If you don't mind working the plant (trimming) I would recommend Lavatera. It has soft leaves and flowers all the time once established. It makes a great hedge and takes trimming very well. I do not know if it will take your temp extremes but it will handle and loves the sun!
If you want an image let me know and I will image mine.

Thanks terrestrial man. I went spelunking and found some beautiful Lavatera. That's a nice suggestion. I would very much like to see a pic of yours. And thanks again.

How is the view out that window?

Is it scenic, or worth adding a small woodsy group of trees for shade and privacy?

What direction does it face?

The view is actually quite interesting. We face south and have a view of the Napa river emptying out into the Bay. We can watch the ferries come and go from San Francisco. The caveat is that directly across the street is a neglected 20's bungalow. Could be cute and we have high hopes now that the Pig People that lived there have moved along. I'm thinking that the maximum growth of whatever we plant here would be 6 feet.

Hi Steveningen,
will make the image later this afternoon.
you should buy that bungalow cross the street if possible!!!
Protect your view etc!!

Pig People-you mean like the ones in Willow????
Maybe they will be transformed and defeat that evil witch
queen!!

Vitex is one of my favorite airy trees. They get as big as you let them... but only maybe 10-12 feet. It would soften the corner. Then there are the many forms of Cotoneaster that could fill-in under the window.

Well, assuming you want to stick to purple, hebe under the window, a bank of lantana montevedensis, a hydrangea against the other side of the house to balance the hebe, and last, a vine of hardenbergia on the fence on the side of the house... tah-da!

{{gwi:536069}}

All of these plants thrive in the cool zone 17 that is Vallejo.

Hello
Here is the image of the Lavatera.
{{gwi:536070}}
Note I will leave this image up for 1 week and then it is expunged!

A comment on the great job of a proposed landscaping by
davissue
An important consideration should be lifestyle!
Your proposal is too much!
Look at the lawn. I would think that the soil may be
compacted. Presuming a lawn is preferred over landscaping
the entire lawn should be removed new sod laid down.
Lanatana is too messy especially when the flowers are spent.
A ground cover succulent may be much better for the front slope though it offers the possibility of an extensive rework and perhaps developing an alpine type setting. However, what is the neighborhood like? Lots of kids? Lots of foot traffic? Lots of strangers?? Habla ingles?? Remember the area of property nearest the street is the first line of contact with the outer world so it is the most abused since that contact must be presumed to be abrasive! So perhaps an uninviting ground cover fronting a picket fence line might be preferable!!! Continue the effort as it is alot of fun in designing but know the challenges first!

Maybe a hedge, or a pair, of sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans). They are slow growers but they smell soooo good.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Westell, vitex is a beautiful tree. I've been doing my reading.

And thanks for the mock-up davissue. I really do need to figure out how to use my photoshop. You've given me the incentive to dust off the box and learn. You're catching the right idea. The shrub I select will be slightly bigger than what you've placed under the window. I want to completely cover the stone facade. I'm really liking t-man's suggestion of lavatera.

Terrestrial Man, I've been researching lavatera and I do like it. When you say that you worry it might not like our temp extremes, are you talking about frost? We do get that from time-to-time, but we really don't get the hard freezes like Napa does. Heat is another story. It does get warm here in the Summer. We should have a pretty good canopy of jacaranda within a couple of years (we bought a 15 foot specimin - instant gratification syndrome don't cha know).

There are kids in the neighborhood, but they know better than to come into mean ol' Mr. Steven's yard. Now that the Pig People are gone (yes, like the pigs from Willow, just on meth), things have gotten sooooooo much better. Foot traffic shouldn't be a problem.

As far as the soil being compacted. Yep. And that isn't lawn you're seeing, it's mostly whacked weeds. We're taking about three inches of soil off the entire surface and bringing in a load of amendment and tilling it in. We hope to have the picket fence and arbor finished over Memorial Day weekend.

Then comes the real fun. Rose over the arbor and along the fence, and loads of bloomers everywhere. If we add grass, it will be a very small area. The slope will primarily be low water thrivers with a few nice boulders judiciously placed. I'm really starting to get into some of the ornamental grasses mixed with all manner of things from Annie's Annuals. But I must be stopped when we hit $10K. Not much of a budget, but I'm creative.

Catching myself. Get just one Manhattan in me and I'll blather on all night. Sorry to ramble. Thanks again for the suggestions everyone.

If you want to go with roses, I would suggest a nice hedge of the pink floribunda "Our Lady of Guadalupe." It is disease-free at my house, blooms like crazy, and has a nice rounded shape with leaves all the way to the bottom. The soft pink would look great with your yellow house and purple jacaranda.

- HershiGrl

Here is a link that might be useful: Our Lady of Guadalupe

Ok, maybe it's just my neighborhood--but I see a fair amount of lavatera and it seems like a floozy of a plant, out of control with all those pastel flowers. (Ok, I'm not partial to pink flowers.) With all those caveats, do I have anything to recommend? I rather like loropetalum chinense( the traditional version with the white flowers, of course!)

Here is a link that might be useful: Loropetalum chinense

Just PLEEEEEZE don't plant juniper...or you shall be punished.
Amanda 'romando'

As a fellow yellow house owner, I think you need some blue in the mix. : )
{{gwi:536072}}

Based on my experience, a specimen of lavatera is not long lived and can get leggy and messy.

Here are some suggestions off the top of my head which are both drought tolerant (essential in our climate) and evergreen (* my favs): ceonothus*, rhamnus californica*, rhamnus alaternus*, choisya ternata, lonicera nitida, manzanita*, grevillea*, sarcococa, cistus, arbutus unedo, callistemon, dodonaea viscosa 'Purpurea'*, feijoa sellowiana*, teucrium fruticans, etc.

You could also mix it up and plant various things, e.g., phormiums along with euphorbia, sedum, and ornamental grasses such as pennisetum.

All of the above plants are hardy in the Bay Area.

Oh, I forgot to mention, drive around in neighborhoods that have nice gardens and see what you like. You'll get a better sense of what you're looking for. Also, check out some of our botanical gardens, e.g., Berkeley and San Francisco.

Oh, yes! I forgot Cytisus scoparius (scotch broom). Now, before y'all freak out about its invasiveness, let me specify that I'm talking about a red flowering hybrid. I bought it at Berkeley Horticulture, and they'd just gotten 2 in and hadn't even put them out yet. But I snatched one up, and am glad I did...it's gorgeous! Dark burgundy pea flowers which are tipped in yellow. Other than that, it looks like your standard scotch broom. I second angelcub's suggestion of blue salvia or something similar, as well...

Amanda 'romando'

If you did want a lawn, small or even more like filling the upper area in the photo, go with buffalo grass or blue grama. They'll lap up the sun, not require a lot of water or mowing. Blue grama is less expensive because the seed has high germination and you can easily seed whereas buffalograss really requires plugs but tolerates foot traffic more.

Cistus is a nice drought tolerant shrub with beautiful flowers -- white or pale purple with a burgundy mark. I saw it in a list above and wanted to highlight it.

If you go with ornamental grasses, pick some cute CA natives to interplant. They'll reseed. Baby blue eyes, tidy tips and Clarkias are just splendid with ornamental grasses.

Since you are in essence starting over, think about bulbs right now too if you can. I had an area where I removed concrete and I just tossed in freesia bulbs before backfilling with good dirt and lo, flowers galore. I put in penstemon in an area with my oriental lillies that I mostly cut and take indoors. The stalks always bugged me and now all I see are the penstemon flowers and some extra greenery.

Did you put up the arbor? I would love to see followup photos!

CJ

Don't know if cistus (rockrose) has been suggested yet. There are both prostrate and shrub versions of various heights and colrs. Being a native plant, they're very drought tolerant once established. Guess that I look at natives first, since I hate wasting potable water on plants (*smile*), and they've also shown the will to survive in this area, which is helpful for those times when I'm too busy to garden (*smile*).

-Roger