another bump up ... i believe it speaks for itself.. anything to add??? ken Here is a link that might be useful: there are a bunch of other newbie posts that i created over the years.. but i am not going to bump them all up myself .... but you can ... old posts do not hang in GW forever.. unless they are bumped every now and then ...

In colder zones, it is best to leave clematis pruning for the spring. Pruning encourages growth and if your temperatures are still quite warm, pruning now can stimulate new growth that can be damaged by winter cold. Type II clematis - which is what Duchess of Edinburgh is - require only minor pruning. Just remove the top portion of the plant - the first 12-18 inches or down to the second or third set of fat buds from the top of the vine. Since the majority of type II flowering occurs from second year growth, too hard a pruning can remove the major bloom flush. Once it has completed its first flowering, prune lightly again to tidy and encourage a later and usually lighter second bloom. In warmer climates that have a long growing season, many clematis growers do hard prune type II's. The initial flowering is delayed but the vine will still flower nicely. The very general rule of thumb for pruning most clematis is in spring at the same time one would prune roses. The exceptions are the very early flowering type I's. These should be pruned - if any pruning is required or desired - immediately after flowering.

You will probably want to dead-head and/or trim back in Fall any types which reseed heavily. Things as the black-eyed-Susan and coneflowers. If these are left, you may have an overabundance of volunteers. Many perennial plants are trimmed close to the ground line. If there are leaves which survive the winter, then just trim out the dead flowering stalks. Damaged foliage can be trimmed as new foliage takes over. The Russian sage might be pruned more for shape and just have dead material cut away. That might be best done in Spring. I don't trim mine to the ground. Will cut back hard some branches if they mess up the overall shape.

I think a perennial Geranium would be great. Geranium macrorrhizum is a wonderful plant that can tolerate a bit of dryness if given a bit of shade. G. cantabrigiense 'Biokovo Karmina' is a nice groundcover sort with pink-purple flowers. Geranium sanguineum 'Vision Light Pink' is also great. All of those bloom in spring, but the last one can sometimes rebloom if snipped back. And all of them have nice looking foliage even when not in bloom. Astrantia (Masterwort) might work if there is enough moisture. I also think a Platycondon (Balloon Flower) would work well. They bloom in late summer/ early fall so the foliage stays nice all the year until afer it blooms (and even then it turns a nice golden color in fall). I know there is a nice light pink colored one from the 'Astra Series' of balloon flowers. -Cameron, I am sure you will love the Erigeron. I don't have E. speciosus 'Pink Jewel', but I do have E. speciosus 'Azure Fairy'. I adore it! Looks a bit like an Aster but without the mildew. The only downside to it is that it flops some, so I have mine in the mid-border leaning up against other things. CMK