What I've done the first year...the end of the driveway

The end nearest the patio has a beautiful pink climbing rose with small flowers, a white butterfly bush, irises and some lupines. Beyond that in an alternating pattern there are deep pink spireas and pink shrub roses. The former owners definitely had a thing for that color! I cut back the spirea this Spring and it's flourishing; I haven't touched the roses yet although they desperately need it, but when? They have become ugly and leggy and this year got black spot. I don't care much about black spot overall, but the legginess is unacceptable. Until last weekend it was also filled with more of that horrible thug, pachysandra. After struggling to get it out on my own, I decided it was worth every penny to pay Simon a small removal fee. The pachysandra is now coming up in the driveway! Everytime I see it for sale, read an article or watch a television show where it's recommended as a groundcover I shudder. The only good thing about the plant is that its roots are a distinctive white so it's easy to figure out if you're ripping up pachysandra or rose. There I said something nice! With the pachysandra came dirt, much dirt so I had to replace much of it. This week Simon put down mulch and the bed looks great!

Future thoughts: At first, I was thinking I'd just go with the pink, but that seems a little much so now I'm thinking of using lavenders, perhaps some salvias.