Would you share generally where you are (nearest big city) or talk about your soil (pH and texture)? Will the evergreens be shading the area for all or part of the day, or is the bed to the south of the evergreens?

My soil is slightly acidic sandy loam altho' I'm in southern New England Zone 6a. I'll second NHBabs' request for your general location so we can be more specific with recommendations. Some Hellebore/Lenten roses hardy to Z4 come to mind right off the bat but I'm sure there are others. My most recent garden notes from 2012 indicate a number of perennials hardy to Z4 including Arabis/rock cress, Armeria/sea thrift, Artemesia/silver mound, columbine, dicentra/bleeding heart and dianthus/carnation. You can check out a gardening book from your local library for more ideas. Good luck & have fun!

I'm near St. Paul, MN. I'm not sure about the pH, but the soil is not too sandy or clay, and not too wet or dry. The evergreens are to the west of the perennials, so they will provide some shade, but they are currently only 2-4 feet tall, so they won't provide too much shade yet. The 2 areas where I would like to plant are about 4 ft wide by 2 ft deep.

When I moved back to where I grew up I knew the soil was acid based on my parents' garden notes over 40+ years. I also knew I had an entire acre of land on which to plant. I designed the garden beds I envisioned and proceeded to plant them with things I either purchased or winter sowed. My own + my neighbors' garden beds now display many perennials I grew from seed via winter sowing.

If you've got evergreens, the soil is acidic--they like that. I suggest you Google perennials that prefer acid soil--there are dozens of them, including many grasses and other types of perennials. I designed my garden beds primarily to sustain pollinators (my near neighbor is a beekeeper). He and his beehives are amazing and I'm grateful to have him as a near neighbor.

My primary objective was curb appeal so I focused mainly on the front garden beds. I achieved my goal back a few years ago and am pleased with what I accomplished. I have lots of photos of my garden beds but since Houzz took over I don't know how to post them.

I would stick to low-growing perennials since 2' is fairly narrow and you don't want to shade out the lower needles/leaves on your evergreens since for many evergreens, once branches have died back, they don't recover.

Look at some of the low-growing Dianthus/pinks, Veronica 'Georgia Blue', groundcover sedum, creeping Phlox, a low-growing Geranium, or a low thyme.

I would not be overly concerned about soil pH and using conifers to judge soil pH is not a very reliable method - they can be all over the place with their preferences :-) Most plants tolerate a fairly broad range of soil pH and the vast majority prefer it on the acidic side anyway.

Bab's suggestion for low growing spreading plants make a lot of sense. But you can also generate some height with something like columbine (Aquilegia). They will produce tallish and colorful flowering stems from a relatively low cluster of foliage. And they self seed freely and are happy in a less than full sun location.

Hi, we are located in Michigan in Zone 4. Depending on your color palette and sun exposure there are many plants you can go with. Heuchera are great sun/shade plants in a variety of colors that are fairly low plants. In more sun exposed areas you could use Salvia New dimension pink/blue, coreopsis, or even some drift roses depending on the size of the landscape bed. Echinacea always add a nice pop of color but can get tall. There is a vast variety of sedum that would be low and add some color if you want low maintenance.

How far from the fence are the conifers? If the beds are only 2 feet deep (assuming you mean in front of the conifers) they are not wide enough for your conifers let alone perennials unless you plan on moving the perennials in a couple of years. For example, Techny Arbs. Any chance of a pic of the area?

tj

The techny arborvitae are about 3-4 feet from the fence, and I have about 2-3 feet in front of the arborvitae to plant perennials. A landscaper recommended coneflower, sedum, brown eyed susan and bee balm since the area currently gets a lot of sun. I don't really care for bee balm so I'm wondering what I can substitute for the bee balm.

A Techny arb wants to grow 16 feet wide in time. I see many in the +10 foot wide range. You might want to put them 6 feet or more from the fence.

tj

My Technys after 7 growing seasons are about 6' wide and 9'-10' tall. They started at about 3' tall. I figured that the perennials would be a temporary fill-in for you until the evergreen filled in, but if you want perennials there, you definitely need a wider bed, and your Technys will eventually grow into your fence and out over the lawn in your current bed depth unless you plan to do regular pruning. I agree with TJ that you might want to increase you bed depth.

How about daisies? I have several daisy varieties in my full sun gardens. Phlox paniculata will also give some height. Platycodyn. Tall white anemone. Hibiscus. Perennial salvias. Think of plants that can give a progression of bloom. if you do not want to expand the bed groundcovers, hardy geranium, and spring bulbs might be your best choices. If you like hostas I grow a yellow golden one in full sun.