Lilacs prefer full sun, so do butterfly bushes. Hydrangeas are the classic afternoon shade flowering shrub but there are others: Fothergilla, viburnums, rhodies and azaleas, witch hazel, Clethra, Itea. For something with unique foliage and the ability to be a major focal point, I'd consider oakleaf hydrangea, Hydrangea quercifolia. It has big, bold foliage that looks like giant oakleaves and that turns wonderful colors in fall. And it produces showy, large, white cone-shaped flowers and can become a large, spreading plant. Plus it has more interesting bark than any other type of hydrangea - kind of a cinnamon color and it peels off in strips (exfoliates). Here is a link that might be useful: oakleaf hydrangea

How about some more costume jewelry ... Some pins I've collected over the years .. The horse has Sterling on the back of it. The goldtone one very top right is a Monet? The cattails to the left says "Tenn Silver, B9, E.F." on the back. The one with the orange stone seems very tarnished and I think it says "Made in Gr. Britain" on the back. The straight bar one has S&S on the back? The goldish "s" says "KOP - Stockholm" on the back The "earth" pin has something like @JJ on the back. Same with the Star stick pin. The gold leopard has MMA 1985 on the back. The little black, white and gold cat says "Shambala", somehting Beech? on the back. The colored flowers are newer ... I forget the maker though. I think the one older flower is ivory, how do I tell?

I'm actually not seeing it as a big mess. The architect spec'd the door and overall layout. We loved the idea of having a door. We knew the ovens would open in front of the door. Are you referring to the overall design as a mess, or that it's a tight squeeze? it's not like the KD can slide the run back a foot or even a few inches. When I tell you I interviewed/worked with 3 different KDs before contracting with one, working on this very area, I would not be exaggerating. We even entertained the idea of not putting that door in and instead, creating an access panel to toss recyclables, trash, etc but kept coming back to the garage door idea. Even during construction, I am loving the door so I'm not sorry we have it. Just want to figure out the door knob issue...

Just to close out the story here -- So I had originally ordered the Eden as a gift for my friend. As you know, my AL turned out to be Eden. So we moved Eden to her new home on Saturday. And the Augusta Luise replacements (less than grade #1) arrived on Friday, so those got planted on Saturday. One in my yard, and one in my friend's yard. I have another AL coming in fall from FReedom Gardens. But I trimmed all the Eden blooms & buds off the rose before digging it up, and here is the glorious picture. If it was scented, if I had room for another climber...I might have kept her! But that spot was created (literally -- had to build a rock retaining wall to fit in another rose there!) for Augusta Luise. p.s. Diane, Colette already has many buds. I'm so excited to see what she's like!