Hey Azura, nice to hear from you again! I can't give any advice on the climbing perennial, since I have never grown any. Hmmmm.... maybe something I need to work on.

I was just going to give a couple of suggestions for the short yellow perennial to replace the Columbine, since I just finished researching my options for the same thing in one of my beds. How about Golden Flax, Dianthus knappii, or Gaillardia 'Golden Goblin'? I can't judge the width of that area from the photo, but if it is 2 1/2' - 3', you could put Coreopsis 'Creme Brule' there.

{{gwi:410851}}

It only gets about 12" - 15" tall, but as you can see in the photo, they are wider than they are tall. They are a blooming machine though. Mine bloomed for at least 10 weeks last year.

Bonnie

Bonnie,
Thank you so much for the great ideas. Its funny, I thought I was being thorough but it seems like there is always more info to provide. The area is too small for Coreopsis creme brulee but Golden Goblin or the Diantha you mentioned sound perfect. Thank you for your suggestions!
I am obsessed with getting this garden right. Why do they make window wells so ugly?

I don't have a suggestion, unfortunately...just wanted to say what a beautiful little nook you have there! It seems like maybe you don't need something that climbs, just something that grows tall enough to hide the window well. Something that blooms yellow, perhaps, as Bonnie is leaning towards.

Anyways, gorgeous area, even with the visible window well. That's certainly not the first thing I noticed! :-)

Jamie-
Thank you for your wonderful compliment. This is my favorite garden and my kids, my husband and most visitors agree. The irony is this is the garden I have spent the least amount of time on. Ive plunked things in, generally extras without a real home and somewhere along the way it developed a cohesive theme. The fact that it is the best looking and most enjoyable garden with 1/3 of the work of my other gardens is a true exercise in humility! I just cant wait to find the right bench to place in there and if I can get the native foxgloves from the yard I grew up in to bloom, I will be ecstatic.
I'm looking at small clematis, has anyone ever ordered from Chalk Hill Clematis? They have a 50% going out of business sale, the clematis will ship in the fall. Any thoughts?

Hey Azura,

I don't know anything about that clematis mailorder company, but when I saw this thread pop up again, it reminded me of something that I forgot to mention before. I have a some of the Dianthus knappii seeds if you are interested. I have two plants currently in the garden, and wintersowed some seeds from them this past winter. They germinated just fine, so I know the seeds are viable. Let me know if you are interested and I will drop them in the mail to you. If you sowed some in a pot now, they should be big enough to plant out in the fall.

Bonnie

I don't know Chalk Hill Clematis, but I'd certainly be hesitant to send money to a company going out of business, especially if they don't plan to send the product for months from now. They could just decide to shut their doors tomorrow, and you don't have much recourse on your payment. Perhaps if you pay with a credit card, you can get the charge reversed, but I *think* the credit card companies usually do that by taking it out of the seller company's future sales revenue, and if the company is out of business, they might not be able to help you.

I know I'm late posting, but could you "cover" the well I'm not sure with what but maybe aceramic type "tub" shallow enough so it will not be too heavy and make it a bird bath? Or, what about a piece of wood with a pretty table cloth and put little garden things on it?

But, I have to agree with the others, it is a beautiful garden!

Vic