Thoughts on what to do with this area

[cindyhjohnson17]

Hello!

Can you please give me any and all suggestions on what might help me add some color to this bank that runs the length of our driveway? We live in Charlotte, NC and I currently have foresythia at the top of the bank and phlox in a triangle pattern at the bottom. When it's all in bloom, it's gorgeous - but as you well know, neither of those bloom for long, so the remainder of the year, it's just green. I am looking for something that is colorful and easy to maintain and will fit in nicely with the others. I like unique things so I am open to thinking outside the box. A few suggestions from friends have been encore azealas, knockout roses or the drift roses.

The area gets full sun.

Thanks in advance for your ideas!!!

[applestar]

I would love to see a meandering butterfly garden up along there.
I suspect that the slope with afford good drainage while the bottom of the bank will hold some moisture for moisture-loving plants. You could create a Monarch Butterfly Waystation as part of the garden, with all kinds of native Asclepias/milkweeds.

You could include hummingbird favorites like sage and penstemon, too.

[imafan26]

It is a nice garden and it would look good with a lot of color.
It would be great for a pollinator garden and native flowers. I would check your selections out carefully though, since some may need to be controlled.

https://www.ncwildflower.org/native_plan ... mendations
https://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/Centr ... 7FINAL.pdf

Roses would be nice and you could get repeat bloomers but they will require that you prune them for repeat bloom.
Floribundas and Tea roses will bloom repeatedly and shrub roses have a spreading habit. I like baby blanket. If you choose roses find ones with glossy leaves and those where the flowers fall off cleanly.

I do like some long blooming annuals alyssum (carpet of snow. White mounds can be sheared back for rebloom and it reseeds so it behaves like a perennial. You pull out the old plants and the new ones emerge.
I also like daylilies which bloom repeatedly from Spring until fall
Coreopsis blooms all summer long on perennial plants
Sage and veronica stay in bloom for a very long time
I like nasturtiums for early spring, The good thing about it for me is that I only plant it once. nasturtiums come up in their own good time. They like cool dry weather. And they are edible too with a peppery flavor. They reseed and come back every year.