I've found that I just can't water my hanging baskets often enough to keep most allegedly "drought tolerant" plants looking good, I hit the success button when I converted to succulents. You're not fond of the crown of thorns but admit that it blooms like crazy in your conditions. Instead of getting rid of all of them, how about leaving 1 or 2 in place (depending upon the size of your window box), and adding one of the lime green sedums that seem to be easily found at even the big box stores (pictured below). Then think about a third plant that would offer contrasting form/color, etc. Consider the paddle plant (kalanchoe thyrsiflora) named "Fantastic". In full sun it displays a great red color on the margins (picture in the next post) The red of the crown of thorns and Fantastic would echo each other and the lime sedum would provide some zing. The foliage of all contrast nicely with each other and you'd get some height variation as well. June

Thank you all! What great suggestions. I love sun coleus in sun and shade, and I agree they are great in shade too. Not enough sun for lantana. I'm copying the suggestions for other shade areas. I went to pick up 10 bags of mulch and some pentas. Talked to my favorite local nursery guy to see what he thought. I ended up with green wax-leaf begonias. Sounds boring, but they are enormous and the the pink undertone in the red ones goes with the pink brick and the bright green is a nice contrast. These begonias are a new version call "Big" Supposedly they can get 1 1/2 feet wide and the leaves are almost the size of my palm. It was a spontaneous purchase and I'll be back to the drawing board or ready for more parsley next winter. Don't worry, I have 2 very happy huge parsley plants and some fennel. Any cats or eggs I spot will be relocated there. thanks again. c Here's what I ended up with. Here is a link that might be useful: Big series

Right now, at a quick glance, what you see when you view your nice little house is a large flat roof, meatball shrubs, glaring white trim, and too big expanse of grey cement driveway. Get rid of the meatball shrubs and resist creating new meatballs in their place. Naturaly shaped plants in a pleasing pattern will do a lot to help this house. The house itself is mostly fine. I do think a different colored roof with a bit more architectural interest to it could add a lot to the overall look without detracting from the integrity of the house. A lot of what's visible on a ranch house is the roof, and that's one wide flat and blah expanse. Using really good quality architectural shingles that add some dimension to that flat expanse would be a subtle detail that brings the whole thing together. I'd also consider painting the trimwork something other than white. Against that dark brick, it just stands out a bit too much. Maybe a softer cream would still give you contrast without shouting. Consider having your driveway professionally stained a more natural color, or perhaps even an aftermarket concrete artist can skim stamp a decorative pattern in it. Brick pattern would work, in a slightly different shade than your home's brick. Continue the stained/stamped brick onto the path to the door. The driveway and the roof are the most visable expanses of space that you see and changing them will make the biggest impact.

Stacey I like a lot of your ideas and have had some of them myself! . I’d like to widen the walkway but it’s flanked on either side by our irrigation system. I’m thinking it could be cost prohibitive to adjust it, but it’s on my wishlist. We have about 8 crape myrtles in the front and back yard I’d like to remove too including the ones in the flower bed you mentioned. I like crapes typically but I feel like these have gotten too tall and they are constantly dropping bits of leaves and blooms all over the yard!