the north wall can be a tough place to figure out what to plant based on exacatly what you said. the north facing wall goes the whole length of my back yard. one plant i have used there are lantanas (golden yellow and trailing purple) because of this reason. they love the sun and heat in the spring/summer and in the winter they usually slow down and will usually get frost damage. then i cut them back late winter/early spring and it starts all over again.

i am sure, and hope, others have some better suggestions then the "over-used" lantana, but i am ok with them because they work and can take a lot of abuse.

What are the water needs of the lantana? My north facing wall is one side of the house and hubby and I are reluctant to put anything there that requires much water. I'm thinking of a rock garden with lavendar plants sprinkled around, some hardscape art kinda stuff and maybe some strategically placed cactus as well.

lantanas don't need too much water, especially once they are established. in the peek heat of summer, mine will get a deep watering once a week and that is only because they are on the same drip as other plants in the yard that do require a bit more then the lantanas.

a rock garden sounds like a great idea. if you are looking for some xeric plants and flowers, check out high country gardens web site: http://www.highcountrygardens.com/

i think it might be too late in the season now to have orders sent here from them, but they have a great selection of xeric flowers, including various lavenders, that you can check out at their site.

Thanks kazooie. High Country Gardens is one of my favorite sites! My rock garden will be a project for the fall so that should work out well.

I have bogainvilla, mexican bird of paradise along north wall, they were already established when i moved in, they are doing well. I planted a yucca (spanish dagger), that one is struggling.

greenlust, Is the yucca stressed because it needs more sun? I just bought a small one the other day and am trying to decide where to put it.

marymcp, i think it gets enough sun, its kinda on a slope and the soil is very bad..clay. (if you go to my page on the first pic he is the little guy on the right near the wall, he is now bit taller than that). It has been struggling for 2 years. And I thought yucca was an easy thing to grow. Then few weeks ago I took a road trip from LA to SF along the coastal highway and saw huge monster yucca's there and decided ok its time i did something about my yucca. I will relocate it somewhere else in my yard where the soil is better and it gets good sun.

greenlust, Nice pics, nice yard. We share the same birthday! Good luck with the yucca relocation.

Mary

Grapes. Thompson and Fantasy. They love the sun they get during the summer, then go dormant in the winter. Works like a charm....
DD

Hmmm DD. Great idea. I have a short stretch of north facing block wall that is sure cold in the winter. There is a grape, "Roger's Red" that I think I will plant. Produces tiny grapes, but gives a wonderful red fall color.

For the middle and low desert, my favorite N facing wall plant is the Mt. Lemmon Marigold (Tagetes lemmonii). The fact that I did my dissertation on the genus has nothing to do with my bias :-)!!!!

For vines, I like the passion flowers. Mine loves the wall, and once it gets over and is hit by full sun it stops spreading in that direction.