I like the contrast between Limelight Hydrangea (which gets tall) and the Knockouts. I have several Knockouts and they are great plants requiring no care plus they bloom their heads off. I'd just suggest being careful of the Limelight in front of that window. How far out from the foundation will you plant it? Judging by the color of your car in front, your house is more grey than tan, right? So, in my opinion, you need more color contrast in the overall design. You might want to look at shrubs with different stem color or leaf color to stand out against the house. I wouldn't suggest specific plants unless I knew what kind of sun your front yard gets. Did I read your plan correctly --- there are lilacs on each side of the front entrance? Do you know what kind they are and how tall they grow? Lilacs are wonderful but can become huge. I know there are smaller, longer blooming varieties and wonder if these are what you have. I agree with the poster who said the beds need to be more substantial --- deeper.The peak on the left is quite tall and would be 'balanced' with larger planting bed in front of it. FInally, please don't plant a tree where it will block the view of the front door or the windows on the left. I think the inviting front entrance and porch are two of the nicest features of your lovely home! Molie

1) The low junipers along the foundation are fine as they are. They hide the bit of foundation that is exposed below the siding but are short enough to avoid making the house look shorter by hiding more of the siding. Unless you specifically want something different in terms of color or texture, you can leave them as they are. If you want to add something, a plant that is shorter than the junipers but a different texture or foliage color can be added to the bed if you make it a bit deeper. You can also continue the new plants into the area where the flowers are now, as well as in the narrow strip between the garage and the sidewalk. Depending on your tastes, these can be low grasses that will give you some winter interest/texture, a groundcover with good foliage color, or a perennial that looks good all year and can be left in place during the winter. I leave sedums and rudbeckia until spring for the dried flowers and seed heads. Choosing one or two plants and continuing them across both planting areas will unify the design. 2) You are right when you say the bed near the shrubs could use more volume. The flowers you have there now are skimpy and don't add anything, IMO. If you don't want to add low shrubs to it as suggested in 1), maybe you could remove the small bed and enlarge the paved area to be as wide as the front entry. This will give you a spot to put a few large containers of annuals or perennials (I like perennials in containers) to dress up the entry. In any case, plant something to hide the downspout, even if you have to add another juniper. If the budget will cover it, making the entire walk wider would be an improvement. Even adding a soldier-row of bricks to each side of the existing walk would dress it up and make it more substantial. 3) Tulips and most herbs are going to either disappear during winter or look very ratty. I'd keep them in the back yard if possible. If you must put them in front, how about planting them in pots and putting them away in winter? Tulips are best planted with a companion to hide the fading foliage. Daylilies are a possible choice. You might be able to use them along the walk/garage. I don't think I'd add a bed just because you have a box of bulbs that need to go "somewhere". You can plant them in the back yard if you have a spot that is sunny before the trees leaf out in spring. If you do want another bed, think shrubs and perennials with some mass and volume, or you will find yourself with another planting like the one you now find lacking next to the foundation shrubs. You can deepen the foundation bed and continue it along the walk to "enclose" the entry area. Make it substantial enough to include the lamp post and layered shrubs of different heights, with the tallest in the middle and the shortest on the bed edges, as they will be viewed from both sides. Think about snow removal when you plan any additional beds. You'll need someplace to put it, and you may not want to have to throw it six or eight feet to clear a planting. 4) Raspberries turn into a tangled mess, again, better in the back. If the front is your only choice, maybe you can find a spot along the side of the property where you can keep them tidy by training them between wires without making them a feature of the front landscaping. You might want to keep your trees if they provide needed shade for your south-facing house. Don't call attention to the prominent garage with planters or anything eye-catching. Or, do whatever you like, it's your house, LOL. I've been "reborn" as a proponent of front landscaping that is unified, simple, and easy to maintain, so my preferences will color my suggestions. You may want something completely different. Whatever you do, have fun with it and don't obsess too much.

Is the hydrangea really that shade of mixed pink and purple? (Sometimes colors don't photograph well.) If you want something short to puddle at the feet of the taller plants I could see Nierembergia, which might well winter over for you, though for me it's treated as an annual. A short Campanlua like 'Blue Clips' or 'White Clips' would serve the same function. Both have enough flower power in my experience to be seen from a distance if planted en masse but are well behaved and come in blue and white. If you want other spikier plants, there are some Campanulas like persicifolia that might work, though I don't know if seeding is a problem for them or if they have enough flowers for your use. This also is available in blue and in white. There are some shorter summer-blooming "tall" phlox on the market now that would be a bit shorter than the daylilies and would sort of match the shape of the hydrangea flowers, but later in the summer. Don't know what colors those come in. A shorter daylily in front might work also. Some of the yellow hostas seem fairly sun tolerant and might work here if deer aren't a problem for you, depending on how much shade your part shade is and what time of day. I find the yellow foliage stands out against the greens. My Siberian iris can be pretty stunning in mid to late spring and the foliage is neat the rest of the year, but it looks similar to the day-lilies as far as foliage. Some of the shorter rhodies and azaleas might look good here if you don't mind the short season of bloom and have the room. How tall are your daylilies? That's what has occurred to me so far - don't know if any of those meet your requirements and taste.

Thanks for the recommendations, folks! It gives me something to float by the parental units and keep an eye out for. Gesila, my folks are in TC. I suspect the nursery you're thinking of is in Interlochen. (I can't remember the name either.) It is AWESOME! But as I live down by Detroit, I rarely get there. The bed in Q is approx. 30ft x 2ft. There are plants (glads, astilbe, mums, etc) along the back of the bed & a trellis at one end which is why I'm looking at plants that are taller than mini's but top out at about 12inches. I would be planning on leaving some smallish spaces here and there along the front of the bed for colorful annuals such as wax begonias (which REALLY seem to like the raised bed). My preferance would be to not go the mail order route. I'm an apt dweller in the Detroit area so I don't get to my folks' place that often. I wouldn't want plants to arrive at my place and be growing them indoors for who knows how long, nor want them to be sitting in pots in TC for however long. Actually do have a couple Rainforest Sunrises planted up there. (One of my favorites truth be told.) I do think I prefer its appearance when grown with a bit of shade. The one that gets quite a bit more sun is a little too washed out I think. Hmm, I should probably ask my sis how tall and wide "Fire and Ice" and "Whirlwind" have gotten at her place -- though she lives in Adrian which is even further south than me so her conditions would be different. Her beds also get more shade as I recall........