>I'm hoping to plant 3 new roses against our wooden fence and they would get the afternoon sun, facing west. Would this be a good location for them? Also, we planted an 8 foot flowering cherry tree about 6 feet in front of that spot. I know they are fast growers (it's not the weeping kind, it's a prunus kanzan) but the foliage isn't much to speak about for now and probably won't provide much shade for years. Hi Natanya, It probably mostly depends on whether you already have the roses or not, and if so, which varieties you chose. Probably hybrid teas wouldn't work because they mostly need more sun than that, and many wouldn't get tall enough to discount the shading effects of the fence. If your rose variety can grow tall enough, the influence of the facing direction won't matter much; which direction of exposure a larger and taller-growing rose gets next to a fence isn't as important as which exposure it might have next to a (much taller) house. Disease resistance and shade tolerance in getting to that taller condition would be things to consider, though. If you have bought or can choose to buy now a longer/larger-growing rose variety/varieties that are reasonably disease resistant and that can also take a bit of shade, even a little bit, by the time it gets to the top of the fence, it will effectively be growing in full sun--if it's not directly in a northerly line with the flowering cherry you planted to the west of your west-facing fence. Most roses can take full sun, though not all. If you haven't bought/chosen the rose variety yet, consider something like a hardy Cornelia (or another hybrid musk hardy in your area). Cornelia can take a good bit of shade, and will do well in full all-day sun too. Lyda Rose would work beautifully there too. (Don't go by what just a single bloom of Lyda Rose looks like when estimating its impact; it's spectacular as a whole large plant gets covered in blooms with a faint lavendar pink edging to each petal.) Some shade-tolerant climbers might also work well to climb on your fence: Annie Laurie McDowell, Renae, Climbing Pinkie, Cile Brunner. Many of the hybrid musks can serve well as climbers too, and many of them would be hardy there. If a taller or larger-growing rose doesn't appeal to you, the hardy (and wonderful!) florabunda Grüss An Aachen would work, and it starts blooming early enough that it might well have blooms at the same time as your new cherry tree. The floribundas Iceberg/Brilliant Pink Iceberg/Burgandy Iceberg ought to work too (and likely blooming with your cherry tree), and Snow Gosling would look good too. Many lower-growing polyanthas might fit the bill: Marie Daley, Marie Pavie, Baby Faraux, Lovely Fairy, Lullabye, The Gift, Cécile Brunner. If you go with these smaller (disease-resistant) roses, I don't think they'd look good if you plant them two feet out. Maybe 15-18 inches--even taking into account some horizontal growth. Another thing to consider: if you go with smaller roses, you will probably need more of them than just three if the intention is to create a line of color all along the fence. Best wishes, Mary

If you want all-summer interest, you might need to concentrate on annuals that flower all summer, and/or include some good foliage plants. If you also want it to look good in winter, you might consider some tiny evergreens, or interesting grasses - but that's asking a lot from such a narrow space. If the bed is actually just 2' wide, between the house and the path, you don't have much space for anything tall, and you can't have the usual foreground, middle and background plants. But, you can still make some good combinations of the plants on your list, just by planting them in groups - 3 is always recommended; not sure why. So you could alternate shorter and taller plants, planting the taller somewhat behind the middle and the shorter ones a little in front of it. You could also use soemthing tiny, like sweet alyssum, all the way across the very front of the bed, or in 3 sections spaced out more or less equally along the length of the bed. Annual alyssum is VERY easy from seed, just sow in place, keep damp, and stand back. I guess I'd try to repeat some combinations, to get some "rhythm" into the garden and make it more interesting. It might be too hot for delphs, if you use those or petunias you'll want to lay a soaker hose down and run it often. Plants that like hot and dry conditions include some great ones that are not on your list: thyme, lavender, sunset hyssop, and several others with silver foliage. These look good even when not in bloom. I found a list of plants for hot,dry conditions at the link below, though it's from Clemson U and I can't remember where that's located. Annuals for this spot include gazania (Pink Shades is a knockout, plant a dozen!) amaranth, portulaca, corepsis, and some poppies. I';m sure you will find more, those are just ones that have done well for me in hot/dry areas.

Full sun? Try any of earthkind/knockout/texas superstar roses. Abelia (except glossy) will do wonders. I have Grandma's yellow roses (soon to be Texas Superstar plant in April) in the bed in the front of my house facing West that i get nothing but sun after noon.

Our new home will be west facing, as well, in Texas. I deliberately chose this orientation because we're building a tract home and selected the floor plan first. But... And it's a big but.... The garage, entry/foyer, and one small room face west. I wanted to minimize western exposure, because our current rental has a backyard/dining/powder/master that faces west, and it's pure torture. It is super important to me that the kitchen, dining, and living all face south for maximum light throughout (our current northern living spaces are depressingly dark), and I gotta have all of the bedrooms face north (bedrooms are only used for beds and clothing storage, no toys). West-facing living areas or sleeping areas are a total deal breaker for me. Since I rejected the other lots, the sales associate opened up another section of the neighborhood for me. Would that be an option for you, by any chance?