Ideas please!

Hi! I bought this piece of fence at a flea market because I thought it would make a great trellis. I particularly like the Oak leaves & Acorns in the center. After a 3 year battle with wild vines, I can't bring myself to plant any.

I have a 100' X 20" bed alongside a busy road. The road traffic creates a lot of wind and
most tall plants over there require staking. I'm thinking this could be used to create a vignette as a focal point in the center of that bed. I'd like to leave the oak leaves somewhat visible. The posts can be used to support taller plants which I would like to be red or orange. I'd like something shorter and yellow in front of the tall ones. And maybe something low growing in blue or white in the very front.

The backdrop of this bed is a line of tall maples. In front of that are various flowering shrubs. There are roses, peonies, azaleas and assorted other perrenials, low growing shrubs and bulbs in the bed. It is far from full. This area would get both full sun and dappled sun. The soil is medium to dry.

What do you think?

Can anyone suggest some plants?

Would you leave the fence as is, or paint it all white?

Many thanks, Mary

If you are wanting flowers against the fence, I would put something like Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower) for red or maybe a candy lily for orange. Campanula carpatica, ballon flowers or to pick up the red from the lobelia and give you the blue, ajuja chocolate chip is very nice. The ajuga would be a nice ground cover and is compact which won't allow too many weeds to infiltrate the garden. I would pick a flower which would still allow you to see the fence and the garden beyond.
I like the fence the way it is and I think it is a beautiful setting. If you were willing to change the color to blue for your tallest plant, I would plant russian sage against the fence because it has an airy feeling about it and would allow you to see the fence too.

wisdomskr

Thank you wisdom, I like your suggestions! I am growing some cardinal flower in this bed. I put them in last year, but I don't think they reached their full mature height last year. I want to save the fence as a support for something tall that would require staking. I'll have to wait and see how they tolerate the wind.

The campanula look lovely. I'd consider them in either blue or white. I read that they have a long bloom period. They actually look worthy for several different areas.

Do you know how long candy lily blooms? Does it give a lot of foliage and not much flower?

I planted russian sage in this bed too, because the woody stems should be able to withstand the wind.

Believe it or not, I planted a large quantity of the chocolate Ajuga that did not survive. This may have been due to the type of tree under which they were planted. It is a nut bearing tree and may be emiting some toxicity. But Ajuga might do well in this bed. Will it's spreading habit be harmful to other perennials?

You've made me think maybe I should make the tallest flower something yellow. Any suggestions?

Thank you very much for your kindness. Mary

If you want orange, what about blackeyed susan vine? They are annuals but will self sow a little bit and can twine along the fence.

As far as painting goes, if you want to retain the rustic, rusted look, you could paint with a clear polyurethane made for outdoor uses such as marine spar varnish. I don't know if they make such a thing for painting metal but you could always touch it up every year. I would do something, otherwise it will just rust away eventually. Be sure to sand off the loose rust with steel wool or a metal brush first.

thanks, Hart. I'm just horrified of vines. I fight them everyday. The flowering ones are so lovely, but I just can't do it.

Thanks for the tip on the rust. Rustoleum doesn't do the trick. I used it last year and still got rust, even on brand new pieces. I'll look around for something else. Mary

What about delphenium or foxglove? I believe you can get both of these in yellow, blue and maybe a strawberry red. They are tall and need some staking. The candy lily gets 2-3 feet high and is a cross between a blackberry lily and an iris. It gets scapes similar to a daylily but high above the foliage. I have a blackberry lily and it's foliage is similar to a bearded iris. I am not sure what the foliage looks like on the candy lily but with the cross I would think it is similar. It doesn't bloom until July but it will bloom until frost. I saw one on bluestones website I believe I am going to purchase. (Okay I am going to purchase it) Here is the link
http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/b/bp/PAKGP.html
The ajuga you will have to monitor. Lady's mantle can grow in poor soil. It has a chartreuse color with a yellow flower I believe. So if the soil is putting off toxins it might not kill this plant. I will keep thinking and let you know of anything else.
wisdomskr

I can't imagine a less horrifying vine than blackeyed susan vine. It's not exactly kudzu.

Rustoleum only works if you get all the rust off beforehand. It helps to use a good rust converting primer first too.

Hart, Thanks, I'll look around for that primer. Mary

Wisdom, Thanks. I do have some Fox Gove and it doesn't need staking. Delphinium is just lovely. It is tough to grow around here because of the humidity.
However, this garden has better air circulation than my last one, so maybe I'll try some here. Thanks for the ideas. Mary