What should I plant in a well established flower garden that already has a lot of Irises and Daylilies?

The foliage for the irises and the daylilies is too similar and they are quite dense together. I'd like something with different foliage that will not be overwhelmed by the other flowers foliage. The bed is partial sun/shade.

What should I plant in a well established flower garden that already has a lot of Irises and Daylilies?
the iris will bloom in mid to late Spring, and the daylilies will carry on thru the Summer. Therefore i would be looking at daffodills for early Spring color, asters and chrysanthemums for Fall, and peonies to fill the gap between the blooming time of the iris and daylilies.





One other group you might want to look at is sedums. There are both upright and creeping varities, and both have a place in the garden.


they bloom mostly in the Fall, but have archetectural interest thru Spring and Summer as well.





the upright sedums have rounded leaves and stiff branches topped by rounded flower heads which can be dried. the plant can be light green, dark purple, or picotee green with white edges.





the creeping sedums are great for groundcovers and come in gold, deep red, or green. They keep their color well throughout the growing season.





.
Reply:you need some shubs behind for height, they will also give you different leaf textures. It never looks as good if every plant in a bed is upright (grass shaped).





Depending on the height you require, you could grow euonymus, berberis, buxus, spirea, indian hawthorn. Look up BBC Gardening or Better Homes or Gardens sites, they have plant finders. Just put in the height, zone, light, soil etc even flower colour and they will give you a suitable list. If your climate makes the iris and daylillies die down for winter, consider puting in an evergreen shrub so you have something to look at in winter.





Remember to use ground covers such as Lambs ear (stachys), ajuga (if shadey enough), violets etc to give you a layer in the front of iris and lillies. Wormwood (Artemisia or Senecio is good if you want a touch of grey in a cottage look (usually 18" to 3ft tall). You can pick from many plants with a half sun position.
Reply:Try putting in lavender, and also clear a spot in the middle of it for a rose to grow. Prune the rose so that it becomes a tree rose. Or, take some time to give room for the Irises and Daylilies to breathe, and put in some short plants that will put back nitrogen into the soil, such as forgetmenots. Lupine will create a nice addition.
Reply:Something light and airy like "Moonbeam" Coreopsis or Cosmos would break up the heavy foilage and ad some variety.