Corner border tweaks

Dirty Harry

Looking to bounce some ideas about here as half of this is untidy and many short sighted ideas have been acted on!

Everything circled in red I plan to remove. The permanent perennials in the bed are 2 hebes, hardy geranium, fuchsia and vibirnum tinus (also a hollyhock but haven't decided on that yet). I'm happy with these and won't be moving them.

I now plan to always put biennial foxgloves/similar in this bed (the ones there are the perennial x mertonensis but they take up a lot of space and the flower spikes always fall over in an untidy manner) but want to have another permanent planting or 2 somewhere in the red area. Currently thinking of the geranium rozanne I have in a pot but not sure what else?



The area is full sun at midsummer but that window is fairly reduced now, essentially anything that flowers late and needs full sun is best avoided. Only other requirement is the plants are attractive for pollinators. 

Borderline

I think you need some leaf contrast within all those low to medium size mounded shapes.

Hemerocallis, Daylilies can come in large to lower growing forms, in so many different colours too. Crocosmia can add a splash of colour in the second half of summer.

Heucheras even when not in flower, the leaves are an interest. I think they will fit nicely with your other plants. Bear in mind your Viburnum will start to grow bigger soon, so some of your other plants may need digging up or moving soon.

Dirty Harry

Crocosmia is actually what I've seen at a couple of gardens recently without realising what it was. Is it attractive to pollinators though?

I was planning on just trimming back the viburnum as required to keep it in check.

Dirty Harry

Actually, what about rudbeckia goldstrum? I already have one in my main border and it looks fantastic.

I reckon a splash of yellow will help to brighten the corner, gets to a decent enough height too.

Borderline

Don’t beat yourself up if a plant is not listed as pollinator ‘friendly’. There is plenty in there for pollinators. It’s a small border, so scale of the plants need careful selection. 

Scabious and Knautia Macedonica are good plants to grow amongst low mounds. They don’t take up too much space but give height and movement. But uptight sword-like leaves will make the area stand out. 

I don't like Rudbeckias myself, but if you like it, then go for it. Those plants, in my opinion look better in big blocks, and your border is quite small.

Dirty Harry

Knautia Macedonica does look very nice but I'd perhaps worry about having enough sunshine for it at the tail end of summer given it seems to be listed as a 'full sun' only plant.

I have a smaller scabious there at the front left and is one of the reasons it's coming out, initially had plenty of flowers but they've slowed right down as the sun exposure in the area has decreased. 

Borderline

Not sure with the amount of shade you have there, but Knautias did well in semi shade around August time for me. Coreopsis Grandiflora will also do fine in semi shade. If you have free draining soil then Penstemons should also do fine in semi shade at this time of year.

Dirty Harry

Coreopsis verticillata 'Grandiflora' was actually something else that appeared in my search for a yellow before I thought of rudbeckia.

I do struggle to resist going for different varieties from what I already have though so this is a good shout.