I've mostly gotten rid of my sunflower hedge as it was becoming wildly invasive. The Max's really took off here, apparently loving the clay. I interplanted Silphiums (rosin weed/compass plant), which weren't as bad, but they were thuggish after a few years. Their roots grow very deep. I've left some scattered clumps (aka "giving up"), but I'm watching them like a lazy distracted hawk. Johnny is disliking the Scotch thistle and fuller's teasle I have planted with Poncirus 'Flying Dragon'. Only the hardy bitter orange is perennial, but right now nobody with any sense is coming near that bed, which had a history until now of getting trampled. (We had someone light firecrackers on our porch, so next year the thistle and teasle will be growing near the windows. Johnny already put in cameras.) I've tried grasses, but only the Miscanthus species have done well. There again, one large clump of M. floridus is proving difficult to get rid of. Some is still growing, in mid-air, in the compost. I did plant some along with Arundo donax (giant reed) around the chicken run for shade, the hens can tear both of those up as much as they want. Ironweed (Vernonia) has been a good mixed hedge plant, it's not invasive here. I've had some tall asters do well too. The taller goldenrods have been something of a mistake as they reseed like crazy. Who knew goldenrod could be such a weed? ; ) I've been admiring my still young hedge along part of the back yard this year. I've mixed various elderberries with a butterfly bush, a chaste tree, one of the jujubes, two Decaisnea bushes (deadman's fingers), a short persimmon, and a serviceberry tree. It's coming along fairly well. The elderberries would be less manageable if we had more rain I think. I would have an Illinois Everbearing mulberry too if an otherwise cute groundhog hadn't eaten it. A hedge along part of the front is proving more difficult. I planted a dwarf oak to anchor one corner and hopefully the che fruit trees will continue to fill in part of that hedge. I'm still trying to get something else to fill some gaps (I'm still trying to find something that will LIVE, I don't lack for ideas). Another line of hedge is mostly cherry bushes and assorted other bushes with similar heights with tall flowers in between. Honestly, it looks like a big mess now. I'm thinking I may just go with mulch between the maturing bushes or one very short ground cover. Once the bushes get a few more years on them, it'll look less like a scraggly line of weed trees. We can grow rosemary here, but it never really gets all that large (the largest bush I've seen locally was maybe 3' tall). I think that or Russian sage would be gorgeous. Good luck with the Ceanothus, I keep hoping some brave gardener will try some around here. They do sound tricky. I bought an Osmanthus to try here, I figure it'll survive a mild winter. kent

February should be a fine time to plant most cold-hardy plants. We've moved and divided mature nandinas and other plants with great success at that time of year. .... make sure that you get the (abelia) cultivar that will best fit the space. Just emphasizing this recommendation from sylviatexas. Standard abelia x grandiflora wants to grow into an 8 ft+ shrub in our area, in spite of it often being listed with a "typical" height of 4-6 ft. They also want to be nearly as wide as they are tall. They are barely recognizable in some older foundation plantings where they are sheared tight with a hedge trimmer to keep them below the windows and/or soffits. This removes most of their flowers and much of their natural character. Better to control height by annually cutting up to a third of the tallest stems, but is effort that can be avoided (minimized?) by buying one of the many smaller cultivars now available that will more naturally fit the space. Suggest shopping for the best fit (and color) for your spot(s) even if the variety is not available until later in the year; they're tough plants as long as you give them extra water while they're getting established. I wouldn't have any reservations about planting a healthy one at any time where I could get a hose to it - even in August. Our Edward Gouchers reliably max out at about 5 ft.... other than a few "cowlicks" that are snipped off after the spring growth spurt.

Every spring, I take out the 3 or 4 tallest canes in an attempt to maintain the nandina's size. I cut them off at the ground. It puts up 4 to 10 new canes every year. Jim

Are you sure you have that name right? I am not familiar with any nandina of that cultivar name but 'Firepower' is a very popular variety. I sometimes wonder why it is so popular as I find it to be the least desirable of any nandina cultivar. It has a much larger leaf structure so loses any of that lacy foliage effect of other nandinas. And with kind of a dumpy, lumpy growth habit compared to other cultivars. It is also overly prone to leaf spot and powdery mildew. And is not really a dwarf but more of midsized cultivar (can get as much as 60" tall). But it is sterile and can get pretty intense winter color, which likely accounts for much of its popularity. Unfortunately its propensity for leaf spot in my climate takes away from much of its winter appeal. Pruning nandinas should be done from the bottom up, not from the top down :-) Top pruning or shearing a nandina seldom results in a pleasing appearance and sheared plants develop an awkward, unnatural growth habit. Generally, the recommendation is to remove any leggy or older canes at the base. This will encourage new cane formation from the base of the plant. And with the taller, more leggy varieties, pruning some of the exterior canes back by 1/3 to 1/2 can encourage foliage development that will fill in and hide the bare interior stems. 'Firepower' is not known for being a very leggy selection and seldom requires any pruning at all. But I can see where the much broader leaves than typical for nandina could make a mature plant somewhat top heavy with new growth and rain. Thinning would be your best approach in this case, rather than just whacking the plant back.