Do you have tall garden phlox? Or perennial aster? Cannas?

How about Joe Pye Weed or Plume Poppy? Caster beans as an annual are very striking too and they help to fill in the gaps till the perennials take over.

There's some really tall grasses but I don't know much about cultivar names (ask Pudge the grass expert). Is this to stop your neighbour staring at you again?

Thanks for the suggestions.....keep em comming!

northspruce.....The forth bed I added to the front is to make a garden room........or a place to sit outside that has some privacy. (You know somewhere to have your morning coffee with your hair still looking a little like bee balm :o )The lilacs are planted along that side of the property as well and next spring we are building a fence to match the other one we put up on the other side this year. The other neighbour has agreed to it, but is a little disappointed because they won't beable to view my garden then. This new bed runs across the front side up to almost the house. I have a bench in the area now........but would like a picnic table or something else there too. I was thinking of something with a roof or something......to block the sun or rain....so we could still be outside. This flower bed will be a block from the road. So we don't feel like we are right on the road. I plan on using plants of varying heights but I would like some tall bushy ones in there too. I will evenually post pics so you can see what I am talking about...my discriptions probably arn't the best. LOL!

Today I transplanted 3 delphs, and some liatris in that flower bed. In the front 3 flower beds I transplanted a peony, two kinds of lilies, and a daylily so far. It started to rain and rained most of the afternoon.

Sierra

Wow that's gonna be really nice! I'm jealous. If I did that I think it would fill up with mosquitoes so fast... DH wants me to get rid of all the hedges as it is. I can kinda see his point but YOU try getting rid of 300 sqft of 70 year old lilacs - hah!

Bee balm hair LOL that's what I have a whole wardrobe of gardening bandanas for. Speaking of bee balm mine that I started from seed this spring and only one sprouted, it's doing really well and I think it might even bloom this year.

Can't wait to see pics of your project!

Filipendula rubra 'Venusta' (Queen of the Prairie)

You want tall and bushy, Persicaria polymorpha Giant Fleeceflower. Beautiful perennial that blooms for a long time and its hardy too, ignore the zone rating of what the books or catalogues say ;)

Sharon

I am going to have to look a couple of these plants up...thanks again for the suggestions..and if you have more ideas...keep em commming....I may have to change some around even after I finish planting.....you all know how that is right?

It will take a couple of years to have this project completed....but I am starting with the plants so it should be filled in, by the time everything comes together and is in place.

northspruce......how tall are those 70 year old lilacs? Mine are only a few years old and range from about 3 feet to 5 maybe some at 6 feet. The new ones I planted this spring are only about a foot tall.

If all works like I am imagining it.....the sitting area will be pretty much surrounded with perennial gardens and the lilacs along one side.

Sierra

I'll paint a sign and put it up immediately "NO MOSQUITOS ALLOWED!" Do you think they can read? LOL!

Ummm I guess they are about 15' at the west side, and when I moved in they were taller on the east side but I got in there with a saw and sawed out all the old wood so they are a controllable 7' now. Man, that was gruelling, it was the days before my chain saw and I cut them all by hand. Whew! You've probably seen overgrown lilacs, they are not pretty. It least I think they look kinda rickety. But they bloom better than trimmed ones.

I agree with Sharon on this one- if you want tall and bushy, do try the persicaria polymorpha, giant fleeceflower, mine are just in their second year and they are huge and shrublike.
I ordered them from Dominion seeds and they came in a small pot, dormant. Even last year, their first - they did well. But this year they really came into their own and are fabulous. They look great even when their blooms are fading.
They don't start to look "ratty" at all.
I love tall, big plants anyway - I have a lot of area to garden here on the farm, big place, need big plants in some places. This fleeceflower is one of the best "great - big plants".
Faith

Ok I will definately be looking for giant fleeceflower. I will look at the nursery here to see if they have it this afternoon....the nursery still hasn't put their perennials on sale yet....when I asked I was told they didn't know when they would go on sale....maybe in sept. So I might find it there still. If not I'll have to order a Dominion cataloge for next spring. I was getting their catalogue until this year and then they didn't send me one. Hmmmm I think its been 2 or 3 years since I ordered from them, that is probably why.

Northspruce....Ya I have seen over grown lilacs...LOL...that is how I got enough lilacs for my hedge on both sides of the property. I dug out runners LOL. I was a bit concerned that they would be high maintenance....but hubby really wanted the hedge. Apparently his mother had a hedge of lilacs when he was growing up. He said he would look after them. LOL. Right now they are still fairly young here and still filling in. I want them to be 15 feet tall or well at least 7.

Sierra

How about culvers root for a tall vertical accent? Just wondering about the fleeceflower- how much does it spread and will it tolerate clay soil?

Yes yes yes on the giant fleece flower - persicaria polymorpha. I have seen it described as looking like an astilbe on steroids. It's huge here. Other tall (but not as big) plants for me are cimicifuga ramosa, the tall goats beard, some of the tall rudbeckias, helenium... I once saw, but haven't dared to try because it is such an invasive monster, Jerusalem artichoke - planted as a hedge. They just mowed it down on each side and it looked great. I have it planted in a contained area and it's lovely.

Amanda

Another tall one (8') is Cephalaria gigantea, but it may not suite the purpose, since it's actually very open...but put enough different tall plants together, and I guess you'd have a very interesting screen.

Debbie, my Fleeceflower is a quite a few years old, its growing in amended clay based soil, it's around 4-5' wide and 6-7' feet tall when in bloom. They like moist soil ;)

can you grow cleome? I love its unique large flower.
does lythrum grow there, tall and gorgeous blowing in the breeze, plus full and a perennial to boot.
jan

Yes, unfortunately lythrum grows very well across most parts of Canada. Environment Canada considers it the one plant with the greatest capacity to take over and replace native wetland species. Most provinces have it on their Noxious Weeds list, and the regulation behind that is that any occurrence of it is to be destroyed. (I realize it's the same in many U.S. states too.)
Yes, it is beautiful, but so are many other perennials that pose no significant risk to what little is left of the natural environment.
End of sermon, sorry.

Wow thanks for all the suggestions. I will be googling. LOL

Sierra

Hey, I just realized no one has suggested globeflower, Echinops ritro or the other species and varieties - mine get to >5', and form big, bulky plants. Same with Heliopsis helianthoides; the 'Summer Sun' variety tops 6'. Both of these provide some late color.

I have orange globe flower that gets to 5 or 6 feet.....when I bought it....It said it got to about 2 and half feet. LOL....So I have been wanting to move it for a couple of years.......So plan on moving it into this new bed near the dark purple delph. My yellow globeflower gets to 3 or 4 feet.

Sierra

Oops, I just realized that globe thistle is what I meant to say (not globeflower). Sierra, is it a Trollius you have that's that tall? Wow!

Yup....its a Trollius.......its gigantic trollius. LOL. I have no idea why it gets this tall.....I even asked at the nursery that I bought it at.......and they don't have an explaination either. What I don't like about this plant is that it flops. I have seen several normal sized plants of this....but nothing this big.

My globe thistle is only about 4 feet tall, but must be at least 6 feet wide. LOL. Its squishing everything around it.

Sierra

Did anyone mention castor beans?

These were planted here as a filler for this year (and will possibly be again next year). I removed roses from this area this spring and replaced them with a very small Miss Kim Lilac. There's also 2 Miscanthus growing in there. Anyway, I needed a filler, and thought these would get to a nice 5 or 6'. Well, the bottom of the window (the glass) is 5' from the ground so these are going on about 8' now. That's our old gal Katja peeking out, wondering what's going on. Oh yeah, the seed was your 99 cent variety from the grocery store rack and was 3 years old.

On the topic of tall plants... Last year I got a perennial plant that was *huge*. It had pink and white flowers that reminded me of a giant snapdragon flower. The flowers were mostly at the top of the stalk not along the sides like a snapdragon but the flower had that same look.

Does anyone have any ideas? Sigh. I wish I'd left it alone but it was in with a bunch of roses and I had no place else to plant it. It was really vigorous and grew like crazy.

Sounds like Impatiens glanduliferum, or possibly I. roylei, but the former is more common. I tried to find one for our planter this year - they make a nice big "statement" plant! - but no luck. (Guess I should have hung around with a catcher's mitt to snag those explosive seeds last time we grew them! Too bad one can never predict what will be in the stores from year to year.)

Oh, a perennial? Sorry, I missed that - perhaps obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana)? Or Chelone?

Holy batman Pudge, that is one huge Cator Bean plant you have there, are you feeding it MG every day? LOL!
Mine didnÂt meet expectations this year, cold spring + cold August was the culprit IÂm sure.

I bet this plant is quite the conversation when you have visitors over sitting in your front living room ;)

Katja is a beauty too ;)

Sharon

I've not fertilized those castor beans once, Sharon - here I was thinking it was bad soil since the roses weren't doing very well for me there. I guess there's nothing wrong with it at all.

The poor dogs, those castor beans have have ruined their big screen TV.

WOW that caster bean is big! I haven't tried to plant one of them yet either.

I was given some obedient plant, (but from what I have read about it...its more of a disobedient plant). I finally got it planted yesterday......I cut the bottom and top off of a big water bottle and planted it in that.....so I could control the spread.

I have been looking for the giant fleece flower and haven't been able to find it.......so if there is still room in this bed next year I will be looking in the mail order catalogs.....I think some one said Dominion Seed House.....but space is running out fast.

Yesterday I bought a Joe-Pye Weed Eupatorium p. maculatum 'Atropurpureum'. I saw this growing in the garden at the nursery.....it was about 8 ft high and about 8 ft across.......I thought it was very pretty with its purple flowers. I tried growning a red one twice from seed, but I couldn't get the seed to germinate....so I am trying a plant. LOL.

I was also given a plume poppy....so I planted that yesterday as well....

Its dark here today...looks like its going to rain here any second. :-(........but the new gardens are almost done folks...Yay!. LOL.

Sierra

What! You're out of space already Sierra? I'm sending you a self-addressed-stamped-boxcar for your extras LOL

Are ya gonna show us what you did?? Or do we have to wait until everything's growing next year?

Not quite out of space but running out fast. I did leave space for the giant fleece flower after all. LOL. Gotta keep telling myself to leave some room for these other plants to grow.

Well.....she says guiltily......we took the sod out for one more bed...yesterday. This one is along the driveway and will be for my glads and dahlias...next year. By doing this we can still shovel the snow on there in the winter and it won't bother anything cause the plants are removed for the winter. This also frees up the bed where I usually put the dahlias in the back for sunflowers next year. Hee hee I do have a plan.......

Well northspruce LOL......Several truck loads of divisions have gone out of here this year already. LOL. I am also attempting to revamp the large perennial bed and get some sort of order in there. I am trying to find an easier way to control the weeds.....when its so crowded..we just can't get in there to weed.....so there are some pretty big weeds in there that have to go. So I am also trying to leave enough space for the plants to grow and still be able to get in there to weed....wish me luck. LOL!!!

I took a bunch more pics yesterday....but I have to get them developed. So yes eventually you will see the pics :-)

Sierra