No, they don't need a trellis or support - you just prune them to grow where you want. I'm not sure about how they grow where you are, but here they are most often seen as large, leggy shrubs that flower on the tops only because most people don't prune them or don't prune them to get flowers all over the shrub. I was surprised the gardengal said 'bloom through the summer' - here they only bloom in August into September, which makes them a valuable late summer shrub. If you prune them to a narrow shape, you do need to do a severe prune every couple of years or else you'd end up with the tall, leggy look. The plant in picture above was cut back by about half that spring, staggering the cuts to make sure all the flowers wouldn't be on the top. In another two years I'll need to cut it back again. Every year I watch for branches growing out toward the path and cut them off to keep it to a narrow profile. It's very easy to do - essentially you just cut off what is growing where you don't want it. It is listed as a plant that butterflies and hummingbirds like. I suspect the hummingbirds would prefer the single form. I have no idea what variety mine is. I bought it as 'tricolor', which is a grafted plant with three different kinds growing on one plant. I didn't like the other two and cut them off so now I only get the one in the picture. As gardengal said, it's not evergreen. It also seeds around the base so you do need to eliminate seedlings (I tend to just cut them down). And now I've probably made it sound like too much work to grow :-)

I jjst wanted to say that I am very impressed that you have matched your dog to your fireplace. What is it about animals that want to get in every single shot. lol Now to answer your question...you need something large and heavy (dark) over the mantle because the stone is so massive. Also, have you considered changing your room furnishings around? It seems a shame that the large arm chair is covering up the fireplace.

Well, this is what I've done. I put the chairs that were originally there, back. I love these chairs -- they were a CL find, and they were in front of the FP until I moved them to the "conversation area" that, yes, is cozy aka crowded, but that arrangement works better than others I've tried. Tucked away over there, they weren't as easy to admire! I think they are back in their rightful place. I still need to get a rug, which may have to be an indoor-outdoor type until our elderly dog....dies. I have the wicker chairs back over by the sofa, but that's temporary. When I find the right chairs to replace them, I will move them over to the puzzle table.

OP: good suggestions to google/houzz/pinterest your cab color and see what others have done to start to narrow down your likes. Truly, the only was you will find what you love is: take a door off and go to the stone yard and hold it up and see what you think. we can suggest all we want, but when you go to the stone yard and look at Taj, as an example, t might not work since the color variations are all not exactly the same. you have a 'warm' kitchen, you need a 'warm' counter. anything that reads mostly gray, more than likely, will be cool and will not work. as others have suggested: pick your counter first, then B/S. and only one should be the star. also, are you keeping the 4" b/s? if so, normally, you do not need a tile b/s. i do agree with you, i would not love that granite. you can re-use in a powder room, make table/end tables/ outdoor side table etc to reuse it.