What to plant here...

Ok, my boyfriend's ex-wife has terrible taste so don't hold me responsible for the following pictures and plant placement.

As you can see in the picture, there are small camelias planted in the center of the flowerbed and, though I don't like the placement, I think I want to leave them because they look good in the winter and when I transplant stuff some of them always die. I don't want to risk that because they really look good in the winter.

You may also be able to see that there's this little arched area behind them that is bordered with a border grass and I want to try to work with that too. I am on a very tight budget so don't want to discard much.

My question is, what should I put in that little arch that will look good next to that window and show over the camelia bushes? And that's fairly inexpensive?

I'm thinking of liriope to edge the garden as I mentioned on another posting, unless anyone has a better idea. Also, I do like colors and flowering plants because I like fresh bouquets in my house. I think the zinnias may have been a bit too colorful but they weren't bad. Unfortunately, they grew bigger than the camelias.

Are the camellias dwarf varieties or standards? The dwarf camellias average3 to 5 feet tall, with equal spread; the standards can reach tree heights of 20 feet with an equal spread. You may want to determine what you have before you start planting. Also, how much of the window do you want to cover if any?

Those are dwarf camelias and I really don't want to cover more than about a foot and a half of window...just need something tall enough to see behind the camelias. Also, I was just thinking about moving that border grass (I think it's mondo grass) but I'm torn about whether or not to keep that little semicircle area.

And do you think a mondo grass border for the entire flower bed is a good idea? I was thinking about the liriope but it might be a good bit more expensive and I actually didn't see it when I went to Home Depot just now. I need an evergreen for a border.

Thoughts?

Is this area in sun or shade most of the day?

Liriope can get expensive if you plant each clump individually, but since it does grow pretty quickly, you can take a 4in pot of it, and depending on how full the plant is, you can cut each plant into 4 or 5 smaller clumps.That makes a $2 pot cost 40 to 50 cents per plant. If you want to eliminate the arch, you can divide those clumps into smaller ones and replant them...zero cost and more than 4 or 5 times the number of plants.

You can intermix the mondo and liriope for variety.

Here are some perennial shrubs for you to consider.

r Gardenia jasminoides 'veitchii', a low growing variety that blooms quite well here for the area in front of the window.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/58377/

Also the dwarf azalea indica Red Ruffles only gets 2 to 3 feet tall. There are a number of the dwarf varieties available here in a number of colors. They are evergreen.

You might also like the dwarf Spireas
http://www.tulsagardencenter.com/htdocs/LGC/Plant_Profiles/Spirea/Spirea.htm

or the dwarf fountain grasses
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/flower/tips-for-care-of-fountain-grass.htm

Hybrid tea roses would also be a viable choice providing the area gets at least 6 hours of sun

http://gardenflowersworld.com/plants/rose/hybrid-tea-rose-varieties.html

evergreen daylilies make a nice filler plant and range in height

http://www.americandaylily.com/browse.php?category=daylilies&special=ev&browsename=evergreen

Thanks so much for the suggestions. I'm going to look into those some more and will post a picture of the results in the future. I think those are great ideas so I just need to decide which combo I will use.

Oh, and the area is full sun all day.

Thanks!!

I'd revamp the whole area if I were you, you don't have to discard anything just do a little rearranging. The Camellias, even if the dwarf variety are going to get 3' tall and you won't see the grass behind it. So they should really be in the back, not too close to the house and spread out more.

Daylilies would look like there. There is actually a lot you could do with that area.

Do you have Craig's List in your area? or you can check e-bay for some bargains.You can check out the swaps, trades or round ups here on DG also

I'm with moonhowl on the liriope; I'd split some because it grows so darn fast, especially in sun. Reblooming daylillies would give you some nice color there and you should have a good sized clump within 2 years. They really don't spread and wander all over either. Irises might be nice but i don't know how they do in La. The bloom is short-lived but they do add some color the rest of the time.

I totally agree with flowAjen - You should get on the trading forums in about a month and ask if anyone has some extras for either a trade of something you already have and can spare or just for postage. Everyone will be dividing perennials and getting beds ready for spring in the northern areas around then. I've just found the people here on DG to be very generous when it comes to that.

Irises will do just fine here, The bearded irises aren't thrilled with our heat and humidity, but they do bloom and grow. But, There are a buh-zillion Louisiana Irises available pretty much for the asking. Almost every garden around here has at least a clump or two growing.

Check your D-mail Tyleranice.

I love Howl's suggestion for the dwarf fountain grass with the lime green sweet potato vine contrast for the summer.

I have the 6' windows in front of my house which limit me and am considering that dwarf grass also.

I also saw the varigated ginger which gives a nice display during the warm months, but dies down for winter.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I know the whole area needs to be re-vamped. That's because a the inital "vamping" was done by a "tramp" with no taste. Sorry...just a little bitter. Boyfriend's ex-wife did all of that and then charged him for all of the plants in the divorce...that's right...she saved receipts and then charged him for half of everything she planted, even though it was usually with his money. It's considered a "home improvement" and since it wasn't her house, she gets half of the "home improvements."

Anyway, this is the wrong forum for that. :-)

Now I just have to undo all of the bad-taste decisions she made.

This is Rebecca and I finally have my account...long story, but I was posting from my friend's account, TylerAnice, until now.

Ok, here is what I have so far...

I did end up pulling up the camelias and planting them elsewhere. I bought some mondo grass and divided it into very thin pieces and lined the entire bed with it. They will take a while to thicken so you can't see them well in the photo but I think they look nice. I decided to put Sweet Broom against the windows. I loved the ideas everyone gave but I happened to find some these at the store and they were not expensive at all so I did a little research and decided they would work well there. I had never heard of Sweet Brooom before now.

For the other things everyone suggested, I either didn't find them or they were a bit too pricey. And then I went with yellow marigolds and purple petunias with a little lithadora to fill the empty spaces. You can't see the petunias or lithadora well in the picture. Then I left a few random things that were already there and that I didn't want to go to waste...like the mums, azalea bush, and some bulbs that I left but moved around. I think it turned out ok on my budget...spent about $75. We still have to mulch and that will look even better. And we will be getting new solar lights so those ugly things will be gone too.

So, keep in mind when you see the picture that this was all done on very little money, that it hasn't been mulched yet, that the weather is disgusting today so everything is muddy, and that I left some things (like those mums) that I'm hoping will look better when they fill back out. They actually do look good when they fill out and bloom. And I'm hoping the whole thing will fill out pretty quickly and look great.

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions. I will keep you posted. After doing this with such little money, it has inspired me to do some more in other areas of the yard.

Here's the first "after" picture and I'll post another one next.

Here's another pic...

Change of plans...

After getting more information from the wonderful "themoonhowl" I am moving the sweet broom. My research wasn't extensive enough so she helped me tremendously and I think I need to move them from in front of the windows.

I'll keep you posted.

Looking great...good job!

Very nice!