Thanks for all the suggestions guys!! Keep 'em coming!! Winter interest is definitely important, but unfortunately, with the way the house and the sidewalk are, there isn't room for both shrubs and perennials in the foundation gardens. I did leave the cone shaped yews on the ends of each garden as well as some other evergreen shrubs that are next to the sidewalk leading to the breezeway. I've already pulled out the remaing boxy yews though. I considered planting a few evergreen shrubs like heather or holly or something else with the foundation plantings, but decided against it. The area is really too small for most shrubs and I felt I would prefer perennials there for spring, summer and fall. During the winter, we get so much snow that pretty much whatever is there is buried anyhow. I planted a few Rhododendrons in the bump outs. I do like the idea of adding a few more. Karinl brings up an excellent point that my house is so large as is my lot, that it dwarfs most of what I plant. I'm hesitant to put any large or even mid sized conifers only because I am concerned it will block out the light we get in the house. I had orignially planned to make the gardens in front larger with mass plantings to help but decided that might be a bit overwhelming to do all at once. I think what I plan to do now, instead, is in later years, add some more large island beds in the front. And yes, Karinl, perennials are a MUST! I love flowers!! As you can probably tell, I also love trees so we are adding lots and lots of those as well. Saypoint, thanks for your comment about the colors running together! I didn't think of that. I guess it may not be that important then that the shutters are a different color. And I am certainly doing large flower gardens in the back too! Thanks again for all your suggestions! I'd love to hear some more! Tara Here is a link that might be useful: Photo Album with additional updated photos of the current progress

Begin by mapping on paper the usage of the back yard, including any natural pathways. Think carefully about sun exposure and how you can use it to your best advantage, and the areas where you need to control the exposure. Hardscape should come first, with materials that mix well with your house materials, style, and colors. Budget and practicality are important. Your two year old twins will go through many childhood phases rather quickly, and your garden is small, so it makes sense to use an adaptable scheme and limit the number of segregated areas. My own kids had a paved area, a grass area, a dirt area, and a non-traditional "playhouse/fort" area built under an existing patio cover. This allowed for a multitude of play activities only limited by their imaginations. We had a planting area in the sunniest spot where I grew giant sunflowers and tomatoes, nothing fancy. When they were little we were on the go all the time, and actual gardening was a fairly low priority. To summarize: children are easy to please.

Are you staying with the current color scheme in the other rooms and on the kitchen soffits? Black will look sharp with those colors and echo your pendants; matching the other cabinets in a white of course will look fine too although I would be sure that the white you pick doesn't clash with the flooring. You could also pull a color from the veining of the counter, the grout in the floor tile, or any décor in the adjoining rooms.

Thank you oursteelers: I hope your Savannah does well in the new area and you like it better. i do agree, it is very hot and dry right now around here to do any moving. K S thank you for your comment. I am not particularly bothered by the plant retaining its blooms, it was more of an unexpected surprise, but I can handle deadheading it since it is such a great rose otherwise. It is true when I initially planted I expected the white to hot pink ratio would be heavier on the white side and ignorantly thought that adding some more white would get me where I wanted to be with it. I do however would like to try some alternatives before moving such large plants and because I would hate to wait for another rose to fill the arch again. ellatiarella thank you for giving me some suggestions, I appreciate the input since color coordination is not my thing. Diane thank you for recommending Abilene, I love her color and brushwood has it available, so I could get it right away. You mentioned it stays compact which they rate her at 3- 5 feet. Where would you recommend I place her, with Darcey Bussel or sides of the arch? bart_2015 thank you very much for chiming in. I am certainly looking into clematises right now to try and lighten it up this way. Maybe this would allow me to get me to where I am please with the overall effect without destroying everything. Ohhh Marlorena is great to hear from you. Piilu' is super lovely and Brushwood nursery has it available which is really nice because I could order her with Abilene which Diane recommended. Ok so your The Mill on the Floss' rose is just to die for in every way. I love it and super love it =). I looked her up, and it says that will be introduced in the USA next year. Thank you for pointing this one out to me. I know you have been able to grow multiple roses on a single obelisk before in a way that it looks incredible. Do you think I could cram the other rose on this arch instead of Cloud 10 (you can see the white rose creeping up a bit on the side of the arch) or is this unrealistic at this point and too crowded. Totoro thank you very much for all the advice. I definitely can tell just by looking at your garden you have a good idea of composition and textures. I will start by digging up Huldine and replacing her to lower the contrast. I will place with those recommended pink and light lavender clematises to see how they affect the overall look of the area. You are right about not having to rush to change everything right away. I will make some small changes with the companion plants and re-evaluate before digging everything up. Looking froward to seeing your pictures in the future showing your dogwood bush. Digging it up for one foot is a lot of work, but I completely understand wanting to have it be just right. Thank you again for giving me so many ideas to work with this project.