What else would you plant in these beds?

[SatelliteStomper]

New raised beds, need filling! West-facing wall but due to trees and buildings only really gets proper sun for 4-5 hours a day in summer.

So far I've got hydrangeas, salvia 'Hot Lips', some lavatera 'Candy Floss' and two just-establishing Paul Noel climbing roses (gardener built the beds around these as I couldn't bear to move them but obvs they are still small atm!)

Have inadvertently ended up with mainly pink so far, which is OK with me but other colours are acceptable! I really love the cottage garden look if that helps at all. Thinking of some hollyhocks for the back? Not sure what to put in the front / middle of the bed.

It's a front garden so I'd like something eye-catching 😁

Any suggestions gratefully received as there are garden centre vouchers burning a hole in my pocket...

Hello! What part of the country are you in? The local climate will make a big difference.

Yes, hollyhocks are lovely. Def. get some.

Another climber? A jasmine? or another rose?

Some low geranium in the very front, some gems, a Japanese anemone or two?

Cosmos in front as well?

geums, not gems.

Some low geranium in the very front
Definitely - maybe Roseanne for long flowering. Perhaps a low-growing catmint (not the giant type).
Maybe consider some sedum spectabile for colour and attracting butterflies at the back end of the year, good glaucous foliage now which I think looks good with other pink and blue flowers.

The bright clambering geraniums like Anne Folkard might be good at the back.

I'd be a bit wary of Japanese anemones, I love them but the pink ones can be a bit thuggish. I've got a couple of white ones which so far seem better behaved.

SE coast. Sunny but breezy! Soil is crap in this garden hence the need for raised beds. I can do a decent line in Mediterranean herbs/ wildflowers elsewhere in the plot but I wanted something a bit richer.

Geums are a great shout @ChardonnaysBeastlyCat - I love them but had forgotten about them!

You might even have the space for a dahlia or two.

Can you tell I'm gardening vicariously through you? I have no space at all myself.

For a climber Clematis viorna.
Lambs ear for carpet layer and contrast.
Coral bells for colour and foliage.
Foxgloves – short lived but self-seed.
Ferns and ornamental grasses – contrast and movement (breezy)
Echinacea is a good companion for both hydrangea and salvia hot lips.
? Astilbes in front / next to hydrangea

Looking out at my beds now. I love penstamon (a million heights and clouds), astrantia, achillea, salvia caradonna nemarosa, Californian poppies, verbena bampton, nepeta, lychnis, thalictrum, alchamilla mollis - apologies for poor spellings! All v cottage garden plants

Peony
Lavendar
Hellebore
Heuchera

I particular love Heucharas as they flower for so long and you can get such a variety of lead colours that that alone provides contrast all year round

How about campanula at the front? I love day lilies, but I don't know if they would do well with so little sun. Some lilies do well in part shade, but now is clearly not the time to plant them. Alstroemerias might like it there, if they do they would be lovely with a few alliums growing through them.

I love my Convolvulus Cneorum. It’s a silver evergreen with pointy leaves so looks good in the winter as well. The silver goes well with pink flowers and it has lovely white flowers in spring.

Acrually maybe not if it doesn’t get much sun. Mine was ok but only grew when I moved it into the sun, sorry.

be nice to have some Verbena

Some fab ideas, thank you. Love hellebores, verbena, penstemon, peonies but there are also some here I'd not thought of.

How about bergenia?

Erysimum, verbena bonariensis, couple of slow growing evergreens like pittosporum, euphorbia, hardy geraniums, leucanthemum, lavender, lysimachia, coreopsis, poppies, erigeron, heuchera Paris and some bulbs in autumn ready for spring. Hellebores can also provide interest early in the year.