My mostly-shady bed includes toad lily, lady's mantle, hosta, variegated hakone grass, coral bells, dianthus/carnation, chelone/turtlehead, daylily, astilbe, trollius/globeflower, stokesia, columbine, Hellebore/Lenten rose along with a few others.

I've planted perennials close to two established azaleas in my garden and have seen no adverse affects on either.

My first question is how large is your azalea bed? Does the crowded look please your eye or do you want to see dirt/mulch between your plants?

Unless you don't like the look, crocus and hyacinth generally don't need dividing as long as you don't mind them "naturalizing" in the bed. I have crocus, hyacinth & Puschkinia that have naturalized in my front lawn over the past 40+ years. They come up every year, bloom and when the lawn gets mowed, that's the end of the show for another year. Mowing doesn't appear to slow them down a bit.

In my experience crocus hasn't been clump-forming, nor have grape hyacinth and other early spring bulbs other than daffodils. The daffodils in my garden form tight clumps each spring when they bloom but the clumps haven't grown significantly larger over the past 25+ years.

I don't claim to be a botanist but it's my amateur understanding that species plants occur naturally while cultivars are created from species with the purpose of developing certain characteristics.

I purchased my variegated hakone grass this year so can't offer any experienced information on its behavior. I bought & planted it to provide both textural and color contrast in my garden bed. It's surrounded by hosta, toad lily, lady's mantle & columbine so only time will tell if it plays nice in the sandbox with others.

I have dozens of perennials in my multiple garden beds including several types of ornamental grasses. They all seem to behave themselves & get along.

Mine is, of necessity, a low-maintenance garden, planted primarily to attract pollinators: bees, butterflies & birds. It also has to please my eye and does. I designed and planted the beds in 2010-2011. They're mature now but I still tweak them a bit each growing season.

I have hakone macra aureola and I really like it. I divided it last year and put the tiny divisions in more sun. They do much better there, growing better...and faster. I'm guessing it would take a long time for them to "takeover".

Here is a pic of a couple of the divisions....

This post was edited by lilsprout on Tue, Aug 26, 14 at 20:20

Sounds lovely! Yes i prefer informal over formal looks. My front yard is mostly shaded and i want to have more of a natural feel, and an explosive spring display....I've got all the shrubs i want placed...mostly (until i find something i want.lol). I'm moving on to phase 2.....herbaceous perennials/bulbs

I hope i can still do math....but i think it's about 75 square feet, 5' x 15', curved at a 90 degree angle in the middle. 2 are northern light series azaleas, one is mandarin lights, the other northern hi-lights. After last winter, azalea's and some rhodies were very dissapointing...and i hear northern lights series are bred to be exceptionally bud hardy..so hopefully i don't suffer through a "no show" like many yards were this year. i have a PJM elite rhodie taking the place of a 3rd deciduous azalea....the azalea there croaked...but might keep the PJM there if it looks fine.

I'm thinking too small....think i'll put more than just hakone grass for summer/fall interest....like toad lilies, i especially love the arching ones that bloom near leaf axils.

Thank you gardenweed :)

I must chime in about the Northern Lights Azaleas since they were bred here in MN. I've had 'Rosy Lights' for more years that I can remember and it has been an absolutely stellar performers every-single-spring since I planted it. Even last winter with our temps dipping to -24 F, it bloomed this spring as if nothing had happened. When my 3 bushes bloom in the spring, the yard is simply heavenly with the scent and people stop dead in their tracks to take a closer look at them.

I sure hope they perform for you like they have for me. Love 'em!

Kevin

A couple more thoughts for you...

The species crocus might bloom earlier than the other 2. Crocus do multiply over time, slowly. They make an understated show - and they don't last too long if it happens to warm up.

Hakone grass won't take over, and I think it wakes up a little on the late side, compared to the early spring bulbs, so I would not expect any competition there.

Sounds like you are off to a nice start with the planning!

lilsprout,
Thanks for pics, very pretty! :). I'm torn between macra 'aureola' and fubuki....not enough reliable info can be found on fubuki, which sends red flags...but the idea of pink fall color is so darn enticing...and from pics it looks like it lacks the graceful arching habit that other hakone grasses have...so maybe i'll go with aureola....then again i already have one fubuki and i could just divide it like you did (too expensive to buy more)....choices...

kevin,
I wasn't aware there were northern lights cultivars with fragrance? This most certainly will be a factor when looking for my 3rd northern lights azalea now....after looking up my two, it seems northern hi-lights is lightly fragrant. Think rosy lights would look ok next to hi-lights (white with a little yellow) and mandarin lights (orange)? Thanks for the hope :)

By the time i get done posting another pops up! It's busier than i expected, but loving it.

karin_mt,

I share the same thoughts, about species blooming earlier. I might be able to live with that. The blue in "blue pearl" seems ever so subtle, i feared the purple of pickwick would make blue pearl appear purple or white, which isn't something i want. If it blooms earlier, then i'll still be happy...it'll just give me an excuse to buy more crocus to pair with those times.lol

Glad to hear hakone is a bit late, that was my primary worry as my thoughts are so invested in the idea of it....been envious of other people's hakone grass for too long!

thanks :)

In the same pic...rozanne hardy geranium (purple) blooms ALL summer. The one in pic is just part of one. It's a favorite of mine. I have 3 scattered on my sloped area. If you'd like a sprawler to fill space, this might be of interest to you.

Same good things to say about the Northern Lights series of azaleas. I've got a huge "Mandarin" (and several others which are all excellent performers year after year) and the back of the garden looks to be on fire when the sun hits it. Bred to set buds and withstand temps down to -45o, these don't disappoint.

I have had 4 different selections of the Lights series azaleas and like them all (rosy, orchid hi-, and golden). They have survived and bloomed well every year, even when not in ideal settings such as a bit too dry or a bit more shade than what's best.

In my garden the species crocus all bloom earlier than the regular, so that the species are fading as the regular larger-flowered types are budding. I do find that the hyacinths and crocus are more popular with critters, so you may want to add gravel or hot pepper to the planting hole, or add some alliums and smaller daffodils to the planting scheme in case the others get eaten. They will also extend the season for bulbs.

I agree that Geranium 'Rozanne' would be a good addition to this bed as its airy spread from a single growth point (AKA sprawl) will help hide dying bulb foliage and add long term summer flowers without interfering with the azaleas' roots.

I have grown an all gold hakone grass for years. In more shade it is chartreuse and in more sun it is gold. In too much sun it gets scorched white; I don't know how it will do in afternoon sun. I don't find it spreads too quickly, though the clumps do enlarge over time. It, along with the azaleas like even moisture, though not soggy conditions, so you probably want to mulch the area wih an organic mulch like shredded bark or pine straw.

You might want to add something with large leaves just for the foliage contrast as most of the plants you've planned are relatively fine-textured.

It sounds like it will be a lovely area!

Thanks everyone! :)

I'm so glad to hear the many good things about northern light series azalea's....especially dulinthinblooms4 fiery description...makes me rethink even my hi-lights and just do all mandarin...then again, i'm just the kind of person that wants one of everything.lol

I will definitely be looking into rozanne, geraniums have always piqued my curiosity...but for some reason kept my distance. I did see a geranium on the discount rack labeled 'dreamland' and it sounded more like a groundcover as well, can this be an alternative?

After some extensive browsing, and what others have said here. i'm convinced that spring flowering species in general bloom earlier...but now i want something to pair with blue pearl for the really early spring (i like more than one thing floweringat the same time...). perhaps tri-color? it's the only other species i can find locally. I originally didn't want something super purple, as i wanted blue pearl to be noticably blue...but tri-color has a lot of yellow and a white stripe.. i might give it a go.

nhbabs,

I don't have a great mind for foliage yet, didn't think about larger leaves....what about dark colored heuchera's paired with hakone fubuki/rozanne (if i can find it)? and/or ligularia? Not sure if ligularia is too large, it's difficult to find a nursery selling them.

....d'oh! Of course i suppose hosta's fit the "big leaf" bill...but how tolerant are they of afternoon sun? I do remember seeing abiqua drinking gourd and thought it looked amazing.

Some Hostas are fine in sun. Do a search in the form at the bottom of the Hosta forum for sun Hostas. There are other large leafed plants. You can do a search in this forum for that since I know there have been threads on large foliage recently.

Look at reticulated iris which bloom here at the same time as species crocuses.

The link below takes you to the New Hampshire Hosta web page listing sun-tolerant hostas. There are nearly 200 cultivars listed, giving you a reasonably broad selection.

My own variegated hakone grass is growing in a mostly shade bed surrounded by hosta, columbine, heuchera/coral bells, variegated Solomon's seal & lady's mantle.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sun tolerant hostas