I Need More Short Plants in My Garden

When you look at my garden in full bloom during spring and summer, it appears I only like tall/medium height perennials and shrubs.  I say this because I really only have a couple short perennials and ground covers in the garden, with the exception of my hostas, heuchera and hellebores (all planted in the shade garden).  Because the main part of our garden redesign includes removing the hedge from our front walkway and adding a new front path, I’ll have a lot more room (and need) for full sun short plants and ground covers.  As you can see in the picture, I also have a new garden space to the left of the grass that will need some shorter plants too.

So far my plant list includes bergenia, hardy geranium, ajuga and creeping jenny (along with more hostas and heuchera).  I’d love to hear what short perennial/ground cover plants you recommend (hardy to zone 8a) that I can add to my full sun and part shade gardens.

Our front yard will have  much better flow when we’re done.  I got a little ‘hedge crazy’ when I first moved in, so we’re removing the small hedge that runs along the walkway to the front door. Don’t get me wrong, I still love hedges, just in a larger yard/garden than mine.

Leaves = New Garden Bed

I’d like to get working on our redesign, but the ground is still frozen. Until then, here are a couple of my inspiration pictures for our side yard that I took at Remlinger Farms a couple months ago.

Update

So far I’ve receive quite a few great recommendations from Twitter.

@AnniesAnnuals has a great online catalog everyone should check out! They gave me the following plant recommendations: Heirloom dianthus: http://bit.ly/6eVrFm, http://bit.ly/58wPov ;  Alpine strawberry w/ chartreus foliage: http://bit.ly/6sxoZL ; almost turquoise CA native penstemon: http://bit.ly/6lRZcr goes perfect with this CA native poppy: http://bit.ly/6QTX7z , scabiosa is a bee magnet & bloom machine: http://bit.ly/7CXMor ; sidalcea for some height! http://bit.ly/72Bp2m ;geraniums would be fab, especially the more unusual ones: http://bit.ly/6RTS64,http://bit.ly/1LTX9X, http://bit.ly/7hBKXx.

@marykir recommended I try helianthemums in the sunny spots and epimediums in the shady spots.  There are also some agastaches, salvias, coreopsis, and teucriums that are supposed to stay under 18″.  Someone near Queen Anne library has slope covered with varieties of golden/reddish groundcover sedums, short grasses, and heuchera.