Maybe you could define - for yourself if for no one else - what "special" means to you. There are so many ways that shrubs can be special, especially from a close-up perspective. Let me give you an example. I know that I am a foliage gardener first, and I am also a plant minutiae gardener who likes to see things changing every day, and always having something to anticipate. For example, my favourite plants next to my front steps are Anemonopsis macrophylla, a perennial that takes months to form these little ball-shaped buds and then another eon to open them. Maybe I'm an easy mark, but I watch and enjoy that plant all spring and summer, same with a fern on the other side that unfurls huge fronds one at a time all summer. So for me, no matter how wonderful a flowering display might be (say, lilacs), the undistinguished foliage and (lack of) form of the plant makes it dull for me, especially because if something like that is next to the deck, by the time you can sit out there, there is nothing more to look forward to with it. It's done for the year. Your preferences may be totally different. You may be focussed on fragrance, or bloom colour (I go plant shopping with a friend who is into pastels. We never fight over a plant. If it's pink and fragrant she buys it, if it's orange and has great leaves, I do). Let me start by asking if your rhododendron diagnosis means no rhodos in that spot again? I fortunately haven't had to learn that. But if not by the deck, then perhaps in the other spot? There is a plethora of Rhodos with fabulous foliage and good form, but you have to hunt them down (such as the legendary Sir Charles Lemon that never blooms but with leaves like that, doesn't have to). I personally avoid the ones that turn into green blobs, have undistinguished foliage, and bloom in trusses (I'll flex on the last point to get the first two right). Now, here's the trick. If you know what you want, you may be able to get it from quite a common shrub. My little laugh at myself is that I have spent probably thousands on special shrubs (not kidding, I'm afraid), but of those that have survived, few have given me the enjoyment that a garden-variety blue hydrangea has - one left behind in a pot by the previous owner; I don't even know what it is. Similarly, because mock orange takes a long time to get its act together each year, I actually really enjoy it (and that might be good for the spot beside the deck but some do get huge... and maybe they can in that spot). I'm not going to check zones for you, but here are a couple of shrubs I have enjoyed that might work by your deck: Disanthus, Loropetalum fire dance, Fothergilla, and unlikely but true, Rose of Sharon/Hibiscus - in my case, Red Heart. Love the branch structure and grey trunk of my hibiscus. On that note, you might also consider one of the smaller special bark trees, like an Acer griseum or Japanese maple with the stripe bark attribute. Yes, the maples are OK in part sun/shade. And you probably can't grow Edgeworthia, but if you can.. Beside the deck too you might consider specialty conifers. Once you get into them, there are some to die for. Tougher to find one that would work in more shade. Of the shrubs mentioned so far, I have to say I was all excited about getting an Itea, but in real life: deadly boring. In particular, in my climate it needs good sun to get its famed fall colour. Kalmia too, I just couldn't get too excited about it. Final word, I promise: by the wall, anything deciduous will lean for the light. I would recommend evergreen for sure there - rhodo if you can. Alternative: put a big focal point container there with something in it that you like. Karin L

The picture pretty clearly shows that the tree is a Norway maple. All maples are difficult to garden under or near but Norway maples are the worst. They produce dense shade, shed most of the rain like an umbrella and produce roots so dense and fibrous there's no way to dig. What I'd suggest is tough, hardy rhododdendrons such as species maximum or the old iron clad hybrids. Don't even try to make planting holes. Instead, add a deep layer of partially decomposed bark on top and plant in that. Yes, the maple roots will colonize it, but with proper attention to water and fertilzer, the rhododendrons will hold their own.

Interesting discussion going on about Astilbes...I have the Arendsii type, planted about 10 years ago under a pear tree. Over the years it has naturalized all over the garden, it has seeded itself in the full sun, shade, semi-shade, even the cracks between my pavers on the patio! I water my entire garden about once a week during drought periods, but this season has been somewhat rainy, so I haven't watered much at all. So, I guess it depends on which type of Astilbe you plant, because I planted a different type in semi-shade a few years ago, and the thing died the first season!! Go figure! LOL. Every garden is different (soils, climate, sunlight, etc.), which makes gardening somewhat of a challenge to see what will survive and thrive. You just have to try things yourself because you just never know! Plants will surprise you all the time...which is what I find so amazing about gardening.

Don't underestimate the UV in foggy climates. It can actually be higher than one thinks. Looking down at plants is very different than viewing them at eye level. I have a bed that I view more often looking down from above, out of my kitchen window, than I do while passing by to work in my front or furthermost back yards. This is the triangular bed viewed as standing in my neighbor's yard on the left side of it: This is the same bed viewed from above, although the coleonema (which surrounds the lamppost) isn't in bloom here: Everything I plant in this bed is planned to look good from above. I have 15 separate beds and this is the only one I treat this way. I have fiddled a lot with the plants in it since it lives on runoff so is one of my few truly xeric beds. It gets very little direct sun but a lot of very bright shade (it looks south/southeast, instead of north like yours), so it can take even sun-lovers like the purple Lantana trailer on the RH side. One small shrub I have in a north-facing bed MIGHT work for you, but I'm not sure. It is a regular water lover, not drought resistant. I love this plant! It is a variegated fuchsia, "Firecracker". A bit tender, so it would probably do better for you in SF than it does for me in the Oakland hills.