Hi,

I'm looking for suggestions for some tall plants/shrubs (in the 4-6 feet range) for the back of my 40' x 30' foundation bed. Ideally I'd like plants that also provide structure during the winter either because they are evergreen or have interesting seed heads/bark to mask my foundation. I love butterfly bushes but they tend to die back to the ground in winter leaving a blank space.

I'm in Zone 5, Northern Dutchess County deer territory so I have been cautioned to stay away from rhodos and azaleas. I've already had the deer demolish a Clethra and an Ilex glabra I have not had any luck with pieris japonica -- the deer don't touch it but the lacebugs keep killing it.

For height right now, I have a flowering crab apple tree, some miscanthus sinensis 'morning light', perovskia, 3 dying pieris, a double-file viburnum and a newly-planted cotinus. (The jury is still out on the cotinus and the deer.)

My mid-height layer includes Solidago, Rudbeckia, Salvia 'Cardonna', Monarda, Agastache, Acontitum, Spirea japonica and a Chocolate Joe Pye (which is a 3 footer, unlike its taller cousin.)

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Suzanne