Was hoping...

Are your flower beds going to be viewed only from the front? If so, taller plants go in the back, medium height plants go in the middle and shorter plants for the front border.

I have a red hot poker plant. It needs a lot of water. I don't have any idea why it is called draught resistant. Iris are best planted in the background. That way other plants will hide the browning foliage.

Russian sage is draught resistant. I like it very much. I am also very fond of my Blue Mist caryopteris, a medium size full-looking shrub with violet colored blooms. Columbine is nice. I find it does better if it gets a bit of shade. Here is a photo of my wild snapdragon, a penstemon Palmeri, one of my garden's crowning glories.

Lorna

The bed is situated directly in front of the house (and around the south corner) along its base. It will be primarily viewed from the front, though we also love watching undisturbed birds, butterflies and other critters, from windows and the door.

Hopefully I do understand that the goal is the layering affect. Its mostly working the young Harry into the garden that has slowed my planning progress... I think. That and the fact that some plant heights listed include the bloom in the measurement, in others the flower scape/stock is higher and is not included. For example, a particular daylily may have foliage 18" in height with a flower scape of 36". I have an Agastache that grew to 5 h. x 7 w. However the description has it listed as "40-48" x 24" wide". Sometimes a description will state something like -- the tall flower stalks make a statement and the lower growing foliage is evergreen. - That kind of thing throws me off when they give the height of one and not the other. How do you plan around that? How do you know which descriptions give what measurements? I know you dont have the answer to this question, its just at this point I dont know how to plan with those questions.

I have 4 stands of poker plants planted outside my front fence. This area occasionally will get water overflow from plants located inside the fence and, very rarely, purposely from direct hose water. They do well and flower beautifully. I have wondered if there are different strains, and perhaps some are more drought tolerant than others. Ive seen them listed as both needing regular water and being water thrifty.

I do like both Russian sage and Caryopteris, however because the house is a gray color, they would pretty much disappear. I flunked growing columbine... Ive tried several varieties. They required too much water and I just couldnt keep the aphids off them. The nasty pest always would do them in.

I absolutely love Penstemon palmeri! Thanks for posting the photo. When making the 50-mile trip south to a larger city to shop and visit my brother in springtime, I always look for the huge blooms of P. palmeri growing along the roadside. I had planned on ordering one from HIGH COUNTRY GARDENS this past spring with others, but they were out. Maybe next year. I wonder if it is illegal to collect a few seed from the wild ones.

Crystal

I haven't seen the penstemon Palmeri growing wild. It probably is illegal to gather the seeds. I read that the plants generally live to be about five years old, and should not be completely deadheaded, when in a garden, so that they can reseed themselves. I'm saving a few seeds from mine this year. I could send you some. They haven't dried out yet--still on the plant.

I do my planning by the height of the plant. I don't take the additional flower height into account. You could plant your beds with low growers all round and put your tall plants in the middle.

I don't think purple flowers would be lost against your grey house. Purple and grey compliment each other. There is a new variety of Russian sage at HCG. It is purple with a blue tone--I bought one. The photograph in the catalog makes it look dark blue and they refer to it as being blue, but it isn't. I think it is called Petrova, something Russian sounding which begins with a P.

I have a few of the plants on your list. I live in central New Mexico on a windswept mesa. The winds are a force to be reckoned with around here! I find that scabiosas, chyrsanthemums, snapdragons, petunias, dianthus, French marigolds and sages do well. If the plants are slightly crowded, they shade each other and the soil. Candytuft does okay. I have a nice forsythia shrub, and some artemisia. Hollyhocks do well, but rabbits ate all of mine this year.

I have two types of honeysuckle. They were slow to get going, but they are doing well. I have about twenty roses of various types. The roses definitely need some shade during the heat of a summer day, or the flowers fry on the bush. Except for the old-fashioned shrub rose. That one is a champ.

My dogs ate all of the daylilies I planted when I moved in, but I just planted a couple more--give it another go. I put chicken wire up this time. I have a groundcover Veronica Speedwell which is doing nicely beneath a tree, and a groundcover sedum (cannot remember which one) which is semi-shaded and doing okay. I planted a vibernum this spring, but it is struggling. I hope it survives.

I recently tried osteospermum, a hybrid red Marguerite and Euryops. They are all doing well. Sunflowers, of course, do well but they get started late and bloom in fall. I can grow morning glory if I keep it well watered. I have a lovely catmint, which I am quite fond of. I've tried several lavender, only one survived and is doing well. It is a lavendula, again I've lost track of the name.

I haven't had good luck with the multicolored Columbine. My yellow one gets some afternoon shade. It has been in bloom for three solid months! I have had zero success with lantana and spirea here. I've tried them a few times.

I have three big stands of Maximillian sunflowers, a perennial. It is an invasive plant but stays somewhat contained if encircled with rocks. Otherwise, shovel pruning is in order to keep it in check.

I moved to New Mexico five years ago. I considered myself a skillful gardener, but soon realized that this environment was nothing like what I was used to. It was a big learning experience!

Lorna