We are in the process of finishing up a large patio. There is one long retaining wall against the back of the house that we want some nice symmetrical, flowering plantings, soft yet modern and impactful.

I'm in Zone 5, outside of Toronto, Canada

In the centre of the wall, going up the chimney stack I will plant a climbing hydrangea. Until it gets established, IÂll have a couple of clematis on a trellis.

I want something tallish on either side of the fireplace stack, but it canÂt grow more than 4Â tall as I donÂt want to block the windows. (Never mind the basement windows, weÂre putting in window wells and allow the plants to block them. This should be some type of showpiece.

Then I want something in front of that tall backdrop to fill in the space.

Finally, something all along the front to soften the edge of the retaining wall and drape a bit over the edge.

I want a colour scheme of mostly white flowers. IÂll toss in a bit of blue but I want to be disciplined and modern about the scheme.

Also, weÂll have a patio table around here and will use it mostly in the evening. We tend to be at work during the day so this is more of an evening garden.

We have wired up for some up lighting in this retaining wall.

The area in front of the patio doors will be steps (still under construction). The other square planter to the left will have a Japanese maple and some groundcover.

IÂve included dimensions of the retaining wall area, a photo of the wall with the retaining wall and a larger photo showing context within the patio.

A few other tidbits, the entire patio is about 520sqft, our yard is small, 40Â by 35Â. WeÂll add some trees and other plantings later on but for now I want to get this planter established.

retaining wall area

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context with rest of patio

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dimensions of the wall insides.

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