Hydrangea R.I.P

Well done with your hydrangea re-potting.
How tall do you wish your wow factor plants to grow ?
6 ft high ? same as the wall ?
That info. might help GoY members give you suggestions for suitable plants.

Are you thinking of things like hollyhocks or sweet peas growing up attractive frames, or lavatera?.

Changing the subject completly the sparrows just found the bird food, I,d not long put it out and there must be a dozen.....going to be a cold night.....

Glad you managed to salvage something Waddy - remember Hydrangeas are thirsty plants so keep an eye on the watering in a container.
I don't have enough experience to give you a wow factor suggestions though - sorry.

Thanks Scottish..I'll keep an eye on it.

Pamg; I already have some hollyhocks a little further along the same bed as for Lavatera..perhaps not enough of a 'Wow' factor I feel...sorry.
I have also put extra food out for the birds...and my stupid Squirrel who still insists on ignoring the wonderful feeder OH made for him and prefers to do acrobats in order to get the bird's food.

Terra, whatever it is needs to be at least 6ft when fully grown, but not too much spread...don't want to end up with the same problem again :0

Naughty squirrel !
How about Rose Ballerina, and others of that type ?

Thanks for the idea Terra..unfortunately although I love to received a bunch of roses..I'm not keen on them in the garden.

I wonder if an Acer would grow there. I know they like some shelter, and they can grow tallish. It's just a thought :o)

How about one of the new smaller buddlejas? (spelling?)

Stera, you pinched my idea! Reading all the way down the comments I was thinking - "how about a buddleja?" then I got to yours, so now I'll have to go away and think of something else. Jolly good idea, though! :o)
How about a Deutzia? I used to have a beautiful white double called "Rochester", I think.

Buddleias get too big. I would stick with the Hollyhock idea, but get rust preventative ones. They dont take up much ground space, but grow tall and flower for quite a long time.

Would your area be suitable for a late spring flowering Clematis,up an Obelisk or similar,Waddy.?they usually flower again later ..could you post a pic of the area,as it would give us all a better idea for suggestions..:o)

Ok thinking out side the box as they say......how about some artwork there........surrounded by lovely flowers, if you site it far enough forward so that you can work behind it......

I've seen so many lovely photo's on Goy of garden art
or even a solar powered water feature

I think I must be too picky... Not sure about the Deutzia, Jan from what I've researched they too can have rather a lot of spread...but I'm not dismissing it just yet.

Bloomer; at the last count I had 8 different Clematis of one kind or another dotted around the garden.

Now, OH has come up with one posssiblity..so thoughts please. As some of you may remember, he has grown, a Brugmansia, which did extremely well, despite our awful summer. It is sitting in the greenhouse at present, chopped down and wrapped up etc for winter. As they have been know to grow VERY big, he has suggested standing it, in its pot at the back of the 'bed' I then thought I could perhaps stand or plant more shade loving plants, such as hostas under, to create a display which at the end of the summer could be mostly dismantled..leaving room to cut the hedge. Meanwhile, I could plant lots of spring flowering bulbs...if I've not left it too late...Well, what do you all think?

Something different like that sounds a nice idea if its not too difficult to keep moving a big plant twice a year

It has to be brought in and out anyway, Pamg, so that won't matter too much...and OH will do the moving lol.

Moving the container would be a right pain if it's big. I had to move a large one which was in the wrong place - just doing it the once was enough for me - never mind twice a year.
The bulb idea sounds great - I do love hostas - I have quite a few. What about edging you border with some pulmonaria - the foliage looks good all year round.
What about larger forms of Aruncus or Astilbes to grow at the back of the hostas? They like similar conditions.

You have a valid point Scottish, which I have pointed out to the OH.
I do like your idea of Pulmonaria..I especially like Dark Vader, lovely mix of shades, colur etc.
I think I'll have to really think this through...so many good ideas...I keep you all posted. :)

It might be a little late to plant daffs now, Waddy, but tulips and Muscari should be fine - I'm told you can plant them up until December and still get a good display in spring. Sounds like a very pretty idea to me.....

With big things we put them in black plastic pots that we bought cheaply from a local nursery that does landscaping, ( they always have them left over at the end of a job)then the pretty pot can stay in place all the time and the plant is easier to move