Hi Ctgardenguy! I don’t know anything about what works in zone 6 gardening, but I personally love the look of pinks with either reds or yellows, then with blue or purple underplanting.

In your zone you could do blue forget-me-nots right? Or hardy geranium? I would do that underneath, and either a bright or deep dark red next to Olga.

Some people don’t like red with pink, although I love it. In that case, a yellow would look nice and bright. I would still add the blue/purple underplanting with the yellow too. I think it helps to bring it all in to look cohesive and also to help the colors pop. :-)

Have you ever looked at a site called gardenia.net? I use their site a lot for photos of inspiration when I want to design my garden. At the bottom of this link there are lots of different guides that may give you some ideas with their photos... https://www.gardenia.net/plant/Rhododendron-Olga-Mezitt

Yowza!! Different strokes for different folks I guess, but that would not be a color combination I'd suggest!! I'd go with a white or with a more fuchsia/magenta color, like PJM, to accent the pink.

Yeah a lot of people cringe on the rose forum when I say I like pink and red together too... until they see pictures. Lots of flowers naturally have pink and red together in the same flower. They happen together in nature, so of course I like to mimic that in my own garden. But yes, different strokes. It’s all about what you like Ctgardenguy.

Heres some photos of pink and red together though, with their links below. Just to give a visual so you can decide if you like it or not.

http://www.southernhighroads.org/georgia/attractions/hiawassee/hamilton-rhododendron-garden-hiawassee-georgia

http://www.mlive.com/advancenewspapers/opinion/index.ssf/2015/05/rhododendrons_--_so_beautiful.html

And here’s some photos of pink with yellow, links again below.

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/Best-Shrubs-As-Companion-Plants-for-Azaleas-and-Rhododendrons

https://www.gardenia.net/guide/Choosing-Azaleas-and-Rhododendrons

And here’s a photo with blue underplanting.

http://www.cadysfallsnursery.com/Woodland%20in%20spring%202015.html

Check out the PJMs for a slightly earlier, slightly more magenta/purple-pink and leaves that are the same size, but have a nice winter color contrast. Front is Olga Mezitt and behind is PJM.

Look at the really pale pink, larger flowers of some of the hardier Yaku hybrid rhodies such as Yaku Prince which have larger leaves with a fuzzy tan back for a textural contrast all year.

Here are three images of the area. The 2nd and 3rd images show the location of the proposed new planting. Right now it is occupied by a small hydrangea that I am moving to another spot. The tree in front is a white flowering dogwood. The white flowers are lost with the white background so i am reluctant to plant a white flowering rhododendron/azalea. There are boxwoods to the left of the area. The other plants are a peony and coneflowers.

I have PJMs and a Yaku Princess in other spots. I would like something new. I like the idea of a bold color, but I wonder if the mass planting of OMs would overwhelms it.

It doesn't have to be a rhododendron or azalea. I tried a hydrangea that admittedly won't grow large enough to work in that space. I had a large clump of ornamental grass before the hydrangea.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

What a great space! I really love the stone wall, the large boulders and the dogwood too.

I know I’m the weirdo who likes red with pink, but I really would do a few large red rhodies there that will grow tall in your climate and that have dark green foliage. That would make that dogwood pop in front of them. I would also add an underplanting to the line of Olgas and repeat it into the boulder area, something that might cascade and flow or add a sense of movement in your climate, to tie it all in. If hardy geraniums grow there, they would work great. But there are probably lots of other plants with those characteristics that would work well in zone 6 that I’m simply not aware of.

Your Olgas look great, but it’s a lot of pink isn’t it? More color would draw the eye around the yard to the beautiful boulder area. More pink would just be too monotone I think. I would spice it up with a lot of color, but that’s just me.

NHBabs idea of a vine or clematis is a good one too. A nice trellis could add some structure that would look nice even when things aren’t blooming.

I'm not sure a vine or clematis works in that space given that the tree is also vertical growing. I do have a perfect spot for a honeysuckle in a different area so I will use your idea. Thanks!

I have 3 snowflake viburnums nearby, but a pink flowering one might work from a color perspective although it might be too big. I have an Enkianthus planted elsewhere. Not a fan of spireas. I have a couple planted that I am thinking of junking. What type of gold colored foliage plant did you have in mind? Other ideas?

I will look into the red rhododendron suggestion.

Yes, it is a lot of one color. That is my style because I am not good or confident about mixing colors which I why I asked for your help.

They're beautiful and healthy Ctgardenguy. The whole space you have there is fantastic. :-) I don’t think you can go wrong no matter what you end up choosing since what you have now looks great already!

Let us know what you end up choosing and please update with photos when it warms up there and you have a chance. Your garden design there is beautiful and I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

I am not much of a spirea fan either, but Spirea Ogon is a much lovelier plant than any other spirea I have seen, with fine gold foliage that is the main attraction, white flowers which aren't particularly prominent, and a slightly weeping habit. Nice fall color also.

There are gold and gold variegated shrub dogwoods, but they may all be too large. If they aren't too big, the colored twigs wood look nice in winter as well, and most can be pruned to the ground, about 1/3 of the stems each year to keep the bright stem color.

There is a gold foliaged Philadelphus/mock orange, but it also has white flowers, so not the best choice there. And there are a number of gold foliaged small, mounding conifers which wouldn't provide flowers but would provide year round interest.

Look at some of the gold-foliaged Caryopteris shrubs such as Sunshine Blue.

You could also do a 4' tall mushroom-shaped wire support for Clematis alpina 'Stolwijk Gold' with early spring blue flowers and bright gold to chartreuse foliage all season. It would climb to the top of the 4' trellis and then spill over.

Spirea Ogon looks very interesting for that spot. This might be the one for that area! Broken Arrow Nursery carries it according to their website. I need to make a trip to investigate.

Is your Lonicera sempervirens attached to the same trellis that is to its right?

Thanks everybody for the suggestions. Much appreciated.

The other trellis in that photo is too light weight for the honeysuckle. My Lonicera sempervirens has a robust iron rod spiraled trellis that goes right up the center of the plant but that is completely covered. The plant climbs totally on its own and the trellis may in reality be quite a bit too small for the plant. I was inspired by one I saw that was pruned to its trellis, so I am hoping that will work here. Sorry this isn't the best photo of it.

Too small in height or diameter?

Vines grow anywhere there is support, so this one will grow longer than my support offers either direction. Brushwood says it grows 10-15' or even to 20', though I wouldn't expect the taller end of that in my area with some pruning and my shorter growing season. With training, you could make that width or height, though by nature the growth wants to grow up.