Check out Stachys 'Helen von Stein,' a sterile cultivar of lamb's ear that doesn't produce either stems or flowers. I've got several growing in various beds and as far as I can tell they're 100% care-free perennials with nearly year-round appeal. I've had mine for the past three years and have yet to discover they have even one annoying downside. They're rated as hardy in Z5 altho' I'm Z6a.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stachys 'Helen von Stein'

Thanks for the suggestion, gardenweed. I don't really mind trimming the flowers off of the Stachys byzantina, or just using them with the allium I mentioned. I also like its lighter foliage, although the wider leaves of 'Helen von Stein' are great.

What I'd love to find is something with light, attractive foliage that also has a nice bloom. I may be wishing for too much!

I planted three My Monet shrubs - one in 2011 and two in spring 2012. So far all seem to be struggling - late to leaf out in spring and, while the foliage is pretty, they are quite wimpy, sparse plants so far. The two very dry, virtually snowless winters they've experienced plus summer/fall droughts has not helped out any! 'Snow Fairy' caryopteris, planted in 2011, has done much better, but that's taller than you want. I'm considering 'Raspberry Ice' pulmonaria as a possible addition to the garden. Perhaps that might work for you...? That might be too much sun for it though...

This post was edited by woodyoak on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 10:41

I planted four last year and have also found them not particularly robust, like Woodyoak. One in dappled shade then afternoon sun looks the best. To me it does stand out from a distance in that location. The three in full sun are currently browning on their leaf tips. It has been exceptionally dry and we did have a hot spell...but still, other plsnts near them are faring much better.

For me lambs ear spreads quickly. If you only want it as an edging, i think you'll be frequently digging out the spreading parts.

Would a light green work or do you prefer silver/white?

woodyoak - That 'Raspberry Ice' looks nice. I haven't done well with pulmonarias in general, but will look into that one more.

trovesoftrilliums - I have enough light green/dark green/chartreuse, and was hoping for something different here.

Both of your input on the weigela was helpful - thank you!

Have you checked out variegated comfrey? Mine is actually a little more on the cream side as opposed to golden.

thyme2dig- I've had variegated comfrey and ripped it out this year. I love the foliage in the spring, but mine seemed to get super-ratty later in the year no matter what i did.

Does yours do that? If not, what kind of soil, location, water, etc, does your get?

Actually, I have mine planted in the same conditions where you need to plant. I clipped leaves back this summer and it just kept pushing up new growth. How old we're your plants? I'm finding that each year it seems to get a bit better because it's big enough that I can cut off any ratty leaves, but there will still be enough left of it.

Ruth - I go back and forth on whether or not mine is a my monet or just variegated florida but I LOVE IT. It was here when I moved into the house. The bed its in has decent soil but very soon turns into clay. Its obviously overgrown but I pruned it back a little after blooming and will do so again next year to kind of get the size under control. I did find myself asking "are you going to bloom?" this year (had to be in early May) because I could have sworn it bloomed earlier last year (or I knew what to expect this year and was too impatient... that's probably more likely) but as you can see, when it blooms it blooms! I have a polka/florida in front and two dwarf varieties that look like wine and rose (maybe midnight rose? I can never remember) and I just love them

And pay not attention to the weed fabric poking through! Oopsy. I had run low on mulch last fall so I spread it pretty thin in some spots.

Don't get 'My Monet' --- I agree with everyone who said it's weak. I had that plant and it always turned brown. Even at our local nursery it looked pitiful.

Lamb's Ear is the best option to me. It is easily propagated so you could make as many as you need quickly. I'm with you. I like the blooms on it too. I hear people on here complaining about them, but never any place else! The one recommended that doesn't bloom isn't half as attractive as the ones that bloom! I can't think of another plant as tough and the color and texture that Lamb's Ear provides. Your idea of mixing Aliums in with it sounds great.

thyme2dig - maybe mine were ratty because of the local slug population, or maybe they got a little too much shade. After spring, they consistently looked terrible. I envy yours, since I think it's great looking in spring and would love to have the same look all summer.

david883 - that's beautiful! Based on its habit, I don't think it's 'My Monet.' I have a variegated gold/green leaved weigela (don't have the name), that I finally hard pruned this spring after blooming. It responded very well, and the cuttings all rooted too. (We'll see if they overwinter.)

echinaceamaniac - appreciate your input on the 'My Monet' and lamb's ears too. I've pretty much decided that I'll use them for now since I have some I can transplant. If I find something different, there's always next year!

I wish my little shrub would grow up to look like yours David. V

Here's my best looking one today. I am sure it is smaller than when I planted it last year. It had a lot if twiggy die back. The hosta a beauty bush haven't crisped up like My Monet.

I ahve lamb's ears all along the borders. They get kind of old looking mid season and I have to pull brown leaves that have gotten nasty from under the top growth. However, mine are old and thick growing and the drainage isn't great near the patio edge.
Nevertheless there's nothing else I would substitute for them. There are several varieties with different degrees of wooliness and shades of gray. They'll provide you with endless divisions. For that matter, if there's a swap coming up or a gardenwebber nearby, you should be able to some of those endless divisions from them.
One other thought is alchemilla. I got "auchelese" (sp?) very inexpensively from Santa Rosa this spring It is bigger than the sp. . I mix lambs ears and alchemilla together and like it.
idabean

trovesoftrilliums - Wow, that picture kind of says it all if that's your best. Yes, it's late in the season, but I already have enough "shabby chic" foliage.

idabean - Alchemilla is one of those plants I can't believe I don't have, especially since I've had a lot of shade. I'd considered that for this area because of the nice leaf size, but I have so much light green foliage already. But I hadn't thought about mixing it with lamb's ears and will give that some thought!

Hum, I think of alchemilla as chartruese for much of the time. In any case, something different that just light green, really a silvery lime green (tho nothing like those acid green heucheras)
See if you can find some on the sale racks at the local nurseries.
They are hardy buggers and will love Michigan winters. Also, look at the new varieties that are available.

I was thinking of this thread yesterday when I was taking some pictures in the garden, so took a picture of each of the 4 My Monets I have here. One has been in the garden 3 summers now; the other three have had 2 summers. All are smaller than they were when planted! Maybe someday they will turn into something more substantial but, at this point, they are more like small variegated perennials than shrubs!!

The oldest one:
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The other three:
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You can judge their size by the other things in the pictures... Wimpy, wimpy shrubs! The middle one above doesn't have the clear white variegation so may have been mislabelled - but whatever it is is just as wimpy as the others.

Thanks for posting those pictures, woodyoak. I'm really over wimpy plants and things that need to be babied.

For now, I've put Lamb's Ears (Stachys byzantina) in the spots. The leaf size and color worked well, and I had some I could move there, so I can give it a try for free and decide if I'd prefer something else.