillaria, liatris, and all the non-hardy summer blooming bulbs like Acidanthera which smells so heavenly. Other evergreen shrubs - Alberta Spruce, hemlock - just prune it, Pencil Holly, Pencil Juniper, Arborvitae - prune them There is a dwarf white birch that is only 10-12 ft Also crab apples, dwarf hawthorns, Pink Diamond hydrangea, Pee Gee Hydrangea in tree form. there are dwarf forsythias that stay about 4-5 ft tall Tall perennials - many have been mentioned but you should take into account that they will take the best part of the summer to achieve their height so you start with them poking out of the ground in May and take it from there. Just because I'm partial to Monarch butterflies I always plant several varieties of Asclepias which is the only plant they lay eggs on and the caterpillars eat. I also plant Lobelia Cardinalis - Cardinal Flower and Monarda Jacob Kline which draws maybe 2-3 pairs of hummingbirds to my garden every yr. The tallest perennials in my garden are all about 4-5 ft Aster Honeysong Pink - 5 ft high and wide, perennial sunflowers Heliopsis and Helianthus, ASter Jindai, Anemone Honorine Jobert, Boltonia There is so much you could do with that space I hope you post some pics A

"Wow! livelsberger, that is nice. How long does the Tonto usually bloom for you? June-Sept.? " Thank you 'mayhem69!' My Tonto usually starts blooming around the 1st week of August up into October. In fact right now it has some spent blooms and some new ones ready to pop open... "livelsberger - I love the color of your Tonto. What is the lowest temp you get in the winter?" Thanks I love the color too, not really red not really pink but a perfect combination of the two...fucshia! As for our lowest temps., here in Adams county we get a few nights where the thermometer might drop to the single digits, but not too many. For the most part the average overnight lows are in the teens and twenties in the coldest winter months of January and February.

Hi, I would love to do a trade with you for some ponytail amaranthus if you have any left. What are you looking for?

This would be a good question for the design forum. If you have a very traditional symetical house then planting two soilders (two conifers)on each side of the front door may look ok as long as they do not get too tall. I agree with the designer - slow growing is better. Do you want two - say - 8-10ft conifers on either side of your front door. Eventually junipers will grow large and crowd the entrance. Large planting next to the front door may not always give you a "Welcome to my home feeling" If they are not planted properly which they will eventually crowd the entry. And trying to prune them to the right size works for a few years. If you have a house that is not symetical like a you designer is getting off easy by planing two of the same type of plants on either side of the front door. Landscape Designs do not always need symetry to look good, balance is just as important. The plum yews are an interesting choices, I would prefer something that grows slow and will never grow taller than the doorway - Sometning like a Hinoki cypress - CHamaecyparis obtusa Nana - You will never feel overcrowed. They are also more intesting to look at than junipers. Mike