I think I would be looking towards the blues and purples, Debs, but only because pink and yellow is my least favourite colour combo (even worse than red, white and green). There is a height/architecture) issue too. It is a bit clumpy and rounded - I dunno, I hate design stuff, but it does seem like there is a need for a taller, spikey counterpoint. Or chartreuse and a deep orange to echo the echinacea centres.

How about some grasses up against the fence? They would give you some height, texture and softness….

perovskia?

agastache Blue Fortune - tall blue spikes contrast with the color & shape of your coneflowers and it blooms all summer

Rosaprimula, like the chartreuse deep orange idea…. Any suggestions? Perovskia is maybe too much purple-ie with the coneflowers.

GardenHo, I also like the grass idea….my husband had suggested that,but I fear the spread of some of them and I know they are hard to dig out…. I had zebra grass long time ago. Any suggestions?

Cecily, is the agastache similar to salvia? I have a couple varieties in the yard, but they’re shorter.

mxk3, what would you suggest? Any ideas?

I think I have seen all your yards at some point and would like your suggestions…
debra

I would go for some height. Maybe some ornamental grasses, if get good sun there.

Deb I personally like Karl Foerster and Overdam for height. Karl being a bit neater…

If mine start spreading more than I like… I just trim some off the edges. Not difficult at all.

I agree on the height. I'm not much of a grass person myself (for the same reasons you point out!) but they would work. I like the idea of perovskia or agastache, but I like pink and purple together, and think the spikes of both add a nice contrast. Perhaps some tall phlox? Tall monarda? Asters? Buddleia?

You're probably looking for perennials but I can see a nice planting of hollyhocks along that fence!

I also would want a small evergreen shrub or two in there.

:)

Dee

"mxk3, what would you suggest? Any ideas?"

I don't see any shrubbery, which I also think is lacking -- it's bare in in the off-season. I'd work in some 4-5' shrubs that have year-round appeal. Evergreens would be nice; even better, a few evergreens mixed in with some deciduous shrubs. They don't have to be in a line all against the fence -- don't be afraid to use taller plants toward the front and middle as part of a thoughtful design to keep the eye moving.

Depth. I personally feel like the fence line should have some bigger plants with these plants in front of them and smaller ones in front

If you don't want to go too crazy, you can do something like this:

That's Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' (Bee Balm)

Thanks for your ideas. I do have a dwarf burning bush and limelight hydrangea tree further back in this area. Here’s a shot of that:

Sorry the pic was through the screen. Had to do that to get the best photo of them both.

debra

Probably easier to get good chartreuse with shrubs - abelia, spirea, sambucus. Not sure you can do kniphofias but there are some grea awny oranges with lime foliage. I might be tempted to add a few annuals such as tithonia.I love an orange/pink combo and use it a lot in my gardens. As well as height, I find a bit of foamy ground cover helps with echies as they can look a bit grimly near the base...so maybe sedums or a terrific santolina - lemon fizz.

I do grasses with echinacea...with caveats. It is a combo which needs sun behind the grasses or it all becomes a bit...beige (but tha's just me - I like a bit of gaudy).

Firs practice with the borked 'T' debs -

If we're redesigning the whole bed then I want to include several pleached hollies because the red house annoys me and it isn't a color that I could easily ignore. Debra is clearly a much more collegial human than I.

I agree with the others that say more height..I like your burning bush and hydrangea..my garden has very tall trees and lots of good sized shrubs..maybe I’m just accustomed to big plants..Lol
I think your backyard looks nice as it is too..

I would add some Joe Pye there. if you do want to redo the whole bed, then I would move all these plants you have now out awy from the fence and add native shrubs behind them. Clethra is wonderful, but not sure if it is native in Wisconsin (ha-I was born in Marinette). It is here in Northern Virginia. I have lots of shrubs in front of a fence with perennials (again, all native) in among them. I looks wonderful. I adore the Joe Pye!

Love many of these suggestions…. I removed the lupines (rather Bert did). I like the idea of tall phlox, maybe pink and white, love the sambuca maybe between the left side clump of coneflowers and the peony, also love the orange blaze kniphofias. Not sure where I would site them…

This bed along the fence pretty much gets mostly full sun from early morning into late afternoon with shadows from the house and limelight providing shade as the sun moves overhead. The limelight will be larger next year as I don’t plan such a major prune this year.

I should have included the measurements of the area in the first post (🤦‍♀️) The area along the fence is about 18-20 feet and the depth of the area between the fence and where other plants are located (hostas) is from 4 to 8 feet out to the deck.

What say ye??

debra

One more thing, love the Karl Foerster grass. Would I put this at the back of the bed?

debra

Deb you can, or intermix them…whichever you prefer.

Big fan of C. 'Karl Foerster'. I think in addition grasses with blue foliage would work well. Ones like Schizachyrium scoparium 'The Blues' and/or Panicum 'Heavy Metal'. You could also add a Clematis to get height perhaps a white one such as Clematis 'Henryi'.

Well since I posted this, much has changed. I removed most of the coneflowers, all of the yarrow and the oriental lilies. Here’s what happening:

I am going to add 4 more Karl Forester grasses so they will be two feet apart along the fence between the Sambucus and the burning bush. Also looking for something, next to the burning bush. ordered a gallon of Kniphofia Blaze Orange. Hoping to split that up some. Not sure how much they increase in size on their own.

Other additions in back where the sun is:

Some Allium from a neighbor. I have a couple more to plant, Helenium Autumnale and two Hamlein fountain grasses.

Tell me what you think and/or open to more suggestions!

debra

Her’s the purchase today:

The 4 other grasses

Two Japanese Painted Ferns, silver Gumdrop Heuchera, 1 Amsonia

and Dwarf Buddleia bush, pink….all the available ones were past bloom so I chose the one with a nice shape and hardy trunk.

Thing are moving along.

debra

Add a trellis or obelisk with a clematis for height.

O, exciting stuff, Debs. This is definitely the time of year for planting (and have been shopping accordingly). Always so thrilling to have a do-over.

You're making the most of your new found sun! I can't wait to see it all grow up. It's going to look gorgeous!

I added two more plants, a Liatris and Geum. I love the look of the airy stems on the liatris and the peachy flowers on the geum will add a color I don’t have. Although I ordered two blaze orange kniphofias.

Tonto photobombed ☺️

I am going a bit crazy with perennials ….. like I go crazy hostas in the winter…☺️

NHBabs, I like the idea of some that climbs next to the burning bush, although the one I planted last year, made one skinny vine with one flower. 🫣

debra

Cut the clmatis back to a couple of feet. if you didn’t it plant deeper than it was in the pot, bury the stems a bit by mounding some soil. And then give it 3 to 4 years.