>It does not get sun except for 3 months of year for 2-4 hours a day in afternoons. Avoid rhododendrons and azaleas. They can make do with scanty dappled sunlight but if they're totally in the shade for 9 months of the year, they won't do as well as what you would like/expect. (August and later into the fall is mainly when they're asking for sunlight to help them make the bloom buds that will open in the spring.) Plus, if watering is a problem, they won't do at all; they're not deep-rooted and don't survive droughts at all without plenty of water. There are reblooming azaleas and a few rhododendrons will have a few fall blooms, but they won't work well without regular rainfall/watering and some sunlight. Camellias won't survive the first year without good regular watering either, but after that they can survive a drought much, much better than rhododendrons and azaleas. Depending on the height you are wishing for, camellia varieties Shishigashira and Bonanza, either one or both, would make nice plants for that spot. They are sold with the sasanqua camellias (but are really hiemalis). Shishigashira can for sure do well and bloom well with less than an ideal amount of dappled or direct sunlight. I have read a post by someone who had some success growing a Madame Alfred Carriere up the wall on the north side of a house. The rose didn't bloom much at all until it got to the sunlight of the roof area but then it did okay. The trick would be in getting the rose to the upper areas of the wall where it could get some sunlight, but maybe in your situation your 3 months of the year would give enough sunlight to allow the rose to get there. There are some other shade-tolerant climbers that might work that way, mostly Noisettes (like Cato's Cluster or Champney's Pink Cluster). But camellias would be close to a sure thing, and they'd look good there too, even when not blooming. You might try a combination of the two--a shade-tolerant rose with some evergreen camellias for variety in foliage size, color, and texture. The polyantha rose Eutin with its red blooms might work to the left of the window and you could pull some canes down to parallel the window bottom too; Liz Druitt credits Eutin with a good bit of shade tolerance. Some (but not all) of the hybrid musks also have good shade tolerance and can climb; red Skyrocket (aka Wilhelm), Will Scarlet, or Nur Mahal might work there. One Shishigashira centered under the window with a climbing shade-tolerant rose planted on each side might look nice and might also work with your sun situation (might work--I certainly wouldn't say that with any certainty). Eutin might have a better chance at blooming heavily in the months when you have some direct sunlight there than would the hybrid musks. And once established, Eutin would survive a drought. But survival is not the same as blooming; you'd still have to water it well for it to bloom well when you weren't getting good rainfall. Shishigashira is small enough that there would still be room for a few rose canes pegged beneath the window behind it. Shishigashira in front of a rose pegged below a window would stay really short for a long, long, long time. Our Shishigashira that is maybe 25 years old now is wide but still under 2' tall, though it has been grown in almost no direct sunlight and might have grown faster under ideal conditions. It has been a heavy bloomer in spite of its slow growth. (Once-blooming only, but the bloom period lasts a long time each fall.) It would be interesting to see how this turns out with whatever you decide to plant! I hope you'll post some pictures! Best wishes, Mary

how is the well cased ... modern or antique? i am of the position.. that roots take advantage of pre-exisiting problems... they do not cause problems ... if your well already has leaky pipes/fittings.. etc ... the tree will find the water ... in what decade???? ... who knows ... ken

A few comments. First, if you have really deep shade you won't get many flowers regardless of color. So plan(t) accordingly. Second, I would suggest using pine bark fines (AKA 'soil conditioner') instead of peat moss, which has a tendency to either repel or hold water (I've seen it blamed for both) in ways that are bad for azaleas. Peat moss is OK for potting mixes but not as the primary component of azalea beds. Try adding compost too. Remember to plant'em high. Now about your original question ;^>... I agree that white or mostly white flowers and foliage can brighten up a dark corner. A good small white-flowered cv is 'Hardy Gardenia', which stays compact with great foliage throughout the year. Flowers just starting for me in MD. There's a Kurume I just saw called 'Mizo No Yamabuki' that has starry yellowish flowers that would complement your color scheme (don't know how big it gets). Check into Rhododendron keiskei (sp?) selections and cvs; the species has nice small yellow flowers, but probably earlier than 'My Mary'. Could also add some of the variegated-flower types that are white with stripes, flecks, etc. of purple or red (I think pink and yellow together are obnoxious but that's just my opinion; if you like that combo there are many more variegated azalea cvs to chose from). If you want nice low growers that can function as ground covers try the North Tisbury hybrids -- some have light enough flowers to work in your conditions. There are some nice picture galleries on the Internet that might help you find cvs that you like, including at the ASA website (link below). Hope this helps! Here is a link that might be useful: Azalea Society of America website

THANK YOU everyone for your all of your thoughtful insight. hcmcdole: I really like your idea of trying to grow them as a free form esapaillar. Or what if I just prune REALLY aggressively on the backside???... So here's what I'm thinking I'm going to do: I am going to prune REALLY aggressively on the backside of the plant to minimize it's growth and spread against the wall... Do you think this would work??? I don't mind how much if it wants to spread forward away from the wall or side ways in width. I would also like to minimize and maintain about a 5 foot height... That way it can overlap the bottom edge of my windows... And I can see the flowers even from the inside of the house. Is limelight the kind of hydrangea that will respond well to pruning and shaping during the growing season??? I know that I would probably make my life a whole lot easier if I just got the Little Lime variety... But it was nearly twice as much for a 2 gallon... Which isn't in my budget. What do you all think??? Am I going to be sorry years from now for even considering this idea and thinking I can keep Limelights growth maintained with pruning during the growing season??? I've never had much luck with hydrangeas in the past... So it's difficult for me to fathom a hydrangea that will grow 8 feet tall and grow so quickly.