We planted a magnolia tree out here as they were so beautiful there & no dogwoods here so the magnolia was next best thing, well it got burnt looking leaves & they were mostly on the ground, we took it out & next door neighbor got 1 so I get to pick up their leaves as they blow over the fence. It does have the pretty flowers high up & I get to enjoy them. They are about 6-7 in across & mostly white.Don't know what kind they are . Your's don't constantly shed the leaves do they?? Oh yes I remember the beautiful rhododendrons & have seen pics of some park in the South that has lots of them in several colors with lots of lawn. Can't remember where. My azalea just had a few blooms on it-wrong time of yr,they bloom in spring. All my spring bulbs are up too so will flower by xmas I suppose. Never know what to expect out here.Jan

Had woodchucks this year, they went after mostly the asters and echincea and the clover in the lawn. They didn't eat any perovskia that was right next to the echinacea. The Shastas were not blooming but they didn't eat the foliage. Walked right by them on their way to the echinacea. I also winter sowed three varieties of Shastas this year. The Alaska I sowed last year bloomed this year and it was horrible. Way too tall for where I planted it, flopped all over everything with the first rain and never came up again, buds opened all eaten by something. This year, I had Becky, Crazy Daisy and Snowcap seed and winter sowed those. They all germinated fine and the planted out seedlings look great. Some are short which is what I was looking for, and others a little taller. Some have buds on them and I am waiting to see what they look like. I also bought Shasta Wirral's Pride from Bluestone this year during their sale and it is blooming and has gorgeous crested blossoms that are long lasting and on thick stems. I am growing them in full sun.

David, waving hello also. How are your woodland gardens coming along? I left DG when they sold. Where did the tree and shrub people go off to? That was a great group of contributors - good for a belly laugh. I liked your advice about 1/3 early and 2/3 late also - applying it unconsciously as the former owner had a 2 acre garden that faded by the end of June. Helianthus flore pleno, Boltonia, Aster Honeysong Pink, Anemones Andrea Atkinson, Pamina, Honorine Jobert, Mum Mary Stoker, Caryopteris, Verbena bonariensis, Buddleias, the sedums and grasses - all in full bloom right now. Ditto some phlox that the deer mowed for me a few months ago - shorter but in full bloom. My all time favorites are the Tricyrtis, Aconitum and Chelone which all bloom together. Nicotiana is still blooming, the re-bloomers are Dianthus, Hypericum Albury Purple, a few daylilies, clematis Betty Corning. Next year I really am going to cut down the Shasta Daisies to the rosette, ditto for the penstemons and lobelias to see if they will rebloom.

I've been mulling this over for a few days and here are some more random thoughts: - First, with regard to what is there now, it seems like you need to leave some area along the road (maybe the first 4-6 feet from the street?) for plowed snow and parking: either leave it in grass or mulch it or use flat stones with spaces between them for planting groundcovers like thyme. If you really don't want to give up the space, I'd use a fence or low rocks along the road to discourage parking on your garden. Otherwise, I'd use a low fence or dry-stacked low rock wall to create a divide that doesn't block the house, but gives the garden a bit of a frame and makes it clear where the garden begins and the parking space/lawn ends. - The twin pointed conifers by the house look too close together to me. One may need to be replanted elsewhere, probably the one on the left which will eventually block the window. You will have to evaluate this suggestion based on the plants' ultimate size and nearness to the house. Evergreens planted close together tend to have uneven foliage, so if you remove one later, it will tend to be unattractive as one side may be rather bare. - The angle of your driveway takes up a large chunk of the right front of the house. Could you add a large pot at the right corner of the house at the end of the drive if you have only one vehicle? or even remove left side triangle of paving if you don't use it? (though obviously not if you have two vehicles) The pot could have a clematis growing up an obelisk or trellis, or contain some large and statueque annuals with some of your smaller pots around its feet and maybe a few on the other side of the entry path as well to tie it together. When you start planning, first decide on practical things like paths, any accomodations for watering or lighting, power outlets, walls or fencing, seating areas, etc. It's lots easier to do all that first than retrofit. In particular, if you think you may want wiring (since lighting for your main entrance may be a safety issue), investigate what type of conduit and the depth it needs to be buried, even if you won't do the actual wiring and fixtures now. Use strong string through the conduit instead that you can use to pull wires later. Then I'd move on to the great advice from KT and Ideabean/Marie about needing it to be a four-season garden that is attractive every day since you will be walking through it and driving by it every day. I'd start with some thoughts about winter interest: - hardscape (paths, rocks, birdbaths, obelisks,etc) - plants: evergreens - shrubs, perennials and groundcovers deciduous plants with interesting form, long-season berries, bark that is colorful or has interesting textures season-extending plants that either have early flowers like bulbs, hellebores, or some of the winter heaths; or late flowers and fall color (low bush blueberries, Fothergilla, colchicum bulbs, etc) Then you can start thinking about where to place your current plants: I'd say you can fit all of your perennials and small shrubs in the front yard, but you have lots of large stuff left, too much to all fit in the front yard reasonably without causing a jungle look or at the least hiding much of your attractive house. Evaluate your plants for interest in all seasons to help you decide placement; many of those large plants are really nice for a shorter period of time, so I'd plant to put some in the back yard or your side yards. For instance, put your tall hydrangea or rose of sharon at the back of the left side cottage garden where the birdbath is now and then move the BB to the front garden since it will provide year round interest as it can be kept heated for winter birds. Or put that large hydrangea at the top of the steps to your back yard to grab seasonal attention; it is tall enough so it will show when blooming, but fade from attention when it is not as attractive. Just be sure that where you place it near the end of the driveway it leaves the oil fill pipe accessible. If you want, you could replace some of your forsythia with the bridal veil spirea to extend the season of interest on that side of the drive and put the forsythia you removed in the back yard or give it to a friend. As others have said, you want something to create balance to the right of your house (just to left of the drive) midway between house and street. This would be a perfect place for a smaller tree with four seaon interest such as a pagoda dogwood/Cornus alternifolia, Stewartia, Japanese maple, Kousa dogwood, or Hetacodium miconioides/Seven-Son flower. Or a medium height, relatively narrow evergreen. Then put in a combination of low shrubs and perennials to fill in the area around and beneath it and continue the planting across the rest of the front yard from there. Be sure that you take the ultimate width of the plant into consideration when deciding on its position so that it doesn't block the drive. Be aware that sometimes lily-of-the-valley expands beyond where folks want it and it is difficult to remove later. If there is any chance of this, you might want to plant it with a barrier such as a buried large plastic pot with the bottom cut out. Have fun with the planning and the planting! Push comes to shove, if you don't like where things are you can always move them. Heavens knows that my front entry garden is ready for a bit of reworking!! Let us know how it's going and be sure to post some photos when you are done.