Is it this a blank canvas.

If you how about filling with spring bulbs from the first bulb to the last bulbs of spring.

Also have a centre piece a dwarf acer or salix .

Or helobores and this way you have a splash of colour all year round.

In summer a few summer bedding.

Hardy geraniums look good growing with roses, and there are different varieties that flower all through spring and summer, look at spritzhenry's photo's she has lots of varieties.
I have a bed in the middle of my garden planted entirely with daylilies, there are loads of varieties early,mid and late and some that rebloom, you can have varieties in bloom from early June to late September or longer, but I am a bit obsessed with them :-)

I think Scotkat's suggestions are far better than roses Claireliz - for most of the year roses just sit there looking sorry for themselves and growing things in with them is not easy. They need regular pruning and are prone to mildew and other diseases.

A word of caution on the Acer, though - if the site is open and prone to wind. an Acer will suffer badly. They prefer dappled shade and shelter in the main - and 'no' exposure to wind.

A central shrub or focal point does sound good, though. You'll have to decide on whether you want an evergreen or a deciduous one - so what is your soil like, firstly? Acid or neutral or alkaline?

I'm sure we could come up with a list of shrubs or small trees depending on the size you're after, and some ideas for underplanting.

What about a Euonymous."Emerald and gold" as a centre piece?it complements most colour schemes,is evergreen,and easy to keep trimmed,and suitable for most soils.Something cheerful to look at in the winter,and is bright yellow at. the moment,with the new foliage.

Wouldn't recommend that plant as a centrepiece, Bloomer - but it'd be good to include it in the bed somewhere. Centrepiece needs to be taller and narrower.

I was thinking of Day lillies too Simbad. Once established they look after themselves nearly, apart from 'grooming ' as the Americans say. A few Bonariensis under planted give a quite jaunty look. Corki round the outside and some hunkier ones in the middle. They leaf up quite early. If you leave the leaves over winter you may get hedgehogs hibernating in nests made of leaves and the strappy leaves pulled over to keep the weather out. They did that in my garden 2 years on the run....some time ago.....not seen one for ages.

ok will scrap the roses idea. I want the bed to look good all year round really :)
I will look at day lillies. The bed is approx 5ft diameter.
I do appreciate your help as Im finding this a bit challenging. If I were to plant a shrub as centre piece what could I best plant? Thank you all

oh and yes a blank canvas

my soil is neutral and fairly good, well drained.

I'm having a think, but really, five feet across isn't a very big area, so if you wanted a centrepiece, it'd have to be something columnar. One thing I can't tell, is it in sun or shade, or a mix between the two, windy and exposed, or sheltered?

Would a Taxus baccata be too big, do you think? The gold one is lovely....

Look on my pictures Claireliz under hemerocallis pages 3 and 4 my daylily bed has a bird bath as the centrepiece, a bit bigger than five feet,( and gets bigger every year),lol,but would still look good, there are evergreen varieties too so even with no flowers still have the leaves :-)
Never thought of underplanting with verbena Dorjac, good idea :-) they do leaf up early my bed looks great already even with no flowers,lol.

It is in the sun all day and semi sheltered. we were thinking about a bird bath or a statue as centre piece. will check out your pic simbad thanks.

Perfect for daylilies Claireliz, love a hot sunny spot, not fussy about soil type,trouble is once you start collecting its hard to stop :-)

I was thinking about an obelisk, so you can train clematis up it, in the middle. Then I'd use Lavender munstead dwarf and Berberis 'Bagatelle' round the outside, with 3 or 4 Verbena bonariensis in between, towards the centre, near the obelisk, and some Crocosmia Lucifer inserted inbetween the shrubs.

thanks all x

if i dont have a statue i will think about the obelisk- good idea

Claire - if you put a statue there, you'll restrict the planting to low ones, as you'll presumably want to see it! If you do get an obelisk, look at the metal ones rather than wicker, as I found that the wicker ones a) blew over easily, and b) only lasted one season. It would certainly give you some height in the bed - and with a pretty clematis on it, would look great! Look for a group 2 clem. as they flower twice and only need a tidy-up prune in the spring.