Mme. Alfred Carriere is first to begin to bloom, often at the end of February, where we live, c. 7 miles east of San Francisco. Then all the China and Tea rosebushes bloom: starting with: Duchess de Brabant and Westside Road Cream Tea Archduke Charles Followed in c. 2 weeks by the rest of the Old Garden Tea rosebushes. Celine Forestier blooms then too, a rose I am madly in love with, so pretty with those large shallow cupped blooms surrounded by fresh pink rosebuds... and the fragrance!!! oooh-la-la! Gloire des Rosomanes begins bloom at the end of March, and I love its light but lovely and spicy scent. It was one of the first red roses I ever loved because I thought red roses appeared somber, but those artless cherry red blooms with their China rose white streaks seduced me. I found one bloom during the first week of April on my 'Belle Sultane' usually the Gallica roses bloom at the end of April or during May here. My Albertine has a few blooms too. Our bloom season for China, Old Garden Tea roses extends from the end of February through mid-December, we often get a warm spell during mid-January and most of the Tea and Tea-Noisettes will put out a medium flush c. 1/2 to 2/3rds of the main spring flush of bloom. Compared to Hybrid Tea rosebushes, I was delighted to see (though I feel I should feel abashed about this feeling, mea culpa) my neighbors front yard with only Hybrid Teas and modern roses has not a single bloom in it while my yard appears garlanded with an abundance of fragrant old garden Tea roses of pink, ivory, lemony yellow, peach and white all in mass profusion. While my friend and neighbor has ...poor thing... only rosebushes with leaves to show. She will have a garden of glory in late April when her Florabundas bloom fully followed in a couple weeks by her H.T.s. My companion flowers that begin to bloom in late March through April , and re-bloom several times each year ( in our warm climate) include Johnny-jump-up violas which surround Lady Hillingdon as do Forget -Me-Nots, I have several 'Electric Blue' Geraniums that Luanne gave me last year that are blooming around Mme. Berkeley. and re-bloom steadily. Parma violets bloom in winter here when the last Tea roses are blooming. Hybrid Tea roses with long stems bloom for an average of 28 to 33 days per flush X 3 flushes per year for a total of nearly 3 months a year. Florabundas bloom for a few days longer per flush: an average of 30 to 35 days per flush x slightly more than a month per flush, with an average bloom span of 3 and 1/2 months per year to nearly 4 months per year. Lady Hillingdon bloomed for more than 180 days during her first flush of the year with never being dead headed, and always with 33% to 100% of bloom output during that time. ( I had a spinal injury and had nothing to do for 2 years but count rose blossoms in a large garden ) Other than the China and Teas no one can match them for days of bloom per year but a handful of Tea-Hybrids, including: Pax' a white Hybrid Musk bred by Pemberton. 50% Old Garden Tea This blooms in winter here with the Tea roses, mentioned in January. Souvenir de la Malmaison' a Bourbon that is also 50% Old Garden Tea it has the shorter pedicles typical to Old Garden Teas which makes for rapid re-bloom. We just ordered a remontant 'Mock Orange ' (philladelphus) which is called 'White Sensation' I'm very excited about it, as it is the only re-blooming mock orange that I am aware of existing. I have a yellow chrysanthemum called "garland Chrysanthemum' that I got from a seed bank locally, and it blooms from April through late Autumn, it re-seeds easily and it provides a saturated yellow missing from the Tea rose class. It grows taller and wider than I'd like, though. Lux.

I would nix the all-perennial look in Cincy - you will not have anything there for 5-6 mos out of the yr., and go for shrubs and evergreens - an 8 ft wide border could be very beautiful. Have you seen the following Blue Holly - red berries in winter and shiny leaves - try Blue Boy and Blue Girl for evergreen hollies The deciduous hollies for heavy crops of red berries Various azaleas and dwarf rhodos like Purple Gem can be tucked up next to larger shrubs for a little shelter or even large rocks- huge spring color in a wide array from white, pink, purple, red, yellow Pieris - You have Mountain Fire for red foliage, Valley Valentine for hot pink flowers in spring, etc Variegated Osmanthus and Hollies - there are a number of evergreen variegated shrubs - even the mounding or prostrate Euonymous Hypericum Albury Purple - burgundy leaves, yellow flowers, red berries - a cornucopia of color Buddleia - as someone mentioned - a butterfly magnet The red and yellow twig dogwoods - you would be amazed at how screaming colorful they are in winter 1 Witchhazel for bloom in January - I have Jelena that I put by the driveway and I have a big smile every yr in Jan as I pull in and look at those flowers lilacs and dwarf lilacs late spring- I am very partial to Donald Wyman which is the nicest lilac I have ever had the flower panicles are just enormous - like a bunch of grapes An arbor with hardy roses and clematis mixed on it There are large flowered clems that bloom spring and fall, and the viticellas like John Treasure or Betty Corning that bloom their hearts out all summer long. You can also pair in the Sweet Autumn Clematis with another clem to give a giant send off to summer. Dwarf Magnolias like Jane-magenta & Butterfly - lt yellow The dwarf chamaecyparis like nana and nana Aurea Weigelas Beauty Berry - Callicarpa If I had a border like that I would mix in Trumpet, Asiatic, Oriental and Species Lilies Rubra and Alba, and L. Black Beauty which for me is often almost 7 ft tall, and also Dahlias - which will bloom heavily till a hard frost and can some get to 5 ft tall- I have taken my dahlias in during Thanksgiving week before. Also lots of bulbs like crocus, leucojum, narcissus, tulips, alliums, fritillaria, liatris, and all the non-hardy summer blooming bulbs like Acidanthera which smells so heavenly. Other evergreen shrubs - Alberta Spruce, hemlock - just prune it, Pencil Holly, Pencil Juniper, Arborvitae - prune them There is a dwarf white birch that is only 10-12 ft Also crab apples, dwarf hawthorns, Pink Diamond hydrangea, Pee Gee Hydrangea in tree form. there are dwarf forsythias that stay about 4-5 ft tall Tall perennials - many have been mentioned but you should take into account that they will take the best part of the summer to achieve their height so you start with them poking out of the ground in May and take it from there. Just because I'm partial to Monarch butterflies I always plant several varieties of Asclepias which is the only plant they lay eggs on and the caterpillars eat. I also plant Lobelia Cardinalis - Cardinal Flower and Monarda Jacob Kline which draws maybe 2-3 pairs of hummingbirds to my garden every yr. The tallest perennials in my garden are all about 4-5 ft Aster Honeysong Pink - 5 ft high and wide, perennial sunflowers Heliopsis and Helianthus, ASter Jindai, Anemone Honorine Jobert, Boltonia There is so much you could do with that space I hope you post some pics A

German Bearded Iris likes it dry. Peonies are drought tolerant when established. Roses require lots of water. Here is a list of drought tolerant perennials. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/quickref/flowers/perennials_drought.htm Common Name Scientific Name Ajuga, Carpet bugle Ajuga reptans Artemisia Artemisia Asters Aster spp. Baby's breath Gypsophila paniculata Baptisia Baptisia australis Beebalm Monarda didyma Black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia hirta Butterfly weed Asclepias tuberosa Candytuft, Evergreen Iberis sempervirens Chrysanthemum, Mum Chrysanthemum x morifolium Columbine Aquilegia spp. Coneflower, Purple Echinacea purpurea Coralbells Heuchera americana Coreopsis Coreopsis lanceolata, C. verticillata, C. tinctoria Daylily Hemerocallis spp. Gaillardia, Blanket flower Gaillardia x grandiflora Gaura Gaura lindheimeri Gazania Gazania Gerbera daisy Gerbera jamesonii Goldenrod Solidago spp. and hybrids Hardy ice plant Delosperma cooperi Helleborus, Lenten rose Helleborus orientalis Hosta, Plantain lily Hosta spp. Iris Iris spp. Lamb's ears Stachys byzantina Liatris Liatris spicata Lily of the Nile Agapanthus Mexican sunflower Tithonia rotundifolia Peony Paeonia lactiflora Perovskia Perovskia Phlox, thrift Phlox paniculata, P. divaricata, P. subulata Red hot poker Kniphofia uvaria Salvia Salvia farinacea, S. spp. Sedum Sedum spectabile Shasta Daisy Chrysanthemum x superbum Stokes' aster Stokesia laevis Verbascum Mullein Verbena Verbena spp. Veronica Veronica spicata Yarrow Achillea millefolium Here is a link that might be useful: Drought Tolerant Perennials

I hope that interpreting 'perennial' loosely is OK. I have found Geranium 'Jolly Bee' is hardier than 'Rozanne', but both bloom all summer starting in early July. Type 3 clematis start blooming in early July and continue for at least a month, and for some varieties much more. I don't have all the names off the top of my head, but I know Ville de Lyon and Venosa Violacea bloom for more than 5 weeks. Clematis are vines, and type three clems get pruned to about a foot in late winter. My third plant is Hydrangea 'Endless Summer', which started blooming for me in early July and is still blooming. Like G. 'Jolly Bee' it will still be blooming (based on 4 years) when frost hits. I also have a coppery double mum that starts blooming in late August and will bloom through several hard frosts until the ground freezes or it's covered with snow, so it's often still blooming in mid-October, later than anything else in my garden.