I have knockout roses and they do well, but I really really recommend Belinda's Dream. It's truly a phenomenal rose that requires exactly zero care. And I do not have any kind of green thumb. We have had ours for about 8 years now.

It's a repeat bloomer good for your zone.

I usually get coleus plants and they look great by themselves..I do get a few of them for each pot since some grow taller and other shorter...plus their colors are amazing.
Grasses are also beautiful such as purple fountain grass. Elephant ears would be another option. I had a plant that grew tall and had red and pink flowers..I am trying to remember the name..something with lady..I'll try to find it

Also, Cannas plants are large and look pretty by themselves

I love the look of sweet potato vine, coleus and purple anything :)

It’s a huge effort to cover an entire landscape, so why not contact one of the best landscape contractors to enhance its beauty? It will help you to develop it into a perfect way to show off your property and enjoy nature.

amelie, she doesn't have much to landscape. Whatever she already has works well and now she is trying to see what else she can add. I've worked with a landscape architect for my project because it was a large one. It is great if you find one that knows what he/she is doing. The one that we ended up using was great. I did have the chance to talk to someone who was part of a well known business here as well and they came up with a lame and last minute thrown together plan. Not easy to find a great landscaper and even harder to find someone to execute it.

Thanks all. I appreciate the ideas for the pots, and will consider using the coleous in one of the pots, as I do think they are really beautiful as well. I really do want to have some colorful flowers as well. Has anyone in Zone 6b/7 grown lavender in a pot? which kind works best? I also love the look of the sweet potato vine, but last year it really was such a pain in the neck to take care of in my pots.

@amelie - thanks for your comments. I do have a landscape designer who is the one who built and designed the patio. I had nothing before. It is only about a year and a half old at this point and of course we left room for it to continue to grow and evolve. I do have access to her to ask for advice and even help, but I would like to do it myself vs continuing to spend the money for someone else. As @printesa mentioned I already have a lot done, just working to fill in and replace things that haven't come back. In fact I've planted a few things myself and am learning to enjoy the process, as I get more comfortable.

which reminds me, I also need to plant a milkweed plant, any thoughts where that can go? Anyone who has planted Nepeta - do you find that cats make a mess of it? there are at least one or 2 cats that use my yard as a cut through, and I don't want to have it ruined by them

I had lavender last year in a pocket on the pergola wall. I don't remember which one, but I got it from a local nursery that is reliable with their plants. I think it was one of the Angustifolia like the Royal Velvet (the ones with a tighter flower). It did well. I don't think it makes it through the winter...I still have to clean the pockets and see what made it what didn't..One tall plant that does really well and it looks great through grasses and roses,,,pretty much anything, is Verbena bonariensis. It's tall, doesn't take much space and stays in bloom all summer until snow

Here is a photo of the pockets I was telling you about

forgot about the milkweed...anywhere on the sunny part. I have one next to a tree..somewhere next to the dogwood might work for you

The flower that always does consistently well for me is calibrochia (sp) or million bells. I always have it in most of my pots mixed in with other things, but last year I did it by itself (with a corkscrew plant) in one of my urns. The neat thing about it is it comes in literally tons of colors, and now they've started growing indiv plants with more than one color, really pretty. This is my urn from last year..

Yes, the superbells are doing well everywhere..I think I have some in every pot:)
Very pretty pot you have there tgb1

Thanks printesa : ))

I bought a few plants today at a local plant sale and would love feedback on placement & supplementing. #s hopefully relate to the picture order.
1 & 2) I bought 1 small Nepeta Jr Walker which will be planted along the border behind the Yucca & Russian Sage. Apparently these grow to about 3-4 feet, should I buy another (either JR or regular Walker) or is 1 enough? If just the 1 I would probably move it farther away from the Sage ( I may need to do that anyway).
3) I bought a Cranebill Geranium (Chatto) and Hellebore to plant on shady side. In the pic I have the geranium centered in the empty border & thought I could either buy another geranium or plant a heucherella on either side. What do you think of Hellebore where it is?
4) I also bought a purple clematis - and put in the trellis. I will see how this does.

I'd love any thoughts. Also I LOVE calibrachoa - and definitely plan to use in my pots.

Good location for all. I would get another nepeta if not two more so you can cover the border. The same goes for geranium..you can get 5-6 of those. Hellebore are just for Spring so you want something to cover the border throughout the year. For me, the geraniums did well and I see that they are still doing well

Thanks @Printesa - what do you think of mixing heucherella with the geranium? I'm just thinking it might be nice to work some varying color over onto that side of the patio. Or should I just do a few geranium in front of the Oakleaf hydrangea as you suggested?

You can combine the two plants without any problems. I think you have space for several geraniums and hellebore . Have the hellebore behind geraniums since they get taller.

Ok so I bought a few things today - hopefully I can plant tmrw! I bought 2 more Nepeta Walker low, so now I have 2 Reb & 1 Jr. I think I will plant the Jr closest to the Yucca & Russian Sage (since it's a little shorter). The other 2 I will plant along the border. What do u think of placement in pics? They will be planted closer to the border. I also bought 1 more knockout rose, I think 3 would be too tight. I also bought another dianthus for the sunny side, to fill in along the border.

I also bought 3 Geranium Cranesbill Rosanne. Question, this is a different variety of cranesbill I bought the other day. The leave colors are a bit different and bloom times. Do you think I can use them mixed together or just stick with the Rosanne? The pic shows both kinds.

I also decided on my pots - I'm going to go more simple this year, focusing on those plants I had success with last year (salvia, geranium, lantana, verbena, calibrachoa, Angelonia & creeping Jenny). Not all in one pot but throughout the pots in different combinations.

All good! I would have the geraniums closer because they look better when the are close. This way you can either combine the two kinds and get some more of the other kinds as well, or group them by type.
As for the pots, those are great flowers..I use them every year..Actually, the Goldilocks (creeping Jenny) is in my garden as well as ground cover,,it does really well.
I have to get some plants as well...I just planted a few missing white salvia, but the ground is soaked,,we had lots of rain in DE..sun came today after days of clouds and rain..

For me, the bells did well without fertilizing them often..I think I did use some organic fertilizer ones every 3 weeks,,Towards the hot period of the summer I had to make sure I don't forget..

I take photos of the pots so I can remember which plant did well where..It's too difficult to move the pots, plus they would break if I were to move them all the time..Plants are tricky and even the smallest difference can make a difference. For example, I have a bench that is about 5 ft long that has a planters integrated at each end. I use the same plants for both sides. There is always one side that has certain plants do better than the other..The difference in sun exposure is minimal as you can imagine, but the difference in the plants overall image is obvious.

Thanks. I had calibrachoa & petunias last summer & the petunias were a major pain. Calibrachoa did well in my pots (all the plants I mentioned did really well & were easy). As for the cranebills - I'm not sure if I will be able to get anymore of the one kind. So will mixing one plant with the other kind look unbalanced or ok?

it will look fine if you combine them. My MIL has two kinds and they are mixed and they look fine. You will get to see which ones you like in the end now that you have two kinds:)

I was able to plant the 3 Nepeta & another dianthus today. I still gave to plant the knock out rose, cranesbill, & 1 hellebore. But it is definitely getting there. I think after this I will stop (for this year anyway). I will need to move my attention to the front of my house. I'm going to have a new front porch/steps installed, along with landscaping (see separate dilemma).

Looks good! It's a good idea to plant a few at a time and see how they do. I am still waiting for the coreopsis...so far, they didn't come up..I might have to get new ones...probably this winter with its wacky weather did a number on them..
I'll check your new dilemma

Looking good.....yes, you're right: the patio garden now needs to mature. And what you learn now will benefit the front......you'll have favorite plants you will want to use again. Perennials don't mind being divided every so often, so when you fall in love with some of the plants you've introduced in your patio garden, plan to have space set aside in the front for when you are ready to divide and reset existing perennials. Have fun.......gardening is a therapeutic joy, well for me anyways. Looking forward to see how your garden grows!

I got my pots & I think they are gorgeous. I wasn't planning on them being so similar, but even though they are I love them. What do u think?

Wow. I love your pots. I saw your list of annuals for your pots and I was wondering what's in the trio of pots besides those lovely pink geraniums. Good job.

Cmcole- they're beautiful!!! What's the biggest center flower?

Thanks both of you. The pink flower is geranium & the rest is salvia, verbena, lantana, calibrachoa, creeping Jenny, and Angelonia in some pots? I had a nursery plant & thought they wouldn't use same color geraniums in all pots, but now I kind of love it. These should grow in nicely. Here are a few more pics (closeup).

looks lovely! It will have a bigger impact since they are similar in colors, and that's great

Anything going on in the front yard?

We should be starting the front yard on Monday. Will keep everyone updated in that dilemma. For the back - I need to finish planting what I've already bought, and then I am not spending one more dollar until the fall :-).

It looks nice. I am behind with my patio plants...work keeps me too busy these days, but I am planning to get to it next week. I finally accepted that I can't clean the entire yard myself, so I had the crew that cuts the grass do the cleaning..now it looks nice:) Good luck with the front yard. Keep an eye on them. I know I had to and even then, I still had to have things redone...even with a plan done by the architect, with measurements and everything

Wow! What a beautiful infusion of color in those pots! Most of xcellent

Thank you, cmcole. I'm headed to garden center tomorrow. Can't wait to plant my pots! Great inspiration! I usually just plant petunias, but want to branch out, so to speak:)

Thanks so much everyone!! I appreciate the kind words. I'm am very happy.

I am thinking about adding one additional thing to my plantings, swamp milkweed. Does anyone have recommendations for where to plant & if just one plant is ok? I am thinking I can plant in the fence either between grass & spruce or between 2 grasses along the border. I want to provide the necessary food for butterflies (monarchs).

Updated pics with everything planted! Now just need to see how it all does. Thanks for all the ideas. Love the Nepeta, cranesbill, knockout roses :-)

I would consider leaving it as in but replacing the light mulch with dark mulch, makes landscaping look better put together and the colours are able to pop more. With the dark mulch you'll notice the spaces look smaller and cleaner.

It makes quite a difference using a dark mulch

The dark mulch makes a big difference

Looks good! If you want to add milkweed, you can add one and see if you like it. They do tend to multiply quickly so you will need to keep an eye on them

Madeline, as long as the mulch is not that artificially dyed mulch, it's fine..the artificial black one is not good for the plants or the soil

Updated pics - most things are really doing well, especially the Oakleaf hydrangea & knockout roses. Not so optimistic about my black eyed Susan's, they took quite a beating with aphids and either groundhogs or deer.

The plants look great and so do your pots. I am behind with my pots..just planted some yesterday,,still have a few to finish.
If you have aphids and squishing them is too much, make a combination of 2 tsp dish soap with water and spray them,,leave this for 2 hours and then rinse them. Just make sure you do this either early in the morning or in the evening when the sun is not strong

Thanks @printesa - the aphids are gone now. I did spray them with the hose, soapy water & then released a bunch of lady bugs. Seems to have worked but the plants are kind of a mess. We will see. Good luck with your pots!
A few more pics attached.

Hello, your yard looks so neat and gorgous!
Especially your circled pavements. May I ask 2 questions?

1. Are you worries about the mature size of the blue Colorado Bruce? I really want one but some say you can trim it for keeping small.
2. Do you remember the pave stones model? Seems like you used 2 colors and 3 shaped bricks.
   Thank you.

• can't trim

A layer of mulch over the empty areas will allow the plants to grow and fill in nicely.

WOW someone posted on this from 5 years ago bringing this back into my feed. So much has changed since. In fact I recently posted a new dilemma that I’d love input on (link below). Attached are pics of my garden as it looks now. @Angie Charm I believe this is a dwarf blue spruce. I don’t know about trimming the spruces back to control size, I wouldn’t think that is recommended though. I don’t recall the paver info. They are all the same color just different shapes because of the circle kit.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6146866/help-needed-what-would-you-plant-here