Lyn they certainly look ready to "take off"!!! Surely though they can wait another week or so!! These guys seem to recover pretty quickly from most things! (although with that said, I have had losses - I just figure its part of life!!)
For your full sun area - sunflowers, yucca, agave (there are some interesting new hybrids that I've seen!) all of which survive around me here in my zone 7 (although I think my zone is currently an 8 with global warming! )
Once you have things growing in the bricked bed - you can plant semps or sedum around the base of things, where they'll get some shade!

Greg ...

Thank you, thank you, thank you. Just knowing they can wait while I deal with the mulch crisis really makes me feel better about them. I was feeling quite guilty because I forgot they were in the woodshed.

Then when Bev said they didn't like being moved around a lot and I've been moving them a lot ... I thought it might be the kiss of death ...

I didn't know that yuccas or agaves could handle my cold winter temps. Guess I will have to do a lot more research. One of things I like about ATP is that I am always learning about new plants. This is my first in ground garden and I am a novice gardener who just happens to know a lot about roses.

Part of my pending plan D is to find a way to make pockets in the rock borders I have made around the rose beds. I've got to watch the light to see if they will get enough shade in the afternoon.



>>>>the yellowie ground cover looks like 'Angelina'

Oh, good. It has a name ! The other part of pending Plan D is to use that plant to line the path I need to make under the dogwood tree so that I can get back in there and utilize the shade of that tree. I've cleaned out most of the vinca you see in the photo below and plan to line the path with more rock and thought that plant could be worked in along the path.



The petals you see are from the dogwood. I think I have to move the dutch irises to the back of the bed. I know I want to remove a large mahonia plant to make room for more shade plants. I have two more heucheras to go in that bed.

I thought I'd plant 'Dragon's Blood' in front of 'Silver Scrolls'... per Bev, I've got that pot sitting in front of SS.



I also purchased two wood fruit cases that I planned to line with nylon window screen to hold the soil in place to try to make one of Bev's living pictures. I bought them before I found out I couldn't find the right planting materials.

Even tho' I am in a holding pattern for the semps, I certainly appreciate the suggestions because I'll be thinking about the next project which will be the Hens and Chicks.

@valleylynn, Lynn and @webesemps, Bev ... thank you for the "Welcome". I can tell I am going to need your coaching. I feel like an idiot in training.

Smiles,
Lyn

Hi Lyn, it's nice to have you here! You've already received great advice from everybody, so I won't add my 2 cents worth. Looks like a lot of back-breaking work hauling all that rock around. But I love all your plans and it's going to be beautiful!!

I love the rock beds/borders. What a beautiful setting for your new plants.

Lyn, @Roseblush1 you mentioned wanting to do some sort of pocket in your space and I wanted to share with you a "pocket" I would like to try to make/plant in the bare front yard:

Here's the spot I'd like to work on one day:



Here's the link that inspired the pocket planting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...

@goldfinch4, Chris ... Thank you for the welcome. I am going to need plenty of 2 cents going forward. The only thing I know how to grow with confidence is roses. Everything else is new to me.

@valleylynn, Lynn ...

Those rocks are what I have in place in front of one bed. I've been hauling rocks for years to define the other beds. I still need to haul more rocks to finish the borders on two of the beds. Those rocks are getting heavier every year. I have to haul them up from the street level up the the house pad level ...

Yup ... I've got rocks ...

When I first started lurking on this forum, I thought I could open up the borders, add the right planting mix and then plant the succulents in the border so that it didn't look like just rock. I am going to have to track the shade and follow Bev's advice about moving a container around until I find out if the plants will survive in that spot. The house pad gets direct sun almost all day long. With high summer temps in a low humidity climate that could be an issue. The other side is that if we were not in a drought, we can get up to 50" of rain during the winter and early spring months. No rain for the rest of the year. Then, those plants could rot. I haven't got it figured out yet.

@webesemps, Bev ... those rocks look like they would be something that could really work for a rock garden. They are the right size.

These are the rocks in one of my street beds. Plan A was to use semps as part of the rock garden I am making out there, but it's out in deer territory, so that's why I had to go to Plan B. I need to make a dry creek bed in that area for drainage into the storm drain, then I can do whatever I want. I am not even thinkin' about hauling those rocks up to the house pad.



Thank you for the link.

Smiles,
Lyn

Bev, that is such an inspiring video. Thank you so much for posting it. I could do something like that in my front yard succulent bed. I would just have to research hardy succulents to accomplish the same type of style.

Lynn ...

A friend of mine recommended this nursery when I told her I was looking for hardy succulents:

http://mountaincrestgardens.co...

She said she was always very pleased with the plants she got from them.

Break is over ... time to get back to work.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lynn, be sure to keep a photo diary so we all have the benefit of your process. Thank you for saying that about hardy succulents. I was feeling quite jealous of her ability to use the tenders which are so showy.

Bev, That would be so great!! What a nice spot. You too have to keep a "work in progress" diary for us. You artist types do such wonderful things with your plantings.

Cross posted with Lyn

Going out to take a photo of the bed in question. It's not very attractive right now, has to much of a cluttered look instead of an artistic and pleasing look.

Lyn, that is a great place for hardy succulents. I have many sedum and sempervivum from them over the years. Maybe it's time to go have a look at what they have now.

Lynn ....

>>>>Lyn, that is a great place for hardy succulents. I have many sedum and sempervivum from them over the years. Maybe it's time to go have a look at what they have now.

I should have known you would have known about them.

My only excuse is that I am in discovery-mode ...

Smiles,
Lyn

I had a great time looking at the MCG site. It's been awhile since I've been to their web site. Thank you for the reminder Lyn.
Have you looked at Young's, Perennial Obsessions, and SMG yet?

Lynn ...

Don't you know that enabling like that is just plain ornery ?

I've finally got the beds laid out and have told myself I will not fall in love with another rose and will only plant things I don't know about this year. Of course, there are so many choices, I am totally overwhelmed.

All I can say is that I'm workin' on it.

Smiles,
Lyn

Welcome roseblush1 I am still a newbie learning about Semps. Lots of good tips and advice to be found on here.

CDsSister said:Lynn, be sure to keep a photo diary so we all have the benefit of your process. Thank you for saying that about hardy succulents. I was feeling quite jealous of her ability to use the tenders which are so showy.

Bev, That would be so great!! What a nice spot. You too have to keep a "work in progress" diary for us. You artist types do such wonderful things with your plantings.

Marilyn!...I know what you mean by that "envy" that we get with all the showy tenders, but since I used to live in NM and you live in Colorado, I think in our mind's eye "luscious" and "green" mean different things to us. Here in CA I think of apple green and pine green whereas when I was in Santa Fe it was sage green and cactus green. So what I mean to say is that we can have our own kind of "showy", don't you think???

Also, it looks like we need hardy for cold temps, but I am troubled by plants that aren't "hardy" enough to withstand the hot sun. I, too, find that my arachnoid semps are sensitive to the sun exposure in my semp bed and have to move them elsewhere even though they are considered hardy...

Anyway, I'll will try to remember to document the progress of the "pocket"...

Lyn @Roseblush1 another plant I see alot of lately is Hebe, they have a kind of unusual look to them, and they aren't really that expensive...and they'd do great in what you describe for weather and sunlight!

Thanks, Greg. I am going to do a lot of brain pickin' on ATP ...

I have lots to learn.

My night temps in the winter are generally around 20F to the low teens. Sometimes they are down to the single digit temps. It appears that most hebes are not cold hardy enough for those kinds of temps according to Wikipedia.

Thank you for the suggestion.

Smiles,
Lyn

Lyn I just remembered you are in the mountains near 299 yes cold in winter and boiling in summer I was just there visiting my brother in Big Flat CA 110 each day but the Trinity River was amazing and freezing so totally refreshing!

Ah .... you found me

There are so many micro-climates in this area. Everything depends on elevation and what side of the mountain you are living on ... Generally, it's safe to say it's very hot and dry during the summer and cold and wet during the winter. Oh, and, yes, it's beautiful country.

Smiles,
Lyn

I tried two different Hebes here in my Mid-Willamette Valley Z8 garden, up against the house. Neither survived the winter, I don't think it even got as low as 20 that year but it was cold. I love them but didn't see any point of throwing money at them again.