'Plum delite' is a loropetalum that stays small....

It is a glorious shrub & I would not hesitate to place it there.

Other small shrubs that can take partial shade would be dwarf yaupon hollies, indian hawthorne, dwarf yeddo hawthorn, azaleas, gardenias...

Thanks so much Caseysmom. I feel much better about it now because I really wanted to put it there but feared the overgrowth. I have not heard of a dwarf yeddo hawthorn. That will give me something to research. Thanks for taking the time to respond to my post.

CaseysMom, how long have you had 'Plum Delight"?? It definitely does NOT stay small! LOL. You may be in for a surprise!!

I don't believe any of the Loropetalums currently on the market really stay small. The most dwarf that I am aware of, and which are commonly available, are 'Ruby' and 'Suzanne'. But neither of these are all that compact and would still require pruning.

Most of the Loropetalums that are commonly available grow huge and would require pruning to keep them appropriately sized for a foundation planting. They actually make an attractive clipped shrub, although that will limit the blooms. I have seen alot of formally pruned foundation plantings of Loropetalum that I thought looked really nice, and I don't usually care for the overly formal, overly pruned look.

Thanks LoraxDave. I have seen them in a friends landscaping (foundation) and they look great but I don't want to have to fight with them and feel like they are winning. That is what has happened with the yopons I have now. Thanks for your advice.

My house faces north also. Two years ago I told my nurseryman that I wanted a foundation plant that I wouldn't have to prune, and he suggested a particular variety of indian hawthorne that stays under three feet. I can't remember the variety name at the moment, but I have been very pleased with it. The delicate white flowers are a bonus in the spring, and it has dark berries in the fall. It is virtually maintenance free, other than keeping the bed weeded and mulched.

Thanks Ginga I had planned to use indian hawthorn on the side of my house that gets direct sun. Do you think indian hawthorn will take full sun? Also I would love to know the variety if you happen to remember. Thanks

Indian Hawthorn grows in full sun here in zone 8, in South Carolina. So it should do well in your zone 7 garden, in full sun. I don't know that I'd plant it on the North side which doesn't receive much sun. Wouldn't that encourage fungal problems on the leaves, which Hawthorns are already prone to anyway? Maybe the foundation of your home on the north side is different than mine, though. Mine tends to be damp and cold in the winter. And no matter what time of year it happens to be, it only receives a few hours of sunlight, at the most..not good for plants prone to fungal problems, I wouldn't think.

I just gave away my Loropetalum...can't remember which variety. Had fringy fuschia flowers. It never did well for me. I moved it around 3 times, trying to find a proper location for it, that it'd like. No luck. Also, I found that it needs LOTS of water - initially, at least. I don't know what the water requirements would be once it was established. But it seemed that the thing went all crispy on me every 2 days or so, and it did that no matter where I put it. Maybe I just wound up with a sick Loropetalum. It was from Monrovia and I haven't had much luck with anything from them, so far.

Have you thought about dwarf azaleas? I have one growing in my north-side foundation garden...couldn't kill it if I tried. Thrives there with just a few hours of sun per day and will stay reasonably small...evergreen, too, which is a bonus.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck with your choices.

Thanks Rivers1202
I am using the indian hawthorn on the side which faces the west northwest. I am thinking of using some azaleas. Which variety do you have? I have some dwarf ones that have stayed very low to the ground and never gained any height. Thanks for the advice.

I have Daphne in my north facing foundation. It is doing very well, and the fragrance is phenomonal. I think the variety I have is "Carol Mackie". It has been in 5-6 years and is around 3 feet tall with minimal pruning. I also have some skimmia and a small variety of camillia.
Annette

Thanks Annette
I had wondered about using daphne just from my research and the things I have read on here but I am not very familiar with it. I will do some research on it and skimmia. Thanks again

Annette - A question about daphne and skimmia

Would these look good to put skimmia reevesiana in front of the daphne in a zig zag pattern? How do you have yours done?

I think they get to about the same height. My skimmia is younger than the daphne,so I'm not sure how tall it will end up, but so far it's staying pretty small.
It would probably look good mixed up, the shapes of the flower is similar as well as the general leaf shape. Mine are kind of lined up because of a walkway. I have a dapne on either side of the front step and then 3 skimmia in a row under the windows. Kind of boring, as a matter of fact my current project is to re-think and re-arrange the whole area and I will add some hostas in for summer foliage. I also have a large clump of lenten rose that is doing very well with the daphne.
Annette

Stefanie ~ I have the pink flowering Gumpo Azalea. Tiny leaves and never gets over 2-3 feet tall. Generally, I don't care for azaleas because they are over-used here in South Carolina...everybody has at least one. But this variety stays out of my way, never needs pruning, and thrives with zero attention. I've found that the root system of the dwarf azaleas isn't as bothersome as that of the larger varieties. I can plant lots of other things around it without any problems, and it looks good year round.

Don't know how to make this link "clickable", but here is a link to the variety I am growing. They tend to do best in zones 7 and warmer...sounds perfect for you.

http://www.arhomeandgarden.org/plantoftheweek/articles/Gumpo_Azalea.asp

You'll have to copy and paste the link into your web browser.

Renee.

Thanks Renee. I had planned on using a few azaleas. Do you think these would do better than the encore azaleas. I have read mixed reviews about them. Some people love them but some say they don't look good as a shrub.

Stefanie ~ the Encore Azaleas are gorgeous, I must admit. I've never grown any encores. From what I've heard, the encore is a bit fussier than the gumpo...more work required to keep it healthy, especially during that all important first year after planting. However, you can get the encore in dwarf or standard sizes, plus you have all of those choices when it comes to blossom color, but not with a gumpo azalea..not much color choice there.

The only good thing I can think of to recommend the gumpo over the encore is ease of care.
I guess you have to ask yourself if you want a shrub with lots of blossom colors and sizes to choose from, which require some special care initially. Or do you simply want a nice looking flowering shrub that is fairly easy to establish and care for?

I initially had 2 of the gumpo azaleas on the north side of my house. I dug out one of them last year (or so I thought) and do you know that it is now nearly a foot tall again, with lots of branches and leaves?!!! It's growing up through my ivy and lamiums which I planted in its place after I thought I had dug it all out. It's a pretty little shrub, but nothing amazing to look at if you're going for stunning flowers.

If I had to choose, I think I'd choose the encore. Wow, long-winded post to answer that one simple question of yours, huh? LOL. Sorry. I'm a true southerner, and we do tend to 'go on'.

Let us know what you decide.

Renee

PS~ the gumpo can look a little awkward after a while, if that's what you meant when you said some people think they aren't attractive as shrubs. We hated the way ours was looking - kinda developes a weird looking lower trunk when it gets older, with all of the flowering branches at the top. We cut it back to the ground the year before last (2003) and didn't get flowers from it last year because we gave it the haircut so late in the 2003 growing season. We should see flowers from it this year. It looks great right now....bushy and NO awkward trunk. But that's all the pruning it has ever required...just cut it back when it gets "awkward"...LOL. I imagine that if it'd been pruned just a bit now and again during the previous years, it would have never developed the weird trunk to begin with.

Ok...I'm done now. Sorry again for the novella.

Good Luck!

Thanks so much for the help. I had considered using gumpo from the books I have. I am still really torn. I don't want anything that will require alot of attention. Most of my attention right now has to go to 2 young sons. I might go with the gumpo because of the ease of care. Thanks again for your advice.

Stefanie