Athen', I'm so sorry! I have so many Weigela's that I sometimes get them mixed up! Weigela florida ÂElvera - Midnight Wine is a cutie, but it is smaller. I meant to say: Weigela ÂShining SensationÂ. It's really beautiful, just like I described originally. It would be quite easy to keep at 4'. I would simply give it a clipping down to about 3' or 3.5' after it's second mid-season bloom (late-July). Remember, it blooms on old wood so you'll want to give it plenty of time to recover from that pruning before the first frost so that it gives you plenty of blooms next year. I think you should have no problems keeping the Physocarpus opulifolius ÂSummer Wine - Seward at 4'. No problem, at all. Again, just don't be too shy about pruning. I think Lindalana's advice about using Sambucus 'Black Lace' and Dirtdiver's advice about using Cotinus 'Royal Purple' or 'Grace' and coppicing them in early spring (like you would a Buddleia) is a great idea for other applications, but I doubt you'd be able to keep them at 4'. They're much more likely to go to 5' or even 6' in one season. It's too bad, because they're both so beautiful; especially for us purple-leaved addicts! As mentioned, they're also tough and drought-tolerant. Sorry about the boo-boo ealier. Again, best of luck! Steve

One way that I gauge how much moisture a plant may need is to research the wetland status of the plant. The USDA plants database and other websites report a "Wetland indicator status" that tells you whether a plant grows in wetlands in its natural habitat. Asclepias incarnata (Swamp milkweed) is an "obligate wetland" plant which means it always grows in wetlands in the wild, so this is a moisture-loving milkweed. In my gardens it grows reasonably well in medium moisture, and is surprisingly drought tolerant, but it does die back in late summer and I wonder if it would last longer in a wetter garden. Many if not most of the other milkweeds are well adapted to dry conditions, including A. syriaca (common) and A. tuberosa (butterfly weed). For Joe-Pye weed, it depends on the species but many of them also prefer to grow in wetlands. You might look into Eupatorium purpureum, Sweet Joe Pye weed, or Ageratina altissima (former Eupatorium rugosum, Snakeroot) both of which will grow more happily in drier soil. Most Phlox and Monardas will do well in medium moisture. Last year I grew Monarda punctata (Spotted bee balm) and M. citriodora (Lemon bee balm) from seed, and they are both very pretty and prefer dry sandy soil. Many Aster and Solidago (Goldenrod) species are very drought-tolerant, gorgeous late bloomers, and mine had lots of pollinators all over them in September and October.

Looking at your inspiration photos, it seems that there are groundcover-like materials that can be grown there. I'm not familiar with what they might be so can't make recommendations. But it looks like a fairly lush look is available if one chooses the right material. Before doing any planting, I'd be considering if there is any possible way to widen the entrance walk, which is considerably undersized. The house would look more upscale with a much wider walk and you could probably eliminate one step in the process, making for an improved entry experience. I'd consider removing all of the raised edging. The beds it creates are much too tightly pinched to the house. A 5' to 6' minimum bed width would be more like it. In addition, the edge itself is so thin that it cheapens the overall look of the property. A masonry bed edge should be 8" wide, or wider, in order to be in scale with a house. If the edging didn't exist, it would be easy to place foundation plants where they should go. I find myself wishing the fence that encloses the back yard didn't come so close to the front entrance. By doing so, it messes up possible planting (the blank space between the windows is asking for a small tree) and generally looks a bit utilitarian so close to the front entrance. It would be nice if the back yard entrance could be framed with an arbor, but I don't know if that's possible with the way the architecture is laid out behind the fence. It would need to be explored. In the illustration I'm showing the types of plants that could go in certain locations. It's not means to be comprehensive. It's a start.

dchall, I assume your photo was taken in San Antonio? Here's the big difference between CA gardening and gardening in most of the rest of the US. In San Antonio, as elsewhere in the US, you get rain during the spring and summer months. A drought for you would be less rain during the growing season. In CA we get zero rain during most of the spring and summer, always. If zero rain is the definition of an extreme drought then CA is always in extreme drought in the late spring through early fall. All of our rain comes in the winter. It is not unusual for us here in Southern CA to get no rain at all, not even a drizzle, from April to the end of October or even into the middle of November. With no rain at all and temps in the 90s and above the jasmine in your photo would not survive.