It's such a small space with heat radiating off both the house and sidewalk. There's no space for dwarf conifers. Miniature conifers, perhaps, but they tend to be costly and they grow too; and that environment might be too harsh. Not being defeatist, but it seems to be be too small an area to get super creative Keep the weigela if it does well, scrap the rest. I think sedums might be a good bet, tho I've never had one of the red stemmed varieties do anything other than get straggly; they never turn into a nice clump, but the green/blue green ones do much better at clumping and not flopping. There are so many varieties out there - Gertens or any of the other TC garden centers are bound to have dozens to choose from. Maybe you could find the nice rounded Artemisia "Silver Mound" - that's a plant right at home in a dry location. For a little summer color, I'd make the small investment in a market pack or two of simple old marigolds.

I love the look of the house. I think the ideal answer would combine laag's tree on the side, Jan44's blue mounds and duluth's suggestion to paint the garage to match the house. I think this situation is a good illustration of the importance of color, in combination with laag's point about hiding things in plain view. The white of the garage draws your eyes as white normally does. But that's not where you want your eyes to go, so painting it to match the house will help take that distraction away. Adding the tree on the side would further reduce the garage's ability to draw your eyes. The blue mounds in the plantings would be nice harmony in color and shape with the house features. I would also keep any other plantings to a minimum and with minimal other introduced color so the final plantings are a quiet tan and blue that focuses all the attention on the attractive house. If the front door was a different color, you might need to have a different color for the plantings, so the OP might want to give some thought to whether the door color is what they want for the future. I like the current door color.

You have so many choices, what fun!!! I'm with esh - a mix of deciduous and evergreen is much more interesting. And I'm all for natives as well. I was faced with a similar foundation-type challenge this past year on the front side of my house. I had a whole lotta shade from huge Southern Red Oaks so I didn't need to add any more shade. In fact I had a hard time finding beautiful plants that thrive in full shade but I managed. I've been mostly happy with my choices (again assisted by all the wonderful GW folks here.) This has been a most beautiful autumn here (I'm just north of you in KY), despite the Easter freeze and summer drought so I thought about your question in terms of fall color. I ran out with my digital camera and snapped off a few shots of some shrubs I have around my foundation in full autumn glory. I didn't get around to all of them as I lost the light. Sorry for the flash pictures, I still don't know how to turn it off when I want to. For my part on the north side I chose heavy to moderate shade evergreens - Mountain Laurel, Pieris, Leucothoe and Sarcococca, and some shade tolerant deciduous shrubs - Itea, Calycanthus, Cornus, Hydrangea quercifolia, Fothergilla, Viburnum, and some perennials - Hellebores, Heucheras and Liriope. I can't remember them all right now. But just around the corner on the east side of my house I have the hottest, sunniest driest garden - and so the plants change dramatically from my northside shady garden - the transition is kind of tricky. I have a mature Fosters holly at the corner, limbed it up a bit and underplanted it with a Clethra (another native favorite of mine.)It'll take a mix of sun and shade. BTW it has a great golden fall color not to mentions its fragrant white summer blooms. I second the idea of planting an Amelanchier (serviceberry) in your front yard. It is a beautiful tree, larger than a florida dogwood with less disease problems and the birds love it too! Great fall color. Again the shade from it will be light. Don't be afraid to just dig in and go for it. There are no mistakes in gardening, just "learning experiences" LOL! Some late afternoon pics for you: Fothergilla - I LOVE this native shrub, I have several planted around my deck and in the wooded area in the backyard. Oakleaf hydrangea - also a native, and look at that fall color! The flowers are amazing too! My "hot" eastside foundation wall - with a rugosa rose and Miscanthus, a pleasing combination, in all seasons.

snicker- you'd be dead before a daphne odora got that big. daphnes are great, but they have a habit of dying right around year 5-8, and they normally top out at about 3-4'. they grow slowly, to say the least, and are pricey, though the big boxes carry them for reasonable amounts compared to nurseries. do pop one in, just for the fragrance & looks, but put it in front of something taller. they need excellent drainage. another thought- hellebores would be nice to have a t the feet of some of your bigger stuff. they have long lasting flowers, can take poor soil and shade and thrive on neglect. they ain't cheap, and grow slowly, but they are worth it. if you can find someone who has them already, ask for seedlings- they self sow abundantly - and start that way. it'll be 3-4 years before you see blooms, but you won't regret it, and you'll forget they're there til then. camellias are easy. not high maintenance at all here. just pick the type you want based on the bloom you want and when (some bloom late fall & some spring) and the size, and be patient and let it grow. they'll do that faster with some sun and good soil, but will grow in shade; it just takes longer. if you can improve your soil, a 1 gallon plant, which would probably be about 12- 18" high, would probably get to 3-4 feet in a couple years. most camellias are going to get much larger than that though and you'll want to be careful in picking ones that match the size you want eventually to avoid trimming chores (most get bigger than what you're wanting). camellias have an nice shape naturally and shouldn't need too much fussing, unless you plant the wrong thing and it gets too big. i'd consider mixing and matching rather than doing all one thing. that way if you do have disease or insect problems, it doesn't wipe out everything. or if one dies down the road, you aren't stuck buying a huge one so you don't have a hole. a little variety in shapes and forms is much more dynamic in design, too. you can get a better range of color and scent and times of color as well. have fun with it!