Dee,

Miscanthus 'Cosmopolitan' is a beautiful, large, variegated ornamental grass that stays quite narrow & upright (at least in my full-sun position).

Also, I know you're thinking shrubs...but it sounds like an ideal location for rudbeckia 'Maxima'. Mine are blooming now at between 6-7'. The leaves are large & a powdery-blue. I've never provided supplemental water.

For a more formal look...Ilex 'Sky Pencil' would fit in your spot perfect also (assuming the location is protected from winter sun/wind?). Might want an occassional drink if it's very dry. I lost mine this past winter; but, probably, my fault. I had them in an open, exposed location to the battering winds coming off the water...duh, wonder why I did that?

If you'd like fragrance...a deciduous summer-blooming fragrant azalea is another choice. They are very tolerant of dry conditions, once established & well mulched, & the perfect size. In fact, I find them to be practically indestructible. I grew them in NH for a dozen years & have just planted three here in Mystic this spring.

For something unusual...check out 'Red Fox Curly Sedge'. It's quite cool, IMO, & would look terrific with rudbeckia 'Maxima' (Dumbo's Ears). The sedge is a reddish-brown all season. Great plant...nobody could tell if it was dead or alive! rofl Mine is next to a globe-shaped CO Blue Spruce & looks good so I think the powdery-blue of the rudbeckia 'Maxima' might be a nice composition...neat texture difference too.

Here's a very bad photo of my Dumbo's Ears taken on a super foggy day back in early June.

Have Fun!
Tricia

What about Butterfly Bushes? I have one in my zone 6 that I haven't even had to cut back for the last three years. It is 7ft tall this year. Very tolerant of dry conditions, although this summmer has been so dry that it has a few yellowing leaves that I have had to pull off, but overall the shrub has looked great all summer with very little attention. It is fragrant and attracts butterflies better than even the asclepias and Joe Pye Weed, which is growing around it. The Joe Pye Weed has wilted when it has gotten too dry, but not the Butterfly Bush. You could even do a couple if you have room. They are very inexpensive too.

:-)

I second BB suggestion. If space allow I'd plant several different color combos together: yellow+ purple or white + red or white+purple etc.
Also, Crape murtles are fairly drough tolerant once established.
Another sun + dry lover is Cotinus coggygria and Heptacodium miconoides could tolerate such conditions once established.

Thanks for the suggestions. I hadn't thought of a holly, for some reason, I have lots of them but none anything like 'sky pencil' and none in hot sun - for some reason I always think of them as shade plants. I'll look into that.

The Rudbeckia 'Maxima' has been on my list for awhile, too ... I'm really swamped with "regular" rudbeckia but this certainly looks interesting.

PM2, all I can say is LOL. One reason I've finally decided to rework this bed is that it's completely overrun by volunteer butterfly bushes. I love them, but they're so aggressive here - at least the species, which is what I ended up with after a long convoluted process. They are absolutely everywhere - I must have pulled up 1000 seedlings today alone. We're just warm enough here for this plant to make itself at home, I guess.

The grass looks like an interesting idea, too. I have a few different ones, finally, after growing only the tender ones. I'll look into the Cosmopolitan - this might be what I need for a backbone plant in this border.

Heptacodium miconoides - another plant that I've been wanting to grow but never had the right spot for. It gets to be 10' wide, but I guess I could keep it growing tightly against the garage wall... or let it swoop out over the side of the bed, as long as there was still head room. I will look for this - it might be perfect. Thanks!

Nan, please save a few hundreds of BB seedlings for me :-))
I have a friend who wants to establish a BB grove on a top of the windy hill in z6a and only species survive there, but they didn't produce enough seedlings to make that grove in her lifetime. She'll be very gratefull to have her hands on such 'treasure'.

Nan, Heptacodium could be grown as a single or multi-trunked limbed up tree for as long as you have enough 'head room' say above 7-8' mark.

dtd...wow, I guess I couldn't have suggested something you were less interested in..lol. So, is it only the species that reseeds like that? I have had a Butterfly Bush for at least the past 10 years and have never had a seedling. I have heard that before that they do that in the warmer zones. Aren't they on the invasive list in some parts of the country? Again I am reminded how I keep thinking that Cape Cod is zone 7.

Hi Nan.

I have a large (and getting larger every year) stand of Helianthus maximiliana 'Santa Fe' that I never, ever, ever water. It is the latest bloomer in my garden, and is easily over 7'. Naked knees tho. If you'd like some, I've never tried digging and dividing, but I'd be happy to give it a go in September.

Here is a link that might be useful: Helianthus max 'Santa Fe' at HCG

PM2 - You're right, we've been reclassified as zone 7, I just don't believe it (!) so I haven't bothered to change my GW zone.

But, I actually *am* interested in your BB idea, because I had not thought about using what I have there already, or something similar. As you surmise, the species is the rampantly self-sowing one. I had a hybrid white for about 5 years that threw exactly 3 seedlings in its lifetime. I removed the white because of the unsightly fading blooms; brown doesn't bother me on the blue ones, but on the white it looked pretty bad. The offspring were rampant seeders, though. I could find a nice hybrid blue or red, though, and try that. They certainly take a lot of heat and drought, and the foliage is a great shade too.

Geo, I will bring a few hundred seedlings to the swap; there must be that many left out there. I'll bring some bigger ones, they will quickly fill the grove with their offspring; just don't tell me in a couple of years that these are now on the dreaded invasives list in your part of CT!

ML, the Helianthus looks wonderful. I'm leaning towards the 7-son flower tree, but I'll think about this. I think Heptacodium will want a fair amount of water while it's getting established, some of the tall perennials can stand on their own after a single season of drip irrigation, I think.

dtd...I don't completely rely on my zone designation either. I consider a plant that is only hardy to zone 6 as a borderline plant in my garden. I like to try to use hardy to zone 5 plants as much as I can. In New England, how much can you really trust the weather? [g] Especially lately.

I wish I knew the name of the variety of Butterfly Bush that I have had for 10 years. It looks like a Nanho Blue, but not completely. I wasn't keeping good records at that point, sorry. I did run across an article last month on the best butterfly bush selections and although I can't find it again...I can tell you what they recommended.

They seemed to really like the new dwarfs which are from the English Butterfly series and are supposed to be half the size of the typical BBush. Peacock has lavender pink flowers that are described as 'shining' in the garden. Purple Emperor is a dark purple, and Adonis Blue is a rich dark blue.

Orchid Beauty is supposed to have a remarkable bloom, being extremely narrow and packed tight with numerous flowers and is highly fragrant.

According to the article, the 'Potter's Purple' was the author's favorite shade of purple. Not the darkest but more attractive and eye catching. Supposed to have big fat blooms and it's branching is stronger and more refined.

The best light pink cultivar is said to be 'Pink Delight'. I just bought one last month at a local nursery in a quart size for $5. I don't mind the small size because in my experience they really take off pretty quickly. Pink Delight is described as having large blooms in a pure rich pink. Much richer than 'Fascinating' [aka 'Pink Fascination']. When it comes to form, foliage, and texture, 'Pink Delight' is the standard by which all Buddleia should be measured. Wonderful, thick pubescent silver leaves which provides excellent spider mite resistance. It is relatively compact with excellent branching, and in the most graceful manner, it holds its long panicles upright in a neat and attractive manner.

Royal Red is as close to red as you get.

They advise not getting the variegated because it gets ratty and it is weak and reverts.

The best blue available..Ellen's Blue.

Yellows...Buddleia x weyeriana 'Honeycomb' is a cross between B. davidii and globosa. It is a butter yellow and is markedly more refined than 'Sungold'. The plant was a chance find by Mike Dirr and has quickly become the most popular yellow form.

That's it. Hope that helps you with your decision.

:-)

PM, thank you for BB review.
Let me add a few words based on my own experience.

Adonis Blue- very pale grayish blue, not a deep blue as described and flowers completely lost if planted next to any purple varieties, though thick silver-gray foliage is an excellent feature of this cultivar and realy stand out against any dark green backdrop.
Royal Red- is not a 'true' red, but probably is the most red of all. I like it.
Honeycomb- extremely vigorous and for sure can stand up against the species if planted together for a yellow-purple combo. No seedlings.
Variegated- weak and reverts, indeed. First candidate for SPing for next spring.

How about making an espalier of pyracantha on the garage wall? It should be like the conditions and be hardy enough, and maybe would still leave room for plants in front of it.

Claire

Here is a link that might be useful: Pyracantha espalier

I like some of the shrub ideas that others have mentioned-Crape Myrtle, Heptacodium, and Buddleia. I love B. 'Lochinch' with the silvery foliage and lavendar flowers. I've had 2 seedlings from Lochinch over the years. Heptacodium can get tall but can be trained to a single stem or upright multistem habit.

Gee, monique, that name sounded familiar, so I googled it and I think that might be the Buddleia I have. Thanks for reminding me. :-)

I picked up a couple of tall, sad-looking heptacodiums at Mahoneys; I couldn't resist when one of the employees mentioned that no other shoppers had recognized the plant all season and said that that qualified me for a 50% discount on them. After a little belated reading, though, I don't think they'd be as happy as the butterfly bushes, which are already proving to me they like this kind of hot, dry situation.

I may look into some grasses and add either some non-invasive varieties of BB or a group of Vitex, which has a similar look - I also have a lot of perovskia seedlings that would no doubt fit right in - and help keep the weeds down (or at least out of sight).

The heptacodium will have to find a cooler spot ... wonder if I can get away with removing any more lawn this year? It's that or more of the vegetable garden ... yeah, nobody will notice if that gets even smaller this year.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

dtd,
I wonder if you would have enough depth to place some Comptonia peregrina (sweet fern)in front of some native grasses. I have this combo growing in high ph, sandy soil, in full sun, with no irrigation and it is happy, happy, happy.

Welcome back, Katy. Thanks for the suggestion!

I see you also mentioned New York Ironweed, aka Vernonia noveboracensis, on another thread - I'm thinking that might work here too, with the height but not the width of a shrub.

That one's been on my list since I saw it in your garden - and it seems like it will grow just about anywhere - full sun, shade, wet or dry soils. I wonder how it would work with grasses? That might work, with my rangy BBs, some rudbeckia, and Joe Pye weed here and there.

I thought it might help to see this photo of my BBush with grasses around it. That is a Pennisetum Hamlin on the left front and on the far side of it is a young Miscanthus Morning Light. That is a Carex buchanii bottom left, but it is borderline hardy. I am always surprised when it is still here in the spring. [g] Not a very good photo of the BBush. It is in bloom now but no pic yet. I have Vernonia in my yard too, but it is in quite a bit of shade and it flops a lot. Maybe it won't in full sun. It is a nice native.

Another one I thought of, was Joe Pye Weed. Would that be too much for you? They do have the 'Gateway' and 'Little Joe' that are supposedly not as tall. I just planted the species and 'Little Joe' last year but not enough experience with them to say yet.

Great combination, PM2! Is the Miscanthus on the right of the photo, past the daisies? I looked up your other grasses at Lazy S's because I wasn't quite sure which was which. I've always loved that Carex buchanii, but I'm afraid to grow it because, in my garden, it might easily be mistaken for dead. It looks great with the other grasses in your photo, though.

Funny you should mention Joe Pye, as I have tons of it. It can be a little finicky about being moved, which is surprising, since it's a bit of a thug. But, since this space is so narrow, I think very tall, thuggish perennials and grasses might be a good way to go.

Of course, here I am planning one thing and on another browser tab I've got a shopping basket with 3 Nandina domestica, 3 Schizachyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem, 3'T, 18-24"W ) 'The Blues' and 2 Vernonia noveboracensis at Lazy S's Farm! I'm trying to think about how those would work together; love the nandina foliage/fruit/flowers but I think the Ironweed would tower over it; that might look a little odd. Maybe I have enough tall perennials in the mix already, as there's also a healthy smattering of verbena bonariensis throughout this bed (and all the beds).

The Miscanthus is behind the daisies which are Anthemis Susannah Mitchell, which is short with small button blossoms. If you can see a little pink on the right, that is a Knock Out Rose next to the Miscanthus, which hasn't had a yellow leaf on it through this dry spell and last year was the last thing blooming in my yard. The Pennisetum Hamlin is very tame and fits right under that BBush. There are a few others that are taller that are nice. Have you seen the pink blossomed 'Karley Rose'? It is just a little larger than the Hamelin. There is also one called Moudry which I think is gorgeous. BTW, here in zone 5/6 I have not seen a seedling from my Pennisetum. I saw a great combo in someone's front yard... Hardy Hibiscus, Shasta Daisies and Joe Pye Weed with Miscanthus gracillimus. It gets huge and probably wouldn't work for you dtd. But the pretty Pink Hardy Hibiscus, with the Joe Pye Weed was eyecatching.

Here is that P. Moudry, wish I had room for that! :-)

I just love tabs on a browser, don't you? [g] Nandina are very pretty. They have fall color too, right? Bluestem is great and I wish I had room to grow it. I also love Indian Grass which I didn't dare plant so I put it in a pot this year..lol. Not exactly happy there. [g] You know you are talking about prairie plants there dtd! :-) I see from your OP that you mentioned Joe Pye Weed there already that might be staying. I measured my 'Little Joe' just now and it is about to bloom and stands 45" high. First year in, so don't know if it will get larger.

I also measured the bed my Butterfly Bush is in and it is 7ft deep at the point the BBush is planted. I did plant it forward, because my neighbor has an evergreen on the other side of the fence that hangs over a good foot and a half. There are about 5 trees right along my fence line behind that whole bed, so that BBush has to deal with dry conditions for sure.

I just looked up 'The Blues'...isn't that so pretty!

I came across a grass comparison chart in my travels and posted the link below for anyone interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Grasses comparison chart