Wow---lots more to think about---thank you! Pitimpiani: Thank you for saying you like the hedge... (I needed some positive reinforcement! LOL) I do have a vision in my head of what the end result will look like and in my head it's really quite lovely. :) Unfortunately we can only afford to do this in stages, so what everyone sees is just this mass of ONE shrub which may seem boring and unimaginative. I love the idea of the daffodils playing off the purple allium. I will definitely consider that! I gave up on planting tulips in the yard (will put them in pots on the porch) because the chipmunks just devour them but I've heard they don't touch daffodils as much (as well as allium--which was a huge plus.) Topie: My dh and I actually planted the boxwoods ourselves (my back still hurts--lol) and I left the room in back specifically to plant something. But now that it is there, and I'm NOT planting anything, it's probably a blessing that the space is there, to make trimming easier and for the reasons you mentioned. I think I changed my mind about the pots on the porch, and convinced dh to build us some long rectangular porch boxes that will give me the height I'm looking for behind the boxwoods. I'll be able to plant tulips again and will a bunch of them in the spring. I'm going to place the alliums on either sides of the pillars to accent them, and then the tulips/daffodils will be in the planters in between. In front of the boxwoods I was planning on putting some carrie ann (dwarf variated leaf) hosta and white clips (bellflower...growing in their little mounds.) In front of the hosta/bellflower will be white annual vinca. I'm hoping these small perennials won't be too much in the way when trimming the hedge... that is a good point. Maybe I could do the first trim in March before they pop up? Then the second trim in the summer won't be so bad? I decided on a kousa dogwood (after much discussion on the tree board!) I called the Lake County nursery and they grow a hardy version of a kousa called "prophet" that is hardy to zone 4---they grow them here in Cleveland and they do beautifully (I'm told) :) The tree will go over to the right (where the picture cuts off... there will be a bed rounded off in front to cut the straightness of the line.) Ah, so there it is in a nutshell. An anal retentive, research happy art teacher trying her hand at landscape design with zero knowledge of plants in general. LOL

As soon as I can get to it I want to measure and run stringlines all the way accross the front to see exactly were the placement on the mini terraces would be if I did what I want. That would be run those topmost two lines accross and then leave the third little one as an accent. This is the mess on the other side. Just a hodgepodge of daylilies planted. The side just redone looked pretty similiar to this only fuller.

I don't plant here in the beds in direct sun from May 1 until it cools in the fall. It's just to hot for the plant, and most will succumb to crown rot, especially if the roots are disturbed or injured. If I had them, I would pot them up in two gal pots, keep them in the shade and water every 2-3 days. They should be in good shape and ready to plant out in the beds in fall. Good luck, Ed

Is that blue fescue (sp?) between your rows of daylilies? I'm totally doing it! I just bought Happy Returns which has about 12 scapes and 2 blooms and plenty of buds and Strawberry Candy which has tons of buds. (hey, slim pickin's around here, but the Happy Returns looks awesome!). My daisies are all dying now in the front bed and look pathetic so I'll have to deadhead them and find something to put next to them for color. I can't put SC there because it will clash with my coneflowers and liatris. I could put Joan Senior or Happy Returns there, but they are too big for that spot. What to do, what to do...