Well, I have a whole list of misc things that cover for me and they all work out fine. Hosta, Hosta, Hosta. They work in sun and shade, sprout as bulbs are going down and last all summer. Daylilies, foliage is similar to a lot of bulbs so it is pretty well covered Echinacea, starts late but covers quickly once up weeds, not a joke, I can't always keep them under control so, why work against nature? If someone ccomes by, they are distracted by the weeds and don't notice the fact that there is dying bulb foliage (but this doesn't happen all the time though). Campanulas many sprout early enough to give cover. Iris - the foliage is not as complete a cover as say hosta but, it is in it's prime when the early bulbs are going away. Heucheras And the list could go on. I think that if a bed is planted correctly, there shouldn't be any gaps in the show. If you are expecting a continuous amount of color, go to Disneyland. My gardens are always a riot of color somewhere. Things come and go and always in different locations. Lilies here, Penstemons there, Campanulas over there, daylilies, Echinaceas, Wisteria over head, roses everywhere all summer, callas intermingled, Clematis elegantly drapping on evergreen shrubs, iris all over the place, peonies all over the place, etc. I am lucky in the fact that most of my gardens are rather spacious. But, when you have smaller gardens, your choices must be more precise. For a tight little area, I would suggest succesion planting. This might include, Aconite, crocus, early daffs, late tulips, planted around a favorite perennial succh as hosta or evergreen daylilies. These are all early things, if you wanted later, you could add a layer under the bulbs of lilies and intersperse with some late flowering asters. You can even increase the bloom time by having Helleborus. Depending on your locale, some start in Dec on into March. So in essence, you would only be out of bloom in fall say for 2 months (maybe Oct. and Nov). Which at that time you have seed pods, ornamental grasses, exposed barks and berries, etc. There is no reason for a garden to be lacking anything if done with some thought about the future. ===== John Ingram in L.A., CA. http://www.floralarchitecture.com/ check it out Floralartistry2000@yahoo.com 310.709.1613 (cell, west coast time, please call accordingly. Thank you)