Be aware that 'Summer Wine' can get quite large. Mine is about 8' x 8' and that is with a bit of harnessing. That's it behind my nootkatensis 'Green Arrow'

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Picea abies 'St. James' looks good against the ninebark's fall foliage.

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tj

tsugajunkie-funny they say it only gets 5'x5'. That is gorgeous, that whole area is just beautiful. Thanks for the inspiration.

It would look good seen against the blue spruce, it being purple and the spruce blue. If the amount of space where it is now has become a concern, maybe you can move it to where the spruce would be directly behind it.

LOL katrina_ellen, yep I situated mine with the idea of it being 5' x 5'. I usually take those sizes with a salt-lick's worth of salt but I didn't expect my 2'x 2' plant to do this in four years.

Bboy is right about the light backdrop. My driveway is to the left of the pic and as folks approach from that direction the light blue of my roof helps make it stand out...especially now that its so tall.

Other plants in the pic -Russian sage, Little Bluestem, Uproar zinnia, Crackerjack marigold and a celosia that reseeded for so many generations I'm not sure what it is now.

tj

tsugajukie, thanks for the plant names. That combination of plants is like a work of art to me.
bboy, now you have me thinking - I love that spruce tree and would like to highlight it. The Ninebark is serving the purpose of screening - from the mess that is next door, but theres so many other options.

I have a Coppertina, which is a slightly different color, but the plants I have near it would also look nice with Summer Wine, though most of mine are large perennials the size of small shrubs rather than actual small shrubs. I also have blue spruce, some midsized rhododendrons, a variety of clematis with flowers in shades of pink and white, Amsonia hubrichtii (the feathery foliage looks great against the ninebark foliage), a chartreuse hosta, and Baptisia australis.
{{gwi:226220}}From June 2010
{{gwi:263537}}From June 5, 2012

nhbabs - totally different look from the other picture posted but is so beautiful as well. Your plants look so healthy! For some reason I think "alpine" when I look at this photo. Thanks for posting.

I was drawn in by that Amsonia hubrichtii. I search a bit more and found that same pic in a GW post last year and someone called it a weed! What?

Nice combo of plants TJ and nhbabs.

The Summerwine I had reached 5' after 4 years. If they have good moisture they grow pretty fast. A Coppertina I planted last year is now 5' wide. I'm convinced that they mean the plants can be controlled to 5' or 6'.

Coppertina is by far the most superior ninebark cultivar. The newly emerging copper like foliage against the dark purple foliage is absolutely stunning. Looks great on the initial flush as well as it literal glows against the tan bark.

Oh and...several days later, Cool Splash looks real nice with Summerwine.