My dryer vent is also at the front of my house. I can't help you with shrubs. But I planted asiatic lilies and double tulips under the vent. I also add annuals in the spring. The colours and type of annuals change each year.

Sierra

Hmm...I'd already ruled out lilies and tulips due to the huge squirrel population, but that sounds promising in general!

You can easily build animal proof cages for your bulbs to keep squirrels away. Chicken wire with large loops works great. Just make a box, fill it with some bulbs and soil and plant it!!

GGG

Oh, I already know about the cage solution - I'm just lazy. ;)

Back to the original question - any other experiences with plants next to dryer vents?

Yep, I've killed lavender and a rose by planting it in front of my dryer vent but it gets much hotter here than in your location. So it may have just been too much for it to handle. You may not have that problem at all. In fact, you may try planting someting that you would normally not be able to grow in your zone since the dryer will warm it up in winter, not to mention the heat and protected environment from being so close to the house.
Theresa

The downstairs furnace vents out just above ground level here at my house. The air is warm, but by no means as warm as a dryer vent. I placed a marginally hardy camellia there and it's done very well. So, I second Theresa's post, although I can't think of anything to suggest in particular.

kent

Hmm...good point! Interestingly, that's where I'd been looking to put a row of white lacecap hydrangeas, but found there weren't any reliably hardy to zone 5! Maybe that will be an option, afterall! Ok, maybe one, not a row...

I have planted 2 Lespedeza Thunbergii "Pink Fountain" next to our house, in front of the dryer vent. Commonly called Bush Clover. They die back to the ground in the winter and re-grow every year. By fall they are quite sizable and bloom beautifully. The dryer vent has not seemed to bother them at all. I believe they are zone 5.
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Mary Lu - Gorgeous! They definitely don't seem to be suffering!

Mary Lu, I think I remember when your plant was a baby! (Didn't it eat your pump?)

Anyway I've been searching for a fast growing somethingorother and this 'Pink Fountain' looks perfect.
Really beautiful.
Thanks!

PattiOh

Well, since now I won't be changing the subject by myself...that picture inspired me to buy some bush clovers last year. Hopefully, mine will eventually plump up too.

(I do have to add - I don't think I'll be planting bush clover in front of my own dryer vent, simply because my house is red! But, it has possibilities for the back yard...)

I'm zone 5b MA and have a dryer vent on a south wall. The area gets afternoon shade from the house. I've always thought that what I have growing in that spot is Purple-Eyed Grass, but I'm not sure. (Maybe someone could enlighten me?) It was there when we moved in. It does wonderfully there and I've never seen any weeds growing in it, so it has been very low maintenance. Even the yard grass doesn't try to spread into it. It takes quite a beating there, being right next to our cement well cover, a metal cellar door, and a corner downspout. It really got trounced on this summer when I threw a plastic tarp over it and started priming the house. The tarp was down for weeks on end and this stuff was still alive when I pulled the tarp up.
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circa, it is spiderwort, Tradescantia ohiensis.

Here is a link that might be useful: spiderwort

Thank you, natvtxn.

ewes welcome