What should we plant??!!

[sarjer07]

Hi! Well, I need some ideas. We just recently moved in to our first house, and the garden has become my big project. I need some ideas on what to plant along the front of the house. I thought hydrangea's would be perfect because we don't want any bushes, but more of a flowering shrub perhaps. Well, the afternoon sun is too hard on the hydrangea's on that south side, so we are going to transplant them to the east side where I think they will do a little bit better. BUT, we have no clue what to plant on the south side now to replace the hydrangea's. So if anyone has any ideas of colorful, flowering shrubs that can withstand the full sun, all day. Please enlighten me. I would love ANY ideas! Getting ready to transplant the hydrangea's in the next couple of days and would love to get them replaced soon. Even any garden websites that have good pictures would be awesome. Thanks so much!!!

[MaineDesigner]

You might want to repost this on the Woody Plants (Trees, Shrubs & Hedges) Forum since you're asking about flowering shrubs but since I found you here I'll offer a few suggestions:
Syringa meyeri 'Palibin' - my favorite lilac for near to house plantings. It reaches 4 or 5 feet in height and about 5 to six feet in width. It does not have much problem with mildew unlike most lilacs. Like all lilacs they don't appreciate wet feet but unless your drainage is poor they are very easy to grow.
You might also consider Buddleias or some of the late blooming deciduous Azaleas ('Pink & Sweet', 'Parade'...). Shrub roses would be another option.

[sarjer07]

Thanks so much....posted it in that section also...I'm gonna definitely look in to your ideas!

[stottlar1]

You might want to look into some perrenials that would look nice in your front yard. Hostas look nice. I prefer the albomarganata hostas. I like the leaf look better then the others. I planted four in my front yard last year and got them in quart pots and fed them through out last year properly and this year they grew into each other creating a nice wall. Then when the blooms come out it looks real nice. The coloring of the hosta leaves creates a nice backdrop for some low color flowers in front. Hope this helps.

Jay

[JPlovesflowers]

Probably too late for this post, but I would most definitely recommend the butterfly bush too. The lilacs are pretty, but are really wild looking after a while and I think they are better next to a woodland area as opposed to up against the house. I would love to try viburnum, which has beautiful blooms in the spring, have you thought about it at all? Best of luck to you!