they're not that tall but if hardy in your zone I'd plant macrophylla hydrangeas..

Hi.

Ok. I'll think on that. I have some paniculata hydra. somewhere else and they are kind of over my head on care.

not my house but here's a pic of macrophylla hydrangeas growing by the house..they're root hardy in my zone 6 but the buds don't survive and they don't bloom..are you zone 7 or above?..

Yes 7. Are they ok with AM sun only? I like that they get big so I only need about 3 maybe?

One thing that happens to me a lot is that plants grow just fine but they don't bloom such as my paniculatas. The Jasmine in this bed does bloom but took years to do so. The soil in this bed is quite old also.

your zone and setting (am sun) sound perfect to me..paniculatas need full sun..macrophyllas don't..in the photo it looks like they're in part sun or shade..

Ok. I’ll definitely consider. I know I can get blue blooms with hydrangeas. I guess I’ll move my paniculatas. Thank you!

wasn't sure if my comment was clear..was trying to say in the photo of the gray house/blue hydrangeas they're growing in shade..

Yes, understood.

Monkshood and baptisia are in the in the blue/purple range and would be happy with that amount of sun

Thanks a lot. Yes, I knew the red was important and so hoping for some blue or purple. I just don’t know what plants will satisfy that area. Never heard of monkshood or baptisia and will research.

Do Hydrangeas bloom blue in your area? If so you’ll be ok. But If you have alkaline soil they’ll be dirty pink.

Blue Wood Aster, Symphyotrichum cordifolium would grow in those light conditions quite happily and give you a nice late season bloom September into October.

can you paint the fence ... easier to paint before you load plants in there ...

regardless ... i want to see where that walkway goes to the right.. and the falloff to the woodland scene ... i mean really... who is going to be looking in this drab corner.. no matter what you plant???

is that lower grassy area yours???

love to see the panorama fully leafed out ...

ken

I’m glad someone mentioned the alkaline soil because my paniculatas bloomed dirty pink last year in another part of the yard. Didn’t look good at all. The walkway is a deck that makes a right and goes around house. Yes everything in the pic is our yard. The whole idea is to make it less drab. I use that area a lot. Wouldn’t mind something that climbs the fence and blooms blue or white. It’s about the only area in our yard that gets AM sun so I want to take advantage. I’m rethinking hydrangeas now due to the soil but love the idea. I need something that an amateur can handle.

How about a Clematis viticella along the fence?

they are pruned near the ground every spring, flower in late summer and there are blue-ish cultivars.

you can train them on string (not too thin ) and perhaps a wire,

fanned out in the desired directions

They will need less water than hydrangea and IME more resilient

what kind of Hydrangea paniculate-species do you have? the simple ones flowers just white-ish, just curious

Ooh, Venosa Violacea would be pretty there!

Only Hydrangea macrophylla and its closely related cousin H. serrata are influenced by soil conditions to bloom blue or pink. Hydrangea paniculata only blooms white or whitish green but nearly all varieties will age to a dusty pink or mauve, some earlier than others.

What are the dimensions of that planting area? Just based on what I can see from the photos, it looks a bit skimpy to be able to accommodate a hydrangea.

I looked up that Clementis and looks good. I like things that climb. Hardy and grows fast.. Hope I can find one. Often a recommended variety just isn’t around.
The dimensions are, as a rough triangle, 17’ long, 7’ wide at widest and about 2.5’ wide at top.
I think you described my paniculatas correctly. They bloomed first year but not second. Should I cut back the branches now?
Should i add new soil to the area when I plant? Thanks everyone.
Al

Did I miss the zone? Baptisia is lovely when in bloom but rather "meh" otherwise. I could totally see a red white and blue color scheme there like some red peonies white shasta dasies. Or, consider some plants with red spectrum coloring on the leaves or bark, like on orangeola Japanese maple, ninebark, red twigged dogwood, gold flame spirea, some of the colored grasses like ruby muhly grass. This is not a design, these all don't necessarily go together but give you some ideas of some key structural elements to start with. Not all of them together.

Edited to add that I added "Autumn Joy" sedum to my garden, wonderful red color in fall and the seedheads are decorative in winter . . . nothing to write home about in the spring or summer though, although the foliage looks tidy at least . . . They love sun but do ok in partial shade if they get good sun at some point.

Zone 7. Thanks for the suggestions. I'm going to stick with blue if I can find it plus something that climbs like the clematis suggestion. Going to add soil and shop this week.

Hi All,

Just wanted to update with photo and say thanks, Chose a Clematis and a Camelia. And I reorganized, made redundant and laid off some hostaa.