Nice garden with great foliage variety and I love the pops of bloom interspersed. I like the idea of something with tall bloom spikes for part of the season and mounding foliage when not blooming. The Acteas that used to be called Cimicifugas have several dark-leafed selections, and they vary some in height, so you can probably find one that fits what you want. Look at Delphiniums as well which would fit a similar pattern, but bloom earlier in the season. The foliage is green, but has an interesting cut leaf that I think would contrast well in color and form with what you have there. You could even plant Delphiniums on one side and Actea on the other.

In my garden my Japanese forest grass/Hakonechloa All Gold arches enough so that it reads as a mound so I wouldn't see that as too similar in form to the fence uprights. You might find one of the shade-tolerant perennial Geraniums has the form you like, and there are choices with an increasing range of foliage color, though I don't have any specific suggestions.

I forgot about delphiniums. I always think I can’t grow them. But I have
always tried in my back yard, which is a raised bed. What moisture conditions
do they like? What I’ve tried has always been one in the round table series,
which is all I normally see in nurseries. But my favorite mail order nursery
has quite a few kinds. The delphiniums would go well with the lilies I have on
the sunnier (right) end. Is there a particular variety that is hardier?

I have 2 kinds of Japanese forest grass/Hakonechloa. The striped
one with the weeping form I’ve had for years, in the sun, and I just bought 2
All Gold last year for the shady end of this bed. It’s too soon to tell how
they will perform, but in that deeper shade they did go all pale green rather than
gold. In front of the gate they would stay more gold.

Your gardens are lovely!

If you like Babs idea of Delphiniums (I know I do) then I will say that I used to grow the ones from the Round Table series but have switched to the Magic Fountain series. The MF series is almost half the height at 4-41/2 feet tall. They are full wands of flowers just like the RT series but ever so much easier to stake attractively.

p.s. Delphiniums like deep, moist, fertile soil. They are gross feeders and appreciate a yearly top dressing of compost.

Thanks for the idea about the Magic Fountains delphiniums. I
will look those up. I have to start thinking about colors, too. I wanted to
keep the gate it’s original shade, which a friend who travels to France to photograph
gardens said it very traditional.

Ken, I’m not sure what you mean about that application…? If
you mean the position, where would you have placed it? I tried out (in my head,
I mean, walking around with a photo) a couple of other locations but couldn’t
find a place I thought ideal.

Except for one very small bed in front of my dining room,
everything in my other gardens has evolved over time, mostly as I saw stuff I
liked, or deleted things that didn’t work. They really didn’t have a design I
planned around, other than “tall things in back,” and color/texture
combinations. The upper level of my back yard 2 tier raised bed was completely
dug out and re-done last spring. I did that because the soil level had sunk to
the point that I needed to raise it. The hosta garden at the left end, under
the pine shade, was 50% dug out and rearranged last fall. This
central garden has been the one I most disliked because it still had a lot of
things that turned out to be the wrong size or place. Now I get to re-think the
whole area. I tend to “do what I know,”
which is why input is so valuable to me.

And by squat, you mean the last year’s fully-grown garden,
as in my second set of photos? Or now,
when nothing has emerged? For tall
elements there I had / have liatris and lilies. Plus I had the hibiscus that is
presently waiting for me to decide where to reposition.

I’ve thought of clematis or heavenly blue morning glories, but
didn’t want to cover too much of the gate. I could VERY easily be tempted by another
clematis, though. A group 2, cut almost to the ground one. I have tried some
really tall hanging basket supports in that bed before, but the ground is too
soft to hold them upright. I’ve thought about adding a wire obelisk with vines
on it before. But more than one metal element would look too busy now, most likely.

Yes, the tree bothers me too! A branch cracked longways on
the tree last winter when we had a heavy snow. It was starting to droop lower
over the garden each time we had a very windy day. I was afraid it would split
fully and rip the bark further down. My
friend cut it off for me, knowing that I would trim it properly as soon as I
could. I’m still supposed to stay off my feet a good deal of the time
(recovering from knee surgery 2 weeks ago). Or I’ll get my husband to do it
when he gets back. He no longer wants to work in the garden, but he will trim
trees and shrubs. I wish the thing could look more complete when he arrives,
but it’s April, and that can’t be helped. I hired someone to help me do the remaining
cleanup, since I can’t kneel, but she can’t come for over a week.

If you do decide on a clematis, you want a group 3 if you want hard prune. They can be pruned any time after the garden has started winter. I often do my pruning in fall so that I don't have to look at the dead vines for long. Group 2 is light prune after bloom and would leave you with dead vines and foliage all winter.

Most of my Type 2 clematis are treated the same as Type 3s and pruned after a killing frost in November. I left some type 2 s untrimmed last fall but rabbits cut them all very low. Look for a shorter growing clematis. Some only grow 4 ft or less. Most of my type 3s are very large vines in height and width.

Some of the shorter type 3 herbaceous ones might do well there leaning on or clipped to the fence. In my area, many type 2's function as type 3's like mnwsgal's since they get killed to the ground or the snow line in winter, but I think Chicago may be a bit warmer most years and so have a chance of early blooms.

Whoops, got the clematis types mixed up. I looked them up last week to
know how to prune the ones I have but forgot which number was which pruning
technique. Neither type got killed to the ground (mild winter). I had not
pruned them in fall.

And by squat, you mean the last year’s fully-grown garden

==>>> i mean ... the garden is heavy in horizontal aspect .... all kinda straight across at what.. two foot hosta height??? ... yes.. you have a few other perens that get a bit more ...

but the gate goes way beyond ... the rest ... so i wanted you to use that aspect ...

MGS are fast .. and great color ... they would get you some immediate mid summer impact ... and there is no reason you have to leave them there until frost ... rip them out.. when they cover too much fence.. and.. as a plus.. you wont get 50 million seedlings next year ...

you could put a later flowering clem on one side.. MG on the other ... enjoy the blue early .. and when the clem starts to come on ... remove the MG ...just dont let them grow together, for ease of removal ...

great on pruning off that branch ... if it takes a year.. thats fine.. as long as you know its not proper ...

ken

Nice pattern on the gate/fence panel. My first reaction is that it reads as a gate but that implies access and a path connecting spaces and those are absent. I think I'd try to imply them by moving the plants behind the panel to the right side. That would provide a sightline through the gate/panel to the open spaces beyond. Moving the denser-looking plants off to the right would sort of visually extend the panel in that direction. I'd try implying a path by planting low-ish silvery things running from the paved area in the foreground, across the bed, and then under the gate to the far side of the bed. I'd plant the spiky things like delphiniums on the right (in front of the plant moved from behind the gate) and dark acteas on the shadier left side. The delphiniums (Magic Fountains are good!) should like the lime from the concrete for the gate....

Woody, I like the silver path idea.

Interesting idea, a path running up, through and beyond. I’d have to remove
a barberry and 2 weigelias. I hate the barberry anyway. It’s always dropping
thorny twigs. The weigelias are nice, but maybe I could move them somewhere. I
will not be able to dig out a shrub, though. I’d have to hire someone.

You can’t see it very well in the photos, but there are stepping stones of
the same material as the patio, dotted
through the foreground swath of Mahogany ajuga. They don’t make a path, they
just break up the space. It’s to make a transition between the large paved area
and the garden. The ajuga just covered them. When I can kneel again I will cut
it off where it covers.

The bottom edge of the gate is not uniform, I’d planned to
cover that with foliage. This fence section must once have been made for a
slope. The bottom tips of the uprights are longer on the left and shorter on
the right. I did have to shim the right end with bricks because that end wants
to slide down the pipe. We thought the
clamps with hold that end up, but they don’t. But 6 inches of thicker foliage
would cover that.

H’mmm…What kind of silver plants? A few come to mind like Artemisia,
but I have too much moisture for those. Ditto blue fescue. I have lamium in a different
bed, which has almost fizzled out. Cerastium tomentosum? I have that in the sunniest part of a back bed. So
far it has not survived in the shadier parts. I’ve never tried it in this bed.

I’m not sure how to transition a silver path into the foreground purple
aguga, though. Unless I dot it here and there and taper it off a third of the way
into that bed, toward the viewer.

Thanks for the clarification, Ken. I see what you mean now
with regards to heavily horizontal. I am on pain meds so not everything with
words clicks as it should. (I’m making some dandy artwork, though.)

I liked the hostas with the tree trunks arching up through
them, but the gate throws everything off that worked before.

Ouch re the knee surgery! I hope the recovery goes well - and quickly!

If the area is moist and not compatible with silvery things, perhaps a golden path would work better. I see quite a few golden things in the 'before' pictures.... I tried making a golden path under our pines but gave up after no golden heucheras survived, and our dog, Cole, thought the golden forestgrass was candy planted for his pleasure! Only the Sum and Substance hostas survive of the perennials I planted there. The golden Full Moon Japanese maple survives and two dogwoods are hanging on by 'the skin of their teeth' :-) The concept looked very promising though.... I though silver might be a better match for the gate color but maybe the yellow would work too.

I wouldn't make a transition to the ajuga - I'd clear a path through the ajuga right up to the paving and then plant the silver or gold plants in a stream from the paving right through/under the gate. Since I would use low-ish plants ( i.e not true groundcover plants) , it should be easy to plant something slightly taller on the low side of the fence.

Given your knee situation, it sounds like maybe moving stuff around this spring isn't going to happen unless you have someone to do the digging for you...! Working out a concept/plan is a good start and then you could piece it together over a longer period as you heal and/or as help becomes available. I'd lend you our ever-so-helpful nephew if I could :-) Do you have one of those?!

I don’t know how moist it is objectively: just that things like
artemisias and the fescues died quickly.

I had a lot of gold plants to contrast with other purple
foliage I have. With little snow cover this year, most of my purple or gold heucheras
seem to have died out. The one that has survived the longest is H. Citronelle,
which is a really good gold. My 2 oldest Citronelle survived the winter but don’t
look very good. The 2 I planted last summer seemed not to make it through at
all, at any rate I can’t see anything. I think it’s time to stop buying
heucheras.

I could use the more weeping/prostrate gold and green
striped japanese forest grass Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola’, which grows well for me
in a nearby area, but I’m not sure how well that would “read” as a path in this
small area. It’s not that low. Off hand I can’t think of anything else gold and
very short.

No helpful nephews, unfortunately! I’ve hired someone who is
coming next week. I hired her to do a spring clean-up before I knew I might be
doing an extensive reworking. She is a Master Gardener, which is probably beyond
what I need, and pretty expensive; but she is the only person of the 4 people I
contacted who returned a call. I think moving out shrubs might be beyond the
kind of things she does, but I won’t know til I ask.

I found Cerastium foliage always looked kind of bad after bloom, even when cut back. Would one of the frosted Brunera work?

I hope I haven't lost too many of my purple heucheras... - I haven't checked on them yet (they are currently buried under our recent snowfall!). I have quite a few purple heucheras and they have usually survived well in the sunny beds. I've had no luck at all trying the chartreuse ones in shade.

Light could be an issue with plant choice - the left side of your bed must be shady and you have lots of hostas there in the pictures - is there enough sun on the right for the delphiniums? Frosty brunneras would work if there is shade where the 'path' could go, but they'd burn in sun. Some of the small yellow hostas could work for a golden path. The 'Curly Fries' one might be interesting in combination with some of the more rounded-leafed dwarf yellowish hostas. The Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola’ is the grass I was trying to use along my attempted golden path - but Cole ate it down to the ground! Since the 'path' in your case would be just an illusion, not a walkable path, (just as the 'gate' is not a real, functioning gate), I think a consistent thread of one color through the greens and purples would be sufficient to read as a path to the gate even if the height and forms of the plants vary a bit - within reason of course.

I have a similar bed with an antique brick patio. I mainly looked at photos so this may already be addressed. I would paint the gate white and pull in some white flowers here and there in the bed. It will make the whole garden bed pop.

linnea if you are still thinking low for a walkway have you considered using the stone you already have in the garden to make a pathway to the gate. Sagina subulata or Sagina subulata 'Aurea' between and around the stone would be very low and your other plants could still be used at the edges. It would provide access to the center of the garden and be a lead up to the "gate".

I would have also suggested Thymus pseudolanuginosus (Wooly Thyme) for its soft grayish green but it would need perfect drainage.

Thanks for the further suggestions.

There is a lot more sun on the right end. Lilies do well. I think delphiniums would be fine
there. On the shady left, I just had to cut down an overhanging branch due to the trunk
cracking in a heavy snow, that may make the left end more sunny than it has
been before. Hopefully my gold hostas will not get fried. I’m thinking about a
monkshood in the shadier end too.

I think the path idea, though it appeals to me, will be dependent on whether
I can get at least 2 of the bushes behind it dug out.

Though I love the way it looks, I can’t keep frosted
Brunnera alive. I was slowly getting some to expand in the backyard, but the
lack of snow cover seems to have done them in too. They would be up by now if
they were alive. A plain green one in another bed is up.

One silvery plant that came to mind is pulmonaria. That does
well in one bed around a tree (same location where the silver Brunnera croaked).
I have one I got in trade (so don’t know that name) that is almost all silver,
with just a fine green edge, rather than
spotted. Since I have not done much planting around the gate location recently,
I don’t know how the drainage compares
to the adjacent hosta bed at the left, which is at the base of a very slight
slope.

Since I have a lot of gold and purple, the easy route would be to just use Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola’, since I already know I can grow that. Though
where I have it now gets a lot of sun, conditions for both areas would be
comparable.

At least for now, I can’t extend the stepping stones. It
will be a while before I can kneel well. It was a marathon of kneeling to
prepare the base, paver base, etc., and lay the stones 2 years ago.

The gate color I’m keeping. I matched the original paint,
which a friend told me was a very traditional shade for garden fence in France
where this came from. I have an outdoor metal/wood bench on the patio which I
will paint to match. It also goes well with my house trim.

Another silvery option could be a white-flowered Lamium. And with your knee, none of this has to be done now . . . fall is a great time for planting!