I saw a lysmachia with light green and yellow foliage today...I immediately dismissed it because I am scared of lysmachia...but this might be a good performer.
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful: lysmachia

Try caryopteris sunshine blue for the full sun spot. The bright chartreuse foliage seems to blend with everything in my mixed border. It's a delicate looking shrub with a relatively small footprint and provides a nice accent to brighten things up a bit.

How funny Linda. I was just out today and saw that exact Lysimachia and snagged it. I know Lysimachia's reputation but I figured if I looked it up and it was a real horror I could always return it. Besides, my mom always had "unimproved" L. punctata and never any trouble with it -- it stayed in a clump. Of course I think her spot was dry soil and full sun where mine is moist soil with some shade ... I think I'll sink the whole pot and see what it does this year, maybe give it a size bigger pot next year.

That caryopteris is pretty. I like the foliage. Another I just learned about is Cotinus "Golden Spirit" -- it's inspired intense plant-lust.

Kristin

Consider Tanecetum 'Isla Gold'

Here's a plant I never see mentioned but I just love it in the right place. Filipendula ulmaria 'Aurea'. It likes moist shade, has wonderful crinkly bright yellow leaves and mine stays about 6-12 inches high. I pinch out the flowers and tall growth to keep it as a low cover. I never see photos that do it justice but I recommend it highly. It spreads very slowly to make a nice little clump. Joycreek Nursery has it and here is a pretty good photo at http://em.ca/garden/per_filipendula_ulm_aurea1.html

There are also some dwarf hostas that are distinctly yellow which are great accents.

For the sunny spot I like the Caryopteris Worcester Gold - and there is a newer yellow cultivar that I forget the name of they say the blooms are better. Also there is a Hypericum that is yellow- I think Bluestone has it in their catalog. A terrific purple foliaged small shrub is the Hypericum Albury Purple - there isn't anything that size like it. Altho I saw at Chicago Botanical Garden that they are using Cotinus as purple accents and they cut them to about 6" high every yr just for the new purple growth. There are several gold leaved Spireas that bloom purple that would precede the coneflower in bloom but retain foliage color. Depends on when you want the shrub to bloom. Spirea is spring and Caryopteris is fall

Alyrics, that Filipendula is gorgeous! Do you have yours in full shade? All the spots I have left in my garden are at least part sun. I'd worry about it scorching, has that been an issue for you?

I like the Tanacetum too. In fact I'm planting a new bed right now and marked a spot for one.

alyrics, that new caryopteris is a C. incana 'Sunshine Blue' ('Jason').
Not sure how it will perform in a colder zones, but here it performs much better than Worcester Gold- it breaks dormancy 2 weeks earlier, foliage stays bright yellow longer, plant is much more compact and tight and flowers are blue, not a dull purple.
I have them both side-by-side and comparison is easy- SB is a clear winner.

Last fall I put in a Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls', so I haven't had much time to evaluate it, but so far it's a nice golden & chartreuse mix of foliage, and it was hardy here last winter (though last winter the snow cover was great, so it may or may not be long term.) The website says 20-36" tall, but mine is too young to tell what its ultimate size will be. It has been happy so far in morning sun until about 10:30 followed by relatively bright shade the rest of the day and in a fairly well-drained spot through a dry spring. My other Deutzia, Nikko, has been not fussy about sun to mid-shade and various soils over a couple of moves, and is generally trouble free.

Deutzia has a similar texture to some of the spireas, though maybe a bit stiffer, and has white flowers that cover the plant about now. My only hesitation about the golden-leaved spireas is that many have pink flowers and that gold and pink combination is unappealing to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Deutzia 'Chardonnay Pearls'

How about tradescantia "Sweet Kate". Your conditions sound just right for it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Kate

Dicentra 'Goldheart' should work well. It holds its foliage much better into the heat of summer than does regular green Dicentra spectabilis and really livens up a somewhat shady spot. Cotinus 'Golden Spirit' loses color in much shade and gets to be a pretty good sized shrub as well. If you can locate one, the gold leafed dwarf oakleaf hydrangea 'Little Honey' could be a great addition also! Or any of the golden Japanese barberries.

My favs for these type of conditions are:

- Tradescantia 'Sweet Kate'
- Ceratostigma willmottianum 'Palmgold'

Other smaller chartruese accents include Liriope 'Pee Dee's Ingot', Carex 'Evergold'.

For the sun area, another shrub option is Abeliophyllum distichum(White Forsythia.) The foliage is a bright chartruese green. I went outside to take a pic for you since most photos show the spring bloom. It of course is very sunny out right now, but hopefully you get the gist.
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Remy

girlndocs
I have the Filipendula in 4 spots in the garden and it doesn't burn anywhere - it will become more of a lime green rather than yellow the more sun it gets as the summer goes on - one gets afternoon sun but is moist and really amended organic soil. I never achieved the 36" height that link says - mine stays low but I like it that way.

One other thing for your sunny area is one of the dwarf chamaecyparis. I got Tom Thumb last yr and just love it. Very very yellow new foliage and those wonderful scalloped branches like nana gracilis. That would give you 4 season interest.

Thanks for the info on Sunshine Blue. I got my Worcester Gold at Bluestone at one of the their annual sales and I knew there was a better one but couldn't turn down the price tag..

Which by the way... if you are in driving distance to Madison, Ohio - Bluestone's annual sale is coming up - maybe its this weekend. They mark everything down to basement pricing and its a great deal. I suppose this yr the prices must have gone up finally w the cost of heating greenhouses but for reference in the past shrubs and hellebores were $4.00 and perennials were $1.50. They have huge annuals that I'm not sure go on the website. I am going to stay away - its a big ol fly trap for me. I bring things home that never get planted and I have to fight to forgive myself. I just put in a 1 plant order for someone to pick up a Buddleia Black Knight for me because once again I weeded my start out from last season before I realized what I'd done.

Thought I'd post 2 pics of using the Filipendula since I'm the one raving about it. Later in the season the Carex Evergold grows out and kind of takes over the limelight but here is this time of year. The Filipendula is on the left with the very yellow leaves

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Here is a tiny start that I will let grow in just to add a dash of color in the background while the Pulmonaria is getting going

If you want something shrubby, I would recommend Spirea thunbergii Ogon (Mellow Yellow Spirea). I love chartreuse plants and have lots of them, but this one is my favorite. Three feet by four feet is just about perfect for it. It has a very fine, almost ferny texture, and blooms in early spring. It's truly lovely. If not this one, I second the motion for Chardonnay Pearls Deutzia. It's a beauty too.

Interesting. I was just posting a picture of Sweet Kate at another site. I had sworn off Tradescantias as I found them invasive. But folks here say that, as often happens with the fancier varieties, this one is not. I love it. I also have the lysimachia Golden Alexander. I wish it would spread. A few weeks ago it was spectacular with the grape hyacinths nearby.

Wow wow wow. This has become a really evil thread.

That 'Ogon' is sure a looker. It reminds me (form and texture) of Salix purpurea 'Nana', another favorite. I'm waffling now on the wisdom of pairing chartreuse and pink, but if I go through with it I think I'll use the spiraea.

I decided the Lysimachia is just too noisy for that corner and pulled it out, so that spot's still in the running.

I really like Dicentra 'Gold Heart' but I'm concerned about it being too big for the space; I really only have about 18" for it and I know my D. spectabilis is way wider than that. Also, everything I looked up about it describes it going completely dormant in summer; what is your trick, Gardengal? Cause I love bleeding heart foliage. And do you have trouble with scorching? The spot in question is under a tree-sized buddleia that I trim way back in March, so up till the end of June or even mid July it doesn't provide much shade; some, though.

I love the filipendula too. I have the same concern about it being wider than I want, though.

Kristin

In your climate I think Choisya ternada "Sundance" with yellow top foliage fragrant white flowers, an erect growth to about 4 to 5 feet, evergreen and disease free would be a good choice. Al

Spirea, Ogon, doesn't bloom pink. It blooms white! It's actually in the family with the common Bridal WReath spirea. The blooms aren't nearly as big, but they are very pretty, nevertheless. (I know. I know. Adding to the evil...:)

Oh yeah, for your eighteen inches spot, you might like Acorus gramineus, Ogon. (Golden Sweet Flag) It's a grassy looking plant: likes shade, moisture, is chartreuse, AND it's evergreen. I have it all over the place. It's a good doer.

Oh I know it blooms white Donna :) I mean the chartreuse foliage next to pinkish-purple coneflowers.

The Acorus is pretty but that spot is heavy on the grasslike/strapshaped foliage already (daylilies and iris).

I love this thread because I love chartreuse foilage,too. I am replacing my golden barberries with Spirea Limemound. This is the 4th spring for 3
of these. I let the rabbits prune them short in the winter & they are a nice size for borders.I just bought 4 more.
There is also a Lemon Princess Spirea I'd like to find. I added Deutzia "Chardonnay Pearls" this spring,too. This looks nice next to purple smokebush.Iris

My vote is for the dicentra "Gold Heart" It is stunning and and the leaves stay beautiful all summer for me. They are quite a bit smaller than the d. spectabilis so I think it would fit in your spot beautifully. Of course, the pink flowers are lovely also. One of my favorites....