Sammy, All kinds of potential there! You can probably do pretty much what you want. I'm enjoying imagining things there now... Is this waterway a public access area? Then you might want to start your planning with a decision as to how you are going to have some visual separation between your yard and the public area, if this area has a noticeable amount of traffic. It seems to me that that planning would come first, and then some decisions as to exactly where you want the pathway to come down the hillside. It doesn't look bad as it is now, but depending on how you switch things around, you might want to find a way to visually separate the differently colored stepping pavers so that one sweep of the eye doesn't notice the difference in materials. As a matter of ease in walking, you might also want to buy some more of either kind of paver and place them a little closer together. Consider buying enough pavers more that you can pile some up as some platforms right next to the path. Pile them at different heights on the way down the slope directly next to a stepping paver so that you can place large and variously sized pots on those little platforms next to the path. Make sure that you have different plants in the different pots, including some vertical things, like (perhaps) some ornamental grasses. One other way of handling this might be to buy some extra pavers, of whichever color you want to make the path, and then use the other color, of which you'll have fewer, to make the piles that become pot platforms. You might be able to get some of those pots in a color that looks really good with one color of paver or the other. You might actually want to investigate pots before deciding on which color to select for the stacked pavers. It's amazing how much little platforms next to a downward path can add to the overall appeal of the path. Another consideration would be to add some plants that are evergreen and some that are rather tall, to use as a backdrop for the roses in little garden rooms that can branch off the main path. Camellias are just one plant that can do this "wall" separation nicely, if you get varieties that are good for your area. I'd suggest going with sasanqua camellias if you do camellias; they are more hardy and aren't prone to root rot. As long as the area that floods doesn't stay under water for very long, you might even be able to grow some sasanqua camellias in the low flat area. A few varieties you might consider for vigorous upright growth: Kanjiro, Hiryu, Hugh Evans, Misty Moon. I think you'd absolutely adore Shishigashira in some pots placed on paver stacks going down the path. (We actually have cut a shishigashira bloom here in January, and again in February, after multiple nights in the teens, including a couple with an official low of 13 degrees!) A bunch of crepe myrtles will be beautiful near the stream. I also think it might be nice to have some evergreen things there to separate your yard from any public areas. As long as the area doesn't have standing water, there might be some evergreens that would work. Arizona Cypress or perhaps Burfordi Holly might work. The taller growing sasanqua camellias would work, though it would take a few years to do much for your privacy. For something else that isn't evergreen, a weeping willow tree or a River Birch might be nice. A single weeping willow tree can become a natural focal point. Depending on your budget for this, it isn't impossible to have something like a pergola built at the bottom of your stairs. You wouldn't want it directly in the public access portion of the lower area, but farther away from the stream than that. You can build it with an elevated floor and nice stout posts, with a large planter built on one end that rises maybe 30 inches above ground level, with sides exactly meeting up with the outer edge of the posts on one end. Put wonderful dirt in the planter, and then plant it with a couple of Madame Alfred Carriere roses to climb there. MAC likes a lot of water (though not standing water, of course). Build a little bridge to get from the path to the pergola. (I've little notion of how to do that, but one or more of the Sunset building projects books have something like that in them.) Under the bridge to the pergola and all around on the flat low ground, plant ferns and lots of bulbs and other flowers that will give a wild carpet look to the low ground, and help to emphasize the pergola as it rises from that low ground covering. Hang a couple of wooden swings inside the pergola, and place a pot or two with a somewhat vertical plant at its entrance, and one that's very low and traipsing. Do the same thing with pots at the point where the bridge meets the path. Martha Gonzales will look wonderful on your hillside, Sammy. It might be nice to repeat her near the path as you go down, especially given her height. Or consider her for some pots going down alongside the path too... Lots of choices! The possibilities are endless! Have fun! Best wishes, Mary

bboy, my pictures truthfully show their color. Have you not seen any like these? I donÂt believe it. I think this type may be one of the most popular cultivars.

Ok, I get what spidey is now!! Very neat and creative! Don't you love finding new ways to use things in the garden??! It will be a lot of fun for him getting to plant things around Spidey ;-) Plus I could see having a big Halloween party around it with fake cobwebs, bales of hay, and pumpkins for your nephews and nieces! Glad to hear Mandy is doing well again- and back playing with her boys! CMK

Thank you steve. I sure am hoping to spend more time in the garden this year. I really missed seeing all the pictures shared on the forum, too.. . and walking through the garden shops touching leaves and spending all of next weeks food budget on hostas. . .hehe