Diane, I grew Veilchenblau at my last residence in a pretty darn shady spot. She performed admirably! She never received direct sunlight, she had to stretch to the top of a deck to escape the shadowy underworld of a north-facing location, and she was planted in (smashed into) a poorly amended, narrow space between the concrete foundation of the deck and a pathway. Tough, tolerant, gorgeous, thornless (or nearly?) rose with a light, sweet fragrance. Close to zero disease. Easily maintained with pruning after bloom. Highly recommend her! Carol

There's nothing quite as cool-looking(temperaturewise) as BLUE flowers. I grew Phacelia a few years ago, best blue i ever saw, next to cornflowers. The bell-shaped blue flowers with icy-white anthers were beautiful, and stirred up images of cooler weather. They do have a short bloom time, hot weather just about stops the show, cutting back helps somewhat. Give 'em a try, i believe there are 2 or 3 varieties. Good luck, and enjoy.

You should be fine with what you have picked - I would stay away from the non natives such as barberry (very invasive) and some of the non native viburnums some of the dogwoods may require a little drier or upland to keep there feet a little drier - I beleive your the one that wanted the grey dogwood from me I'll keep my eyes open for some seeds for you - you will need both male and female Ilex plants

Patricia: Its a new house and I have no furniture for it (or tempo furniture that I plan on replacing quickly). So sort of a blank slate! The flooring is currently being sanded to be the lightest red oak flooring possible without stain. Flo: I looove that colour. I’m worried about how dark the room will be (with good lighting) since I don’t have the wainscotting to break up the colour. My original thought was basically the colour you have here but a bit lighter/more gray — BM Cloudy Sky — I was worried about the LRV being under 50 but your colour looks great here would have a low LRV. https://www.benjaminmoore.com/en-ca/colour-overview/find-your-colour/colour/2122-30/cloudy-sky Marlee: I love the Silver Satin. The floors are warm (red oak) so the dinningroom would be very warm this way which is definitely something that appeals to me! Thanks for the help! These are great suggestions.