It's strange, but I have every shrub you are referring to, so I hope my experience with these shrubs is helpful. I have a PeeGee Hydrangea tree, it's about 5 years old, and it is gorgeous. However, because the blooms are so full and heavy, after getting rained on, most of the flowers will droop down. There are ways to prune the tree so that the branches get stronger, which I have been doing, but I am not seeing much improvement. For more information you should look at the Hydrangea forum. I also have 2 other types of hydrangea trees: a Pink Diamond (also has beautiful and large blooms, but they are less dense, so they are lighter and they do not droop after rain, and the white blooms turn a pretty pink as they age), and a Limelight hydrangea (these are more similar to PeeGees than the Pink Diamond, but they seem to be less prone to drooping.) My PeeGee and my Pink Diamond are on the north side of my house (zone 5, Michigan), and they do very well there. I wonder if your southern exposure will be too much sun for them. My Limelight is on the south side of my house and it is doing well there. And I've read that Limelights do well in part to full sun. I've seen snowball viburnum standards, and I think they are gorgeous! I know they do well in full sun because I have a bush in full sun and it's growing nicely. I also have a Merril magnolia (which I think is similar to Stella) on the south side of my house. It produces fragrant white, daisy-like blooms in early spring. It is not a fast grower, and it seems like it would be easy to keep it pruned to the size you want. However, this shrub, like other magnolias only stands out in the landscape in early spring, after that, it is kind of boring. So, I think if you want something eye-catching, for a long period of time, the best choice for you would be a Limelight hydrangea tree. The flowers last from early summer through fall, they don't tend to droop, they are easy to prune, they like full sun, and the flowers start out a beautiful greenish-white, then they turn all green. You may want to look at the Hydrangea forum, it includes alot of information about the various types of hydrangeas.

You also might want to check to see if burning bush is invasive near you. It is around here, escaping into the woods and wild areas. I also don't think of it as a good screen, and it's not a particularly attractive shrub most of the year - just green and twiggy, only turning pinky-red in the fall. Diablo is a dark red to greenish-red, depending on time of year and amount of sun. It also has flowers and attractively shaped leaves. To my mind, a much nicer plant. Also, check out 'Coppertina' ninebark. For screening, the shrub form would be more useful. In general, grafted standards, which have a trunk with a shrubby or weeping plant grafted on top, are intended as single specimens. They usually need more attention with pruning of sprouts from the lower portion and for shaping of the upper portion. I also can't see why anyone would want to graft either of these plants, and would check out your source on the Garden Watchdog to see if they are really a reliable company. They have feedback from many, many gardeners on different companies. A final thought - my preference is for a mixed hedge of several different varieties so that there is a variety of foliage texture and color, bloom time, and bird habitat. I have a long hedge I put in last year for screening with three kinds of evergreen, some small dogwoods, hydrangeas, deciduous hollies, and rhododendrons as well as a few vines and large herbaceous plants. It has several plants of most of the varieties and has been decorative all year (except when it was completely covered by snow for several months this winter.) ;>) Here is a link that might be useful: The Garden Watchdog

I don't have a picture right now, but I'll take a look at it during daylight hours and see if I can take a cutting and start a new shrub from it. The tree has been so top-heavy lately that it's been basically falling over onto the ground. I thought it might be due to the extreme heat, but I think it may need staked to stay up. I really wanted a shrub when I bought this tree but was hoping possibly that I could keep taking off the top so it would grow down below. Thank you so much for your helpful information. What you say makes good sense to me.

One largish shade tolerant perennial is Cimicifuga AKA Actea which blooms for a couple of weeks in early fall with white bottlebrushes. There are cultivars with dark reddish foliage that are decorative all season. Variegated Solomon's seal has subtle spring flowers, but they aren't the main reason for growing the plant. Its arching green and cream foliage is lovely. My Georgia blue veronica makes a lovely groundcover in substantial shade, blooming mid-dark blue now and then keeping tidy foliage the remainder of the season. There are some ferns that are drought tolerant, but I don't know what they are off the top of my head. I like using Missouri Botanical Garden's plant search even though they are a bit warmer than I am, and they also have pages devoted to problem areas. Plants for dense shade: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Resultspsp8.asp?pspid=9 Plants for dry shade: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Resultspsp8.asp?pspid=10 Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden's plant search