Wow thanks for the great ideas. I have to be honest I haven't heard of half of the plants you suggested. I will have to do some googling LOL. I am always up for solar powered things but I have yet to find a fountain in the height and look that I want that is solar. In the Netherlands things are slim pickings compared to the US. You really take those things for granted when you are from the US and move over to Europe LOL. England being the exception. England has everything the US does usually. The program I used to create the 3D renderings was Landscape Architect. (Free Trial) The trial gives you limited plants and flowers and decorative options to work with but unlike most programs it allows you to save your work and view in 3D. I have had the program a couple weeks now and its still up and running so I guess there is no time limit on it. I would highly recommend the program for anyone providing you have a basic understanding of computers and don't mind tinkering around in a new program to learn the ins and outs. I don't know what the full price version costs but if its under 200 dollars then I would say its worth EVERY PENNY! It even has people you can add into the decoration and they are animated in the live view LOL. I made a swimming pool for fun and put the girl in the bikini in it and she swims all over the pool I LOVE IT! Also an old woman will walk down the street too. Its really fun program! Its called Realtime Landscape Architect. I will include a link to it here. I just looked at the price since I went and got the link. Its 399 to buy it. I don't know if I would pay that but if Landscaping was my business I sure would. Its a bit much to pay for planning your own garden unless your a vanderbilt or something lol. The coolest things about the program is that you can view in perspective mode which is 3d, plan mode 2d, and live walkthrough which is obviously 3D and you can select the time of day, cloud cover, season and so on so that makes it really cool! The sound effects with it are nice too!!! It took me about 2 days to really learn how to use the program. It was trial and error. I don't mind your long posts I love to hear others opinions. Finding Flower Carpet Roses in Appleblossom over here has proven to be very difficult. I am still hoping I hear back from a guy named Hans that Kim from here recommended me to. The space is so small that it makes planning the plants really difficult. If I had much more space then I do then I could just use regular perrenials and plan for each blooming period from them and adjust the planting to keep the in bloom look but since those plant areas in the buxus in the corners are 3ftx3ft (in essence) besides for where they start to form a triangle shape It makes it really difficult to choose flowers to maintain constant color there. This is why I was thinking the flower carpet. since it would be in bloom the entire period that I would actually be outside. UGH its frustrating lol. I hate that I have to save then buy then save then buy it makes finishing the garden a long process. (I'm far from wealthy lol) I will post pictures as things progress. The picture here is a picture after our first day working on the garden about 2 or so weeks ago. It was a jungle of weeds. You cant tell by the pic how bad it was lol. 30 black bags of weeds lol. I'll be sure to post more pics as we progress. Thanks again for yoru suggestions I will look into them. Here is a link that might be useful: Realtime Landscape Architect program.

Sometimes time is not an issue on threads as researching plants goes, I was grateful to read from experiences and settings esp micro zones of ones landscape needs .. So Love Your Purple Queen, Thomas too! I have an orange Boug that is a bright deep orange, Im in a 10a micro setting for it, as afternoon intensity suddenly upon it then later day til sundown fully in west blazing heat and the soil is sandy sortv a clay as is close enough to foundation, the only saving grace for it is that being morning condensation likely gives it some sustainance of moisture. It became a forgotten experimented twiggy thing lol after planting about say 2yrs of season cycles. Well, we had a drought as well during this time and we too had had some happenstance excess water there on it during the spring timing accumulate from a nearby piece of plastic just one certain weeks worth. IT WAS BLOOMING more Bolder than When we bought it!!! Discovering it still alive, we gave it some surrounding soil help/ breakup some hardness and watered with a barely noticeable vinegar amount solution of water with drops of white vinegar. Its going to be possible to be our privacy fence we needed Badly. We had a purple queen with no activity as well along a south fence, left it alone, not blooming we feel too low to get enough sun, then planted another PQ boug near but in more sun, it's fine and watering it in as well w one weak tweek of the white vinegar drops in water. The fuscia bougainvilea are almost invasive BUT MOST DEPENDABLE !!! The power company trimmed our fuscia HALF to death, it came back with a bloomimg Vengance LL!!! Good for it, though it's the one of the colors that's most thorny, only use it for keeping a kind of security placement plant away from people or where they shouldn't go. It seems too that planting depth is a sneaky seemingly adapted issue But one that is how success is acheived overall. We have planted Tibuchinas (Princess Bush an Asian/India tree that has african violet soft leaves and deep purple blooms/ isn't hard on allergies! and is semi-decidious) it is fussy only how planted /different situations and with tests came to realize how much it as with any plant any where how much you need to adjust the root ball as plant so it's in the right height/depth from the soil surface, it's immediate drainage-retainage for the plant's life and seems to help some doubtful plants cheat problems. It's an adjustment to watch for if failing in first weeks, a chance to replant it quick could help, as we did with these Tibuchina trees saved within a month, became showplants of neighborhood. Bougainvilea as attested, have determined tap root systems so reach down below the heat and make it so well without us understanding how, thus, in a planter I Would Never put a fuscia hot pink one against a house (again L! it's far too big anyway), the purple one grows smaller lesser thorn-harming secondary to it in activity plus will obey better, and very much can trust the deeper orange one to cooperate as well less and shorter thorns yet like PQ than the fuscia monsters!L/ LOVE THEM THOUGH as they can protect property and the Most beautifying even in drought!! ... These boug's petals are the solid colors, the boug with pastels petals of pinks and the gold ones are not much help coloring landscape or even bloom or height and tho have lesser thorns and train easier, I'd rather have that coloring and believe in the deep purple such as Purple Queen if want height almost the small tree size or the deep orange for sure it is workable and both bloom magnificently almost as much as the fuscia, if have a little nudge of help that you'll likely learn more as time goes with them. Bougainvilea are so rewarding they are addictive, help make the deep orange ones more prominent! I too relate with finding west faced plants and slender trees in narrow spaces in hot climate too, so yes, keep thread going. THANKS!!

Since Ian Barclay occasionally reads/posts to this forum and runs a nursery in WA that specializes in water-wise gardening in the PNW, I think that his perspective is important. He sells Ribes speciosum (http://desertnorthwest.com/catalog/plants_western.html), and here is his take: "Hardy to about 10 F" "It is one of the few drought-deciduous shrubs we can grow in the Northwest." "Although native to central California, IT DOES FINE IN MILDER NORTHWEST GARDENS, occasional leaf drop notwithstanding." (my emphasis) If you have a problem with me SUGGESTING Ribes speciosum for a relatively mild climate like Portland, I can't image what you think of Ian for SELLING the plant to PNW customers. Be sure to express your displeasure the next time that he posts here.

wow! thanks everyone! #2 is definitely not hosta, because my "darling" deer would be all over them! ;-). I will watch to see of they flower, hadn't ever heard of Canadian Lilly of the Valley... Will also watch the other leaves for flowers.....Asters are native to the area. Gardenweb to the rescue, again! ;-). Thank you!