@frankie- I like your thinking. I may consider extending the lattice fence around the bulkhead and AC unit but would still like to fill something in where that mulch bed resides. I dont want to fence the entire bed in as that part of my yard is not wide and it might not be aesthetically pleasing.

You can put them in bright shade too but paniculatas will do best in some sunlight. I have a Little Lime that is a compact version of Limelight and, in its current bright shade location, it sometimes stays lime colored thru the whole season and does not turn white. Some years it has turned lime to white to green-pink but usually it stays lime and turns green-pink. Actually, it turns out, I prefer that but, man, it was an unexpected development out of the left field, as they say. Over here with my long growing season, paniculatas may get 2 ft quite easily in their first year as they grow fast and grow all thru the Fall for me. You could put the pots in holes in the ground that you dug up and then cover the sides with mulch. Have fun trying things. That is how we all learn! Ha! Luis

Hi Dingo! Wow you must be my neighbor, thanks for the local insight!! We are in Hinsdale. Yes, I am aware of the alkalinity.. actually I am getting a neutral reading on my soil here, using one of those metal shaft ph things that look like a meat thermometer. 7.0. so, my plan was that since the roses also prefer a slightly acidic soil, that I would add Aluminum Sulfate to the soil to try to get it between 6.0-6.5, for the roses to be happy and also for the hydrangeas to grow more blue. I already bought about 5 endless summer hydrangeas (3 of the original, 2 Bloomstruck). with the idea that the original ones would be in the middle as they can grow about a foot higher than the 2 others. The bloom struck may look a little more purple and could go on either side of the originals. I think the slight height difference and adding some of that purple to either end of the row of blue may look nice.. but we will see. I hadn't heard of the Nantucket blue but that sounds like exactly what I'm looking for since I got on this hydrangea kick after visiting Nantucket this past summer! All of the homes with their blue hydrangeas was just stunning!! Thanks for the tip, I will go to Meinke's!! Maybe I'll get lucky and come home with roses for the front this season after all! Yes, I thought about clematis. that is an option, but I so have my heart set on this cottage look with the old English looking garden roses and hydrangeas. It's going to be a challenge but worth it if I figure this out.

Wow! Thank you for the detailed plan however I need to keep the green space for my daughter to play.