Have you considered some of the amazing new coral bells and coral bells/foamflower hybrids? The flowers aren't much to look at, but the foliage is awesome, and should do well in your conditions.

Also, I would suggest long-term you may have issues with the Russian Sage, the butterfly bush, and the hibiscus, as all three of those just won't bloom without adequate sunlight. But, hard to say, as each site is so unique, just watch what the do this year and you will probably get a good idea of long-term potential.

I have mixed luck with coral bells in my shadier beds, but that's an idea that hadn't crossed my mind--probably because I haven't fully accepted that my "sunny" bed is still part shade!

Overall, I am just so confused with the parts of my garden that aren't obviously shady all day. I'm growing shade and part-shade plants in sites that remain dappled through the summer, but I'm finding the sunnier sites much more difficult to plan for.

I have been eyeing a part of the lawn that I thought was sunnier, but it seems to be sunny only till early afternoon. I thought that part-shade plants wouldn't do well there, but am rethinking my planting strategy based on the mixed results of the bed I describe above.

Right now the sunniest site seems to lie on the north side of my house--something I didn't expect, though if I think about it, my 'north garden" gets what to my neighbor is southern light.

weekendweeder wrote: I found out that it didn't get sun till about mid-day.

If 'mid-day' means noon and then you have sun till...5 or 6 or beyond, well than that is full sun in my books. To be honest I have plants be successful in 4 hours of good sun that are described as being "full sun".

rouge21, that is exactly why I am so confused about the legginess of the echinacea and daisies: because I thought that it qualified as a full-sun bed. But the daisies are 5 ft tall, leaning, contorting, flopping, and such. Maybe I should stick to shorter, bushier plants?

I would wait another season to make a final decision re possible re-placement of your coneflowers and Shastas. I am hoping that 2012 is not representative of future years in terms of temp and precip.

(Btw, I went out right now and snapped a picture of one of my stands of Beckys. They can be quite large. This one is as we speak 4 feet tall and over 3 feet wide. It is near the end of its bloom period after doing well for about a month.)

That's a great inspirational picture, rogue--kind of what I was going for. Your coreopsis reminded me that I also have 'Sienna Sunset' in the bed, but it isn't faring too well as it's in front of the coneflowers, which are flopped over and blocking the sunlight (I've since staked them).

I'm really itching to fix the bed because while the blooms are cheerful, the growth habits are really driving me nuts! I see your point, however, about being patient and seeing the border through another growing season. (Give me strength!)

Thanks so much for your input.

weekendweeder, to be absolutely sure of your sun/shade situation, you should make a 'sun map'. Using a piece of graph paper draw a roung sketch of your bed. Then, one sunny day, go out every hour on the hour, starting from early in the morning until the sun sets and mark down exactly what parts of the bed are in sun, shade and in-between. You'll probably be surprised.

Last year I planted a 30 foot long bed. The far end of it is next to a mature Japanese maple. To my surprise, the end was not in constant shade and actually got afternoon sun for a good two - three hours per day. It definitely impacted my plant choices.

That is a really great idea, a2zmom. Do you do that in both spring and summer? What month would you recommend I try this?