Thank you, Ken. I have seen Degroot's Spire and considered it also but was worried about snow. Would that not be a problem given its extremely narrow form? I did notice a review on Dave's Garden from someone in zone 5 who sited it in full sun and wind and mentioned that it did stay green all winter so that is certainly very encouraging.

Little Giant and Woodward are both cultivars of Arborvitae that grow slowly, 4-6 feet at best, and make nice foundation plants. Althoug they can reach the 6' mark, they grow so slowly and take so well to an early summer pruning that I would recommend them over a smaller shrub that might look too small against the house for too long. With the wind and sun, they are a better choice than a Yew, which can winterburn in that exposure. I have not run across a Juniper that I like very well, but that is my own prejudice, someone else may come up with a good Juniper variety that might work for you. Good luck, Helen.

Definitely NOT rhododendrons or azaleas in that exposure. You might consider Schipka Cherry Laurel (Prunus laurocerasus). I believe it gets to 6-8 feet tall and wide, so you'll have to plant away from the house. It does flower (flowers do attract bees if that is a concern). It's a difficult exposure though. Used to live in a brick house and by late afternoon it was hotter than h@// . Have boxwood and bay laurel now on the current western side but the house is white so not as hot. Good luck!

Don't rule out western areas just because they are on the west side. All things being equal, Macs will have a harder time on west facing areas and growers may have to allocate more time to checking them but, experiment and see if you can overcome the issues with a micro-climate. I have only planted a Mac on the west side once; it was a Sun Goddess Mac with 1-2 hrs of sun exposure, I made sure the soil drained well and that I watered often; it did fine with the west wall on one side and a pine bush on the opposite side. And my MIL had a nice blue Nikko Blue by her west-facing NH bedroom window that had morning shade and afternoon sun so, wow, go figure that! Whenever I visited her in July-August, it seemed to get sun until sometime after her dinner time but of course, her sun was nowhere as strong as it is down here. You know, I never inquired what did she do for that NB (watering, winter etc)... But you can always look at other Mac's in your area to see how they are placed and 'test the waters' by growing the mac in a pot until you feel certain that the selected location will work... then plant it in the ground. Monitor the shrub and the soil moisture more often in the summer. If the first location does not work, just move the pot. Bombshell (which has had a lot of complaints with blooming issues here), Wedding Gown and Pearls 'n Pink are some of the most compact paniculatas that I suggest you could try. Of course, they only "do" white/pink blooms, not blues/purples/pinks like Macs. If you still want to try macs in full sun, try anyways (maybe just one shrub at first) and post comments to see how does it go.