After looking at the picture I realized that all I notice is the electrical box on the right side. So I came up with somethinga little different.

Opinions please???
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Imagine what you will see from inside the banquet hall with the designs shown -- hardly anything. The bed is much too narrow. Ignore the electric box -- if your planting is successful, people will focus on the garden, not the utilities.

My suggestion would be to make the bed a deep arc outward from the building, like a huge rainbow, then plant your selections "stadium style" with the tallest evergreens along the outer edge of the arc, and the colorful, oft-replenished annuals toward the front row center near the windows. The plants in the arc should be spaced so there is some transparency from where you drive up through to the building, but dense enough so there is a "there" there. The view from inside will be "WOWZA".

Catkim - Thanks for the suggestions but I'm confused. If I planted all of the taller things on the outside, wouldn't that make it hard for anyone to see anything else from the parking lot?

We really dont' want to plant anything tall near the window or that will block the view. Also, there is a limited budget and I'm afraid that making the beds any bigger would be too expensive and too much maintenance.

"If I planted all of the taller things on the outside, wouldn't that make it hard for anyone to see anything else from the parking lot?" -- What do you want to see? Note what I wrote: "The plants in the arc should be spaced so there is some transparency from where you drive up through to the building..." For instance, space out several of your feather reed grasses to form an arc...put them maybe 6 ft apart. Will you see the rest of the garden through them? I tend to think so. (Cost could be a problem, yes. Any chance of getting donated plants? Hold a bake sale?)

"We really dont' want to plant anything tall near the window or that will block the view." The view of the parking lot? The tallest plants should be a good 15-20 ft. or more from the window, you'll still get plenty of light.

I wish I could photoshop your pic, but I can't, sorry, you'll have to use your imagination. Maybe someone else can play with the pic?

I understand what you mean about not wanting the bed too large as you will have to maintain it. At my church we have a couple of english dogwoods and they bloom right around easter - so pretty (and symbolic). I would not put the knockouts by the windows as they get pretty big, and I think they would tend to block/overwhelm the view. Of the two designs above, I like the first one, and the knockouts may grow large enough to cover the electrical that you're so worried about. Will you care in the winter that there will not be anything in front of the window there? How about some small evergreen plants? Whatever you decide, I hope your chuch appreciates all your hard work and effort. :)

Thank you, both of you for the suggestions. I'm not sure what I want to do but I'm going to consider all of the things I've heard on here.

I would love to be able to have year round interest but I know most evergreens are very colorful. At home, I mix them in with my other plants but at the church I've got a lot of guidelines to go by.

I played around a little more and decided that it might be best to not have the roses in front of the window since they do get kind of big. Also, during the winter months, it would look like dead plants out there. I am thinking that it might look nicer to see nothing, since the daylillies die off in the winter.

Please give me an opinion on this one. I added the evergreen junipers on both sides of the window, which add something during the winter months. Also, the evergreen candytuft, which bloom white in the spring and summer.
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Sorry, I am going to be blunt here. Has the church installed an irrigation system in this area? Is there a gutter along the roof to prevent rain water smashing down everything you plant? I would not touch this job until they were in place. You are going to spend a great deal of volunteer time on this project only to be defeated by the above mentioned needs.

Yes, there's a gutter there and no there's no drip irrigation. There's won't be any irrigation unless the church hits the lottery either. This will be maintained by me and I live 5 minutes from there. It won't be a problem.

THAT is a very cool design program! What is it and is it expensive?

Thanks, Florrie

Thanks. It's called "Your Complete Landscape and Garden Designer" by Sierra. I got it about 3 years ago on Amazon for about $14.00. I've been very happy with it.

lol - now we're all going to be going to amazon's website! As far as the extra evergreen tree, I have mixed feelings. I like the extra evergreen for winter, but I'm not really taken with the 'formal' feeling that it gives that area with the two junipers flanking the window. Maybe a couple of small rounded evergreen on that side instead of the matching junipers? Right now, all the evergreen trees have the same shape to them and it would be more interesting if there were some variety.

I like the idea of 2 evergreens flanking the windows, whatever variety you decide on. Have you thought of placing one Nandina in front of the partition between the 2 windows? That would give you some lovely color throughout the year, especially in winter. I also like the idea of more seasonal color in front of the windows, but don't daylilies need alot of dead heading? Also, it would really look great if you picked up a couple of large end-of-season discounted pots this fall and filled them with pansies and maybe a dwarf alberta spruce or something for winter color, or maybe right in the ground if the windows are low enough. I planted pansies in my yard this winter and they bloomed like champs!

No irrigation at all, don't bother planting anything.
It will die, just like the other garden died.
Are you going to transplant water from your home?
Is that why you mentioned you live 5 minutes away?
Don't waste your time.

Like all the good feedback your getting here, but would like to throw a couple of things your way for consideration.

In my neck of the woods, Stella's are simply done to death. Their 'golden yellow' can be a little harsh and harder to work with than the softer, more easy-on-the-eye lemon- yellow of Happy Returns; also a small, repeat blooming daylily.

Secondly, research May Night. As salvias go gardeners reviewed don't seem to be as thrilled with it's preformance as they are with Blue Hill salvia which is a truer and cooler blue than the 'violet' bloom of May Night which has some red in it.

Agree with the comments about not flanking the windows with a couple of shrubs ~ too formal and 'matchy'. What about some small shrubs against the window that will act like a backdrop to your perennials or annuals ~ at least you would be looking a nice, tidy evergreens in the dead of winter instead of dirt.I really like the Japanese holly 'helleri'. Just my two cents worth ~