Northern Exposure

This is how my house looks from the street in the summer. Not very pretty.

August 2007

I added several plants in the fall and I'm hoping that the astilbe and bleeding hearts are much larger this year. Even if they fill out nicely I need something bold and tall! I would like to hide the block shirt completely. The house faces north severely limiting my options. Further limiting my options is the metal roof. John rakes it often but if any ice builds up it comes down in huge chunks that make the whole house shake, crushing and breaking any woody plants.

This bed is only two years old and has been planted without any real plan in mind. As I obtained plants I added them based on what was already there. My spring project this year will be to move things around and maybe divide the larger hostas and space them out better along the entire length of the bed. I have some smaller hostas, pink and red astilbe, lungwart, two stella d'oro clumps, a large yellow daylily, columbine, a couple of balloon flowers, sedge, a fern (and there is more I can move), and lots of foxglove. I have a couple of azaleas that I may move to the end of the bed that gets a bit more sun (and no falling ice!)

A couple of years ago we had a very nice screen house that the winds totally trashed. I saved the eight metal corner brackets and I have four of them on the back of the garage.

I will put two of the remaining sections on either side of the front door. There are some varieties of clematis that are said to do ok with a northern exposure. If the sections are placed close to the house I think they will escape serious damage from falling ice. Do you think the black will look ok or should I plan to paint them brown to match the trim? Do you have any other ideas for vines that might do well here without becoming huge?


In the larger space between the front windows I want something that will get tall and survive the ice. The only plant I can think of is a hydrangea, maybe an Endless Summer or Annabelle that will still bloom even if it has to be pruned in the spring. I read somewhere that buddleia might grow here and if I have a volunteer I may try that. Any other ideas?


I'd also like to add some height at the corners but so far I haven't any idea what would look good and do well. I'm not happy with the transition from the butterfly garden on the side to the shady front border so I'd welcome suggestions for this area too.
I'd like the public view of my home to be pretty and welcoming. I do not want a lot of maintenance so the more plants I add the less space there will be for weeds. I welcome any suggestions!