Beautiful pool! I'm sure someone here can give you some wonderful ideas.

FlowerLady

Hi there, Caroline. What a welcome courtyard retreat. You've got some nice refreshing/relaxing colors with the blue pool and the green and white furnishings (same colors as my backyard). It is going to be very pretty when things geen up and begin to bloom.

I consulted my Sunset Western Garden Book which has a section on plants near swimming pools. To quote: "plants chosen to landscape swimming pool areas must meet two requirements. Branches, foliage, and flowers should be smooth--not bristly, prickly, sharp, or thorny so as to annoy or injure pool users. And plants should be as litter-free as possible; what litter they produce should be too large to pass into the pool's filter. The plants listed here will meet these specifications." Here are some ideas that might work for you (I listed some that should do well in your zone--be sure to verify shade/sun requirements etc. before purchasing). There are many more that my book doesn't list that would do well in your area.

Trees:
Palms

Shrubs:
Camellia
Ferns
Juniperus
Viburnum davidii

Perennials:
Canna
Hemerocallis (daylily)
Liriope
Succulents

Rosemary (Tuscan Blue)?, cannas, scented pelargoniums, or annuals in your larger pots may look good (although some of these may need frost protection). Perhaps an easy rose such as 'Knockout' in a couple of those large pots (I know they have thorns...).Or potted palms. Not sure which varieties would work in your zone.

Becky

Hi Caroline,
Oh so lovely! It seems you have a blank slate and that is great! I wish knowing now what I wish I would have known when I started my gardens at my current home is to work on the structure of my garden, ie: evergreens and winter interest! The winter is harsh and it seems to scream at me, to get some structure in there, so now I am trying to fix some problem spots by having interest all year. oh well live and learn!

So, is the fountain mostly in shade after a little am shade? If so, maybe you could work on doing some evergreens for a tall background like camellia's, and some sort of evergreen with berries- it would help anchor the space, maybe something lower for color that could go around the fountain, like encore azaela's, that would hightlight the fountain so nicely when they bloomed. Then have some other shrubs mixed in for continued seasonal interest, banana shrub, gardenia's, then go for the smaller things like cast iron plant (everygreen and tropical looking), calladiums, ferns, hosts,impations, etc. So, you start tall then work down to the front ...
I am not sure if my thoughts are coming across right, but try to plan for the future by having good bones (like an evergreen background)then you can fill in with some more color with annuals.
If I misunderstood your sun and location, sorry!

The blank white wall what is the sun like overthere? Because I think you need a red climbing rose right on that wall!
I think also, that the large terracota pots planted and placed stragetically (sp?) around the pool planted with something that is either all the same for repetition would be very cool. Or, if you don't want one thing all the same, it seems like to me this year the magazines are showing pots with one type plant in it instead of many...has anyone else noticed that?
rambling now.. I am sure you've had enough of me!
Good luck, and I think no matter what you do it's going to be great! Oh, btw, for me I could never grow lavender or gardenia's until I grew them in pots, I could never get the drainage right!

Jenn

Caroline, to me that big blank white wall in the northeast side is crying for a really bold treatment. A typical solution in my climate would be to partly cover it with a big tile mural and then paint the remaining part of the wall, side to side, in a matching color. That's what I would do if this was my garden. It would make a fantastic focal and talking point. I'm not sure whether it would be practical for you to comission a tile mural in your area, so another alternative would be to have a trompe l'oeil mural painted across that wall. In a well done mural, the big pots would be part of the scenery and should be planted with plants appropriate to the theme depicted in the mural - perhaps cypress.

Failing all that, I would still paint that wall a strong color, being careful that it matched the blue color of the pool and would do an arrangement of pots in odd numbers in front. Not in a straight line, but in small groups of 3 or 5. Lavender and rosemary would do very well in those pots, but beware they attract bees and wasps, so you may not want them near the pool. They come to the pool to drink as it is - at least in my climate they do, as attested by pool owners who have to share their pools with the wasps!

I don't think buddleia is a good plant to have near a pool, for all the reasons you state. I would relocate them somewhere else and use some sort of evergreen in there.

I like your wall of jasmine, just don't think the pots add anything to it. I would move them to the northeast wall for the odd number arrangement I mentioned. In the jasmine wall I would underplant with small colorful perennials and annuals, as per Becky's suggestion.

I like Jenn's suggestion for the shady wall of the fountain, I think you had some very good suggestions there.

Looking forward to see what you decide and make of such a lovely space.

Eduarda

Caroline, something in the lines of this - see the link below. The imagery is typically Portuguese and wouldn't do in your environment, but the type of solution would be appropriate and you could comission a suitable theme for your space.

Hope this helps
Eduarda

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of tile mural

I have been sick since Saturday so have not gotten back to look at your responses. I still feel terrible so will make this short.

I love the idea of a scene painted on the wall. There is no bed there and I think that would look great. I have 18 !!! old windows and my DIL had suggested hanging 2 of them and putting the gate that is there as part of the scene ( the gate is now too small for the opening into the pool.) But I think if we do the windows and shutters andd I have her paint ( she is a wonderful artist) we can do something interesting w/o spending so much money.

The fountain end only gets sun right now in the AM . The bed is not very deep only about 3 ft. I will look up some of those plants and see. Daylilies need a lot of sun here . I could do the azaleas and gardenia. I have 2 small conf. jasmine started on that wall behind the fountain.

I will also look up the pot plants. I usually do asparagus ferns and begonias in the strawberry pots. The 2 big ones have a grass in them. I would love roses...I think jennbenn that there were shade loving roses ??? in that Southern Garden. I have to go lie down again. c

Bless your heart, sorry you are so sick :(

but when you feel better, hee hee hee... here is the link to the roses from the "Southern Garden" he grows some great roses in partial shade.... I laugh because this site is what helped feed my rose obession! Enjoy!

Here is a link that might be useful: The Southern Garden rose link!!!! (Partial shade)