How about something that looks like this?

BTW, don't resize. Bigger pics are easier to see.

Steve

What a golden opportunity you have here you lucky gardener!
Space for an entire collection of hostas in all sizes and colours along with some companion plants. I'm becoming more and more attracted to hostas mixed with small conifers that some of the contributors here have in their gardens. Morning sun will make heucheras happy. Ferns. A few rocks. What fun you will have!
Jan

With morning sun I think you have a lot of options. I would be inclined to put a Rhodie or something, like in Steve's pic, right where those two fences meet, to soften that transition. Then fill with hosta and other interesting plants. I'm not sure how deer feel about Rhodies...I guess I would check that out whatever you decide to plant.

The poster also wants winter interests, and hostas will be gone in winter in Wisconsin. In full morning sun in summer there is watering need, whenever the hostas would want it or they would not thrive. Actually any new planting will need watering for the first 2 years.

Conifers would establish themselves after 2 years and would need less watering then in heat of summer. I would pose this question in the conifer forum. Conifers and rhododendrons have winter interest and can thrive on morning sun. You could have dwarf blue, green, or yellow spruces and pines there.
Bernd

Grasses also add winter interest, but I don't know enough about any of them to recommend which ones to plant or avoid.

Let's see...morning sun, zone 4 Wisconsin.

Tsuga canadensis 'Bennett'

Tsuga canadensis 'Lewis'

Tsuga canadensis 'Dawson'

Tsuga canadensis 'Vermeulen's Wintergold'

Tsuga canadensis 'Jervis' (in fall with variegated solomin's seal)

{{gwi:314164}}

Talk about a tsuga junkie...

OK, something else...

Thuja occidentalis 'Hetz Midget' (readily available)

{{gwi:241864}}

Thuja occidentalis 'DeGroot's Spire' (gets very tall, but stays thin. Ken has a nice one)

Thuja occidentalis 'Holmstrup'

Picea omorika 'Pendula Bruns'

Also, any number of Balsam Firs (Abies balsamea) or Norway Spruces (Picea abies) would do very well in there.

If you need any more enabling, just let me know.

tj

Oh, wow, tj. Thanks for the inspiration. We need to move some pieris around that we realized will take up way too much space in the front half of our beds, and I was looking for some smaller evergreens (spread under 4 ft) to replace them. Those pics are fantastic.

For winter interest, somewhere a red stemmed Cornus variety could be coordinated in.

And please don't downsize your photos. I bought a laptop with the largest screen I could find. Much easier on the eyes since I'd begun having trouble seeing the puck during a hockey game on tv.

Congrats to any west coast lurkers who may be Kings fans. Enjoy Lord Stanleys cup while you have it! I

Les

Wow! Thank you so much.

Dawsoniana & Bennett are definite contenders. (I have yews on either end of the strip in the photo.

I have considered (and not ruled out) a rhododendron, too.

Any of the above would leave a lot of room for hosta for quite a long time.

Have a feeling that this is a project that isn't going to happen this summer. After seeing the pix you posted, Steve, the area has a lot of potential. I need to think it over instead of making another mistake like I made with the junipers.

Morning sun, deer resistant hosta suggestions? We generally get enough rain that I don't have to supplement a whole lot and I'm willing to baby them along until they're established. No reason not to start collecting some of the hosta now. (I'm always moving them around anyway!)

tj - your photos are just sublime. My favourite is 'Dawson' with 'June' and 'Sagae' (?). That one made me go ahhhh. I could look at that for a long time. Your gardens must be magnificent.
Jan