Yeah, I was going to say that too. Why plant a non-native magnolia when the Sweetbay (Magnolia virginiana) is so nice? Also the Bay Laurels (Myrica) might work well too and I'm fairly certain several of them are native to your area. I have no Idea if it grows that far north, but fringe tree is another small (and fragrant!) tree that might work. Lastly, you might try one of the native witch hazels. There is a fall blooming and a spring blooming one (and the both bloom after/before almost anything else).

I don't have experience with Hog Peanut, so I won't comment on that one. Trumpet Honeysuckle is a great vine for your region - probably the least aggressive spreader of the bunch, and also probably nearly evergreen, which is nice in the winter. It is a twining vine that needs something of small diameter - like a wire fence, bushes, small pole, string, etc. - to climb. It cannot climb a shed wall. Virgina Bower does tend to be aggressive, I think. I have never grown it, but see it wild frequently. In my opinion it isn't as nice a vine for the garden as Trumpet Honeysuckle. I have a ton of Virginia Creeper here, and have never heard about the berries being poisonous. I wouldn't be concerned about the berries, which are a favorite food of many birds. Virginia Creeper is a little aggressive, as are most vines. Another choice I like is trumpet creeper - Campsis radicans. This is an agressive spreader, but has very showy flowers most of the summer and fall and attracts hummingbirds, making it a really nice addition to a yard that has roon for it. If the shed is surrounded by lawn or other open space where it will be easy to contain the root suckers of Trumpet Creeper, then it sould be my first choice. Another option is Carolina jessamine,which has yellow flowers in early spring. Also Cross Vine, which is another flowering vine. Jessamine is a vigorous, evergreen vine. Cross vine tends to be a little more sparse in growth habit, but is an interesting addition to the yard.

Thanks for all the suggestions! We do have deer. This year for the first time I tried Liquid Fence, which was 100% effective in warding them off... this is the first time they haven't chomped on all my hostas. But I'm not sure if it would work to protect larger trees/shrubs. Rhododendron is one idea, though... we have two large plants on one side of our house, and they've never been touched by deer, but that may just be because they're right next to the house. They have grown quite rapidly and may be good for filling the bare spots where we don't need something very tall. We have acidic soil and they thrive. The neighboring house is at roughly the same level as ours, but our biggest area of concern is actually an elevated area in which the neighboring property juts almost in front of our house... the neighbor's property at that point is at road level, while our house is set both back, and down considerably from the road. There is no perfect solution because to provide good screening in that area we'd need to plant 20+ foot trees down on our property. Sigh. There used to be woods up at the road and a new neighbor moved in and impulsively removed them up to and possibly over the property line, in order to use the space for purposes which violate the zoning ordinance. Now there is just a useless bare spot. (Better bare than filled with junk, though.) We have transplanted some white pines elsewhere, and they do grow quickly, but they get leggy/spindly and don't provide much screening until they have huge trunks. Spruce may be ideal... tall and thick. I just haven't liked their uniform shape. But I will look into both those and the Cypress. Thanks!

As far as I know, there aren't many evergreen shrubs that are also host plants for butterflies. I've heard of people planting red bay (Persea borbonia) or swamp bay (P. palustris) which are evergreen and keeping them pruned to bush size, but they're only regularly used by palamedes swallowtails, which don't occur in north Alabama. Once in a blue moon I find a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar on mine, but it wouldn't be worth it for you. Spicebush swallowtails lay eggs just as freely on sassafras as they do spicebush, so you could plant some 'out back' for them. Sassafras doesn't need a shady swamp like spicebush. If I were you, I'd use one of the native viburnums for foundation planting, like V. acerifolium/maple leaf viburnum or V. dentatum/arrow wood. Maple leaf viburnum has some of the most beautiful leaves, plus azalea sphinx moths occasionally use viburnums as host plants. Bird just LOVE the berries! The best thing about the native viburnums is that they're so easy to grow, they can survive foundation soil, which is usually full of subsoil turned over by the builders and hard to repair. If your foundation area is real wet, you could plant the possumhaw viburnum, which is evergreen. The best wildlife plant out there is wild black cherry/Prunus serotina, but it makes a big tree. If you have a big enough yard, it would be well worth it to have several. It's host to both tiger swallowtails and red-spotted purples, plus many of the big moths, like cecropia moths, use it as a host plant, bees use the flowers, and birds love the fruit. In regard to butterflies, you probably should watch to see what butterflies occur in your area, look up their host plant/s, and plant them if you'd like to see more of them. Buttonbush is a real draw as a nectar plant for butterflies and MANY other insects, but, unless you have a consistently wet spot for it, it might not make it. I have about a dozen blueberry bushes which have gotten big, and they keep me and the birds eating blueberries from about the first week in June until August - I have different varieties that mature at different times. And they're SO easy to grow, no insecticides needed, just acid soil! There are many plants that make good nectar plants. I have a bottlebrush buckeye that butterflies just LOVE, but it only blooms once a year. You could plant some pentas, which butterflies like to nectar on and tersa sphinx moths like to use as a host plant. Of course, there's milkweed, the monarch host plant that all butterflies like to nectar on, zinnias, butterfly bush, and lantana, which can't be beat! A good butterfly book that includes host plants, and a good bird book would be a great buy! Sherry