Starting a border Garden in Wetumpka Alabama

I wonder if i could get some suggestions on what plants would thrive and look good in a border garden that goes all the way across the front on my house. It is a simple brick house. I'm looking for low maintenance perennials, that will also look good through the winter as well.. I have iris already. It is partial sun on the front of the house. I hope this made since..Thanks for any help.

Is your partial sun morning or afternoon? Morning sun would be perfect for hydrangeas which are beautiful and low maintenance. And there's Endless Summer now which has a longer bloom time than the older varieties. Clematis is also very pretty and mine bloom off and on all the way till frost. Day lilies are real easy too.

Thanks NatureLover1950, I'm not sure yet if It will get sun in the morning or evening.. I havent moved in yet! I have only been there three times and i'm in the process of buying it. I'm just excited to have my own space for gardens. I know that there are some hydrangeas there already. All the flowers and shrubs on the property have lost there leaves for the winter. I'm going to try to find some thing to plant that will look good in the winter as well. I looked up day lilies and i think they are beautiful. I do want to find a spot some where on the property for some of them! Thanks for the suggestion.

If there are hydrangeas there already then it most likely only gets sun in the morning, otherwise in your climate the hydrangeas would fry. For something evergreen you could look for evergreen azaleas--they like similar conditions to the hydrangeas and will keep their leaves for the winter and bloom earlier in the year than the hydrangeas will.

Wow! I didnt even know there was evergreen azaleas. I really like azaleas, they are very common in my area. That is something i will check into, thanks ecrane3 for that suggestion. Do you have any suggestions for a low growing evergreen plant (that also has flowers several months of the year) that might also do well in the same conditions?

I have coral bells azaleas that are evergreen and they are planted in an eastern exposure. They are easy to grow, tough, and absolutely cover themselves with flowers in the spring and bloom sporadically throughout the summer. I have other flower suggestions I can give you but will wait until you get moved in so you can get a better idea of exactly what you'd like and where. Congratulations on buying a new house. It's an exciting adventure. BTW, I think AL has generally the same zones as MS but what exactly is your zone?

Hi NatureLover1950, My zone is 8a. I'm glad i found some one in my zone! I am going to google coral bells and look at there pictures. They sound great. I'm really excited about the move. I know im getting way a head of my self trying to pick out plants already but i'm writeing plant ideas down in a tablet. I would love to here your other suggestions! Like you said, we can figure out placement when i get moved.

I just looked at pictures of the Coral Bells and they are gorgeous. What does the foliage look like in the winter?

Hi Whataday,
As you can see, we are in the same zone so that makes it easier for me to make suggestions. In our zone some of the evergreen shrubs, such as Coral Bells, lose about half of their leaves during the winter but they still look much more presentable than those that lose all of their leaves. With the exception of a shrub jasmine, all of my shrubs around our house are evergreen. Besides the flowers, I like Coral Bells because they don't grow taller than about three feet so they don't overwhelm your house.
As far as flowers, some that come to mind (without digging through all my information) include coneflowers, salvia (I have May Night), sage, African iris, blanket flower, shasta daisy (VERY easy to grow), and speedwell (Veronica). I have lots more suggestions I can make if you'd like. Almost all of my flowers attract butterflies, hummingbirds, and bees and do very well in our hot, humid climate.
I don't blame you for being excited about moving into your new home--it's a huge milestone.
Marleine

Thanks again for more great suggestions. I also want to attract butterflies and hummingbirds to my property. My husband and i always put out hummingbird feeders where we are now. But we dont have many flowers to attract butterflies or bees. I cant even remember seeing more that two or three butterflies in the last few years. Do your Shasta daisys hold up well in the rain? I read that they may need to be staked.

The only way Shasta might have to be staked is if is not getting enough sun. I have a couple clumps growing in a southern exposure and the stems stay strong and upright.

I live in 7 and 8 border, it is littlebit colder then Al. I planted some Black and blue salvias and they bloomed till the frost took them. They attract bees and butterflies. It grows about 3 feet high and it is beutiful blue.

Thanks for the picture Kiseta. I have written down Salvia in my "Hope to get" tablet. I am wanting to get the May Night variety.

Thank you NatureLover. My Daughter really likes the Shasta Daisys. They sound like a real hardy option.