I will post a pic of Jack Frost it might help you with your decision. I would put Gardenia in the back and the Heucheras and JF in the front. This is my shade garden that I have Hostas and ferns etc.

If you want another layer of a long bloomer Calla Lily is what I have on the left. It blooms two months for me. If you get the one that has the pretty green/white leaves you would be echoing the Jack Frost.

The Heuchera in this pic is Caramel.

I grow a gardenia in a pot and bring mine inside for the winter so I think they are evergreen, Heucheras are evergreen but the leaves are not all that pretty if you get any snow. JF is not evergreen.

OH WAIT. Im sorry i mean Bergenia, not Gerdenia ! sorry my mind went somewhere else. Thank you for the picture, those are both mature plants, the JF and Heuchera ?

I love the calla lily but i have heard you have to winter them out of the ground ? Would that be true in my area?

That is mature size of 3 yrs. If you can winter Gardenia I know you can winter Calla Lily in your zone. Check out this link. Some have been able to winter in ground in zone 6 if they can find the right spot.

https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/how-to-grow-calla-lily

staggering is usually used in terms of 2 lines of plants ... staggered between the rows ...

but it sounds more like you are talking about planting in groups of multiples of the same plant...

so which is it ...

if you plant 3 plants you would space them according to your goal ..

do you want them to grow together.. and form one big intertwined plant ... [e.g. ground cover conifers where you dont want soil to show in the future]

or will you want them to maintain independence in shape ...[conifers as a sight block, creating a curtain of green to hide that ugly neighbor ... ]

once you figure that out.. you space them accordingly ... based on size estimates ... and then hope for the best .... and/or learn to prune ...

ken

"Or learn to prune" haha I like that.

I want groups of each plant, but I want to know if I can have these specific groups planted in front of each other or not. The coral bells and jack frost seem to be the same height, so would that look odd being behind another. My area is more deep then long so like this picture from Marquest, I woupdated plant side by side like shown, but I am more open and need some small/medium plants all throughout.

I would go with spacing of about 1.5 feet between those plants. The brunnera and heuchera are low-growers; the flower scapes of the heucheras get 1.5-2.0 foot tall, but the overall effect is airy - the foliage stays low, pretty much same size as the brunnera. Helleborus are taller plants than the other two, so I'd avoid blocking the view of the brunnera and heucheras with the helleborus (in other words, don't plant the helleborus in front of them) unless the bed is viewed from multiple sides, then it won't matter so much, although think about the primary viewing angle and put the shorter plants in front. I don't particularly care for plants planted in straight lines - I prefer a woven-type arrangement with one plant leading the eye to another.

If you had to say, would the brunnera be taller or smaller foliage than the heuchera ? i am trying not to do rows, but there may be areas where i may need to put a brunner and heuchera in front of each other so I don't want to cover the other up. I appreciate the help on the helleborus, that's great to know, they will go in the far back.

The brunnera and heuchera are about the same height, foliage-wise.

lastly, would I be able to put the Gerdinia in front or would it be similar height too ?

The Bergenia is a similar height as well, the flower stalks in spring will be the tallest. The three plants will make a nice foliage contrast.

ok great, thanks

How close are you to South Carolina Botanical Garden/Clemson? There must be some public and private gardens in your part of the state for ideas on how well all of these plants will do in your area. I have not replied to your posts because of my zone but we are extremely humid here as well.

Toooo far for a day trip. I'd love to see it though.