KnockOut roses are a thought - colors are single red, blush (pink), rainbow (pinkish with a yellow eye), double red (with a slightly lighter eye), and a double pink should be out later this spring. They get to 2-3' with the same or a bit more width. I know you said not rugosas, but..., these are more shrub roses. If they don't appeal, there are other "ground cover" roses and small shrub roses that might work. If caryopteris is hardy for you, any of the various cultivars would be attractive - summer flowers in blue. One of the smaller, color variants of juniper might also be a thought. Hinoki falsecypres is hardy to z5, as are the japanes cedars. Junipers also have variations in shape that might work. They ARE slow growing, but one of the lower-growing (not the upright ones) yews might also work. What about one of the hardy azaleas - they may continue to need supplemental watering? The hardier spireas, and also, New Jersey tea, one of the lower-growing blueberries, or possibly clethra (it does like wet, but can survive in dry), are other possibilties.

Although I live in NJ, I have had wonderful dealings with Woodlanders, down South. Mostly native, with honest descriptions. If they say, drought tolerant, it will be.

well ... hmmmm .... you are on the right track ... but working on the wrong variables ... i am going to come at it from another angle ... hosta are VERY HEAVY WATER USERS ... and they use the most water.. in the most heat .. which is why they struggle in the deep south ... they simply cant pump enough water to offset the loss ... and part of that is ... night temps.. they can cope better up here in MI because at night it cools considerably ... hosta actually sweat ... transpire ... in england.. which is above the 60th parallel.. or 2/3 of the way to the north pole.. they are ALL FULL SUN ... partly because the sun barely shines.. lol .. but also because of the declination of the sun.. the British are a pasty peeps.. because the sun is not as strong.. so the hosta can cope ... compare that to LA.. and you can see a stark difference. .. so.. hosta can grow in full sun .. hosta are only shade tolerant.. but the sun .. or conversely.. the shade is not really the issue.... its all about how effectively they can pump.. enough water. and if they have a recovery period to cope ... the fact that a hosta looks ratty in late summer.. is more a function of not enough water.. rather than too much light ... ken ps: zone.. which is.. in its simplest form.. MINIMUM WINTER TEMP ... has nothing to do with it .... pps: i have tons of wood hyacinths.. i dont know why you failed with those.. unless there are multiple plants under that common name ... ppps: hosta also have a requisite dormancy period.. and if you go too far south.. they dont get it ...

What kind of soil do you have? Some of the choices do better in clay and others do better in sand. You could go with a warm season lawn (blue grama and/or buffalo grass), but those do better in hotter climates and would be green for a short time at your elevation. They probably use the least amount of water, but you'd have a short green season and you could lose some to winter kill (might be what happened to your blue grama). Many of the natives are slow to establish, but maybe you could get faster establishment if you seeded more heavily. You'd want to be careful not to seed too heavily or you might cause problems by overcrowding. Do you get winter snow? I've had the best luck at getting seeds to germinate by seeding just before the first good snow. The seeds then germinated when the soil warmed up in the spring, using the melted snow and any rains for moisture. Of the low-moisture grasses I've used, the two that germinate the fastest are crested wheatgrass and sheep fescue. Most crested wheatgrass varieties are bunch grasses, but some newer versions will spread via rhizomes. I think Ephraim and Roadcrest are varieties that spread (although they spread much more slowly than something like KBG). Sheep fescue is a bunch grass, but if you mow it periodically, it will spread a little bit via tillering (sending up new shoots next to the existing shoots). It has very fine blades and can be anywhere from blue to dark green (Covar is the variety I've planted and it's green and probably the best choice for a lawn). One caveat about sheep fescue is that although it requires very little water (less than 10 inches a year) it doesn't tolerate heat well. It won't die, but it will go dormant in the hottest part of the summer (maybe not at your elevation). Streambank and western wheatgrass are the other grasses in my lawn. Western wheatgrass is more of a blue and streambank wheatgrass is a light green. Streambank wheatgrass establishes much more easily than western wheatgrass (although not as readily as crested wheatgrass and sheep fescue). Western wheatgrass will stay green longer without water, but streambank wheatgrass can deal with prolonged dormancy better. If you've got sandy soil, thickspike wheatgrass would be a better choice for you than streambank wheatgrass. Thickspike, streambank and western wheatgrass are all shizomatous spreading grasses. None of these should be fertilized with very much nitrogen fertilizer. I haven't fertilized in 2 or 3 years now. If you do fertilize, don't use more than about 1/2 to 1 lb of actual N per 1000 sq ft per year (and if you use 1 lb, split it into multiple applications). If you're used to KBG, you may think I'm kidding, since it takes about 3-4 lbs of N per year to be happy. But too much N will cause these grasses to suffer and maybe even die. Maybe a mixture of grasses would do well--some crested wheatgrass and/or sheep fescue for quick establishment and some streambank/thickspike and/or western wheatgrass for better fill-in. That more or less describes my lawn. I've also added some Palestine strawberry clover (part of why I never fertilize, since it adds some N). Dutch White Clover is more drought tolerant than Strawberry clover, but it prefers acidic conditions (definitely not what I have) so I got the most drought tolerant of the Strawberry clovers. Let me know if you want some contact information for suppliers of these seeds and I'll dig up some links.