I have black and blue salvia, but they are in a shadier area. I like them, they spread (which can be a bad trait, I suppose) but it works for where I have them. You have daylilies, right? I think those are easy. However, if your garden is like mine, you need midsummer/fall color. False indigo (baptisia australis), again spring color, but easy.

Autumn sage is nice (salvia greggii)

tall landscape grasses? I have some miscanthus that is wonderful. It has to be cut back in the spring, but other than that, totally maintenance free.

spireas are my go to shrub. I cannot think of a bad thing to say about them. I had them planted all over the old place, but now I am in heavy clay and they say spiraeas do not like that. I have some in raised beds, but cannot confirm their dislike for clay soil. As far as additional plants I think Lisa has it covered pretty good.

Thank you for the response. I do like salvia, and have it all over the yard. I am looking for something larger to balance with the spirea. My spirea plants are about 4 foot square. Salvia grows fast, and has to be pruned or the center looks ugly. The individual ones are pretty, but do need to be deadheaded.

I need to look up false indigo. Whenever I go to a nursery, I become so frustrated with the choices that I end up leaving with a silly annual that will contribute nothing to what I want to do.

Sammy

Sammy, I have to prune my May Night type salvias *or I should...*, but I don't do anything to the Black and Blue. They are individual stalks. The autumn sage doesn't take any pruning either, except a haircut in the spring.

In my picture, if you look through the sprinkler, you can see my miscanthus. I have really come to appreciate it. There will be "seed stalks" that come up later. I am not a fan of pampas grass, mostly because it was overdone and people don't cut it back when the should, but my miscanthus has the most beautiful flow to it. However, it needs to be in a spot you will always want it in. I tried to split mine, no can do. It is there for life. I have no idea which one mine is, but the link below seems similar.

Miscanthus sinensis

Lisa, thanks for saving me some time as I was thinking about trying to divide my miscanthus. I think it's such a graceful plant (love it in the breeze), and other than its haircut in spring, it's no work at all. Guess if I want more, I'll just have to buy it, which is not a problem as it's definitely worth it.

Michelle

Michelle, I could just be a whimp, but I've tried several times! It is dying out in the center (which is normal, from what I read), so maybe eventually I can get a spade in the middle.

I had to use a chainsaw on mine a few years ago. All of the large grasses are hard to divide after a few years. However an f5 tornado will divide them in a hurry. HA!

I think I'll pass on that particular method, stockergal :)

Oh come on Lisa, where is your sense of adventure. HA

I could not get it divided any other way. You gotta do what you gotta do.

You were able to engineer an F5 tornado just to get it split? :)

How did you get the chainsaw under the ground? That's where I can't seem to get anywhere. I have to use my electric hedge trimmer every spring to trim it down. Fortunately it is close enough to an outlet! :)

I dug it up with a shovel, that little job took about half a day. Then I did try shovels and garden forks but had to end up with the chainsaw. the dividing and cutting down in sring are the only work grasses have, they are true garden wonders. I grow a lot of Mexican feather grass and purple fountain grass also.

Chainsaws and tornadoes? Nope. Much more work than I want, so I'll just get more and be sure I plant it where it can stay. (Plants are usually moved at least three times in my garden until I finally leave them be.) You have saved me time and energy I can spend elsewhere, and I thank you very much.

Michelle

Dragonfly hollow, don't listen to us, if you divide when your suppose to its not that hard. But, you can never have to many grasses. Buy all you want and enjoy.

Dragonfly...You would be moving them when they are small...that is much easier to do! Mine has been in place for more than 10 years. In fact, mine started out as three sprigs of grass someone sent me as a "bonus" plant back when I was trading seeds and plants.

When it comes to large impressive grasses switchgrass (panicum) is much easier to deal with than the overused, non-native miscanthus. The leaves are not sharp, it sways beautifully in the wind and is not a problem to divide or trim down in late winter. The seed heads are just now starting up so the bloom time is much longer lasting from summer until you cut them back in late winter. There are many varieties to choose from including some with interesting red or blue leaves available. 'Northwind' has deep olive green leaves so stiffly vertical they look as if they have been starched and ironed. They are all quite vertical and stand up well all winter for interest. Check out Santa Rosa Gardens online.

Other easy care suggestions:

Ninebark shrubs---- Diablo, Coppertina and Amber Jubilee have decorative leaf color.

Smoke Tree--- Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'.

Grasses are a real pain to divide. I used to dig them out of the ground, turn them over, and divide from the bottom. I always had to do that just at the right time of the year when the ground wasn't icy or snowy. At that time I could cut back the grasses before replanting them.

I saw an episode of Garden by the Yard, and watched Paul James stab a spade through a part of the grass, and replant it. He took off pieces rather than to try to divide the whole thing.

If I were to stab something like that, the spade would bounce, and hit my foot, and the force of the stab would really hurt my hand.

I have since gotten rid of all of my grasses. I sure hope my 7 spireas do not perform like that.

Sammy