Of course! I have 3- 30 gallon pots with ALocasia "Purple Prince", Alocasia loweii Grandis, and Alocasia "Polly" that have been houseplants for many years...the Grandis almost 10 years! They have always been happy in the house, the occasional outbreak of mealies controlled by dishsoap and oil or Neem. These are large multi trunked plants. They have never been outdoor plants. I have a collection of Anthurium andreanums, about 12 off the top of my head, different cultivars, that live inside all the time. They bloom all the time. I have a huge 36" planter with a very large Monstera deliciosa that stays in by the dining room table year round. This plant is truly a "monster" no pun intended. Now, as of last month, I have a nice planter with Anthurium scandens hanging in my bathroom window, cuttings I took from my mother plant which is huge in a 20 gallon pot. Also some pothos (green and white variegated and green and yellow variegated) growing in the window. Also some huge pots of long trailing epiphytic jungle cacti sitting on the top ledge of my shower and trailing down about 4-5 ft on either side of the shower enclosure. Then I have three philos...a "Lemon Lime", an "Autumn" and a "Prince of Orange" that grow in the windows in the sunroom and den. These are year round houseplants. All do very well. I also maintain a very large sansevieria collection indoors year round.

Aspidistra is good, though slow ($$). there are some colored foliage cvs ($$$$) (but they may not be as tough? i don't recall ever seeing them ITRW) Iris foetidissima, another classic dry shade plant. Nephrolepis. will need some water. Aucuba (slow), will need some water. X fatshedera might fit better than fatsia. some water. Nandina should be good (kind of ugly, depending on taste). doesn't grow very fast. but i think will then survive with no water (in shade). the backside (garage wall) of Japanese boxwood might hollow out. slowish, and i think will then need a little water. Try Ruscus if you can order it. I saw it only once. looked nice tho maybe a bit boring. hmm, the blob of dirt under the garage window is not thoroughly dark. how long has the agave in the pot been there? Definitely get rid of the lawn under the trees. if you don't mind common stuff... English ivy is great under deciduous trees, water regularly until filling in (they'll love wood chips mulch). then slow irrigation, once a month during the hot months will be enough. keep it dry and it won't try climbing the trees very fast. privets :-) citrus (non dwarf) are very tough once established... Pittosporum tobira in lighter/dappled/part shade. winter bulbs are great under deciduous trees. narcissus/daffodils are cheap. leucojum grow similarly, but look different enough to be interesting. probably can't find them retail. they seem to flower despite more (winter) shade than narcissus will flower in.

It does sound like a great project. I love por*ches! You're right to try to add some fragrance. I'm not sure you are going to find a vine that will give you blooms and fragrance in only dappled sun all day. I am constantly trying to add fragrance and I've haven't had much luck in shady areas. I tried a small cutting of SAC and it took three years in my sunnier than yours location to get five feet high then the very next year, I looked over one day and noticed not one leaf on it. I found some kind of caterpillar on it that stripped it of every leaf and it never came back. So I can't attest to it's aggressiveness. [g] While you are looking for a fragrant vine, you might consider pots of Four OClocks on your porch. They open at night and have a nice fragrance that is stronger on hot evenings. They might do fine in your shady conditions. I've had them bloom in shady spots. I also tried C*lematis m. 'Mayleen' from Bluestone last fall and it hasn't come back. No, I haven't had experience with Castle Wall or Spire. I like the darker green so I have two 'Green Mountain' that I really enjoy. It is supposed to get to about 5ft tall and might be easily shaped into a pyramid. You would have to trim them occasionally anyway, so it's not like it would be more work. GM came through the winter great last year. I've only had them two years. Bought them small at Bluestone and I like them. I would ask about the r*oses over on the rose forum and you will need to actually time the amount of sun to determine whether you have enough for a rose. Sometimes we can all kid ourselves that we have enough sun because we want a particular plant so much. :-) I am experimenting with two r*oses in an area that only gets about 4 hours of sun. I was cautioned on the r*ose forum that I may not get good bloom there. So I found two r*oses that are described as tolerating some shade and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But I think 4 hours of sun is a minimum for a r*ose. But I'm no expert. Even if a r*ose blooms in less sun, it might not be the amount of bloom you are hoping for. Fragrant hostas are a great idea. I had 'Guacamole' for 4 years and it didn't come back this spring, which really surprised me. I'm still looking for it through May because I seem to remember it was late to come up, although all my other hostas are up. It is very fragrant and has nice large blooms. I'm sure there are lots of others. My Clethra lost most of it's top growth this winter. It is a great shrub so I hope I haven't lost it entirely. There is a post about that somewhere, others have had trouble with Clethras last winter. Endless Summer might be the Hydrangea you are trying to figure out. I would go with that one because it blooms on old and new wood. I also know people who grow Nikko and swear by it's hardiness.

Red-twigged dogwood would show well against the white siding. The brick is too far down to be of any consequence, as I see it. There is also a dogwood with yellowish green stems that you might prefer. In either case, it's good to prune out a few of the older stems every year, as the younger ones have better colour. You might also consider a weeping pea shrub. They are nice and hardy, and wouldn't outgrow the space. The globe cedars could stay, you could add dogwoods or something similar and the contrast would make both look more interesting. Of course, then you might have to move flowers to a bed in front of the walk... How distressing. ;o) Another possibility would be a prostrate yellow evergreen to provide a shape, colour and texture contrast to the cedars. Or all of the above...