It's such a small space with heat radiating off both the house and sidewalk. There's no space for dwarf conifers. Miniature conifers, perhaps, but they tend to be costly and they grow too; and that environment might be too harsh. Not being defeatist, but it seems to be be too small an area to get super creative Keep the weigela if it does well, scrap the rest. I think sedums might be a good bet, tho I've never had one of the red stemmed varieties do anything other than get straggly; they never turn into a nice clump, but the green/blue green ones do much better at clumping and not flopping. There are so many varieties out there - Gertens or any of the other TC garden centers are bound to have dozens to choose from. Maybe you could find the nice rounded Artemisia "Silver Mound" - that's a plant right at home in a dry location. For a little summer color, I'd make the small investment in a market pack or two of simple old marigolds.

Talk to Maria - she will give you good advice. She is the niece of rose guru Frank, who sadly passed away some years ago. She learned from him and her own experience and you tell her what you want and she can advise you. My Tess is in full sun until about 2-3pm and it does just fine. It is really big - cant say about how flexible it is because I have it on a big metal fan trellis and it has been like this several years, but think the young growth would be flexible. Abe Darby, not as big as Tess, is a must have for me - I love the color, the scent......I have one as a shrub and one as a small climber. I am not bothered with blackspot as I spray......am not religious about it, but do it a bit more than occasionally so its not much of a problem. My Golden Celebration is on my front yard fence, in full all day sun. It has never grown or bloomed much but still hangs in there. Last fall, I dumped a big pile of composted horse manure on it - I am seeing better growth this spring. Maybe I have been remiss feeding it and just need to really give it some TLC. I complained about Graham Thomas not blooming, and Maria suggested Carl Pool BR-61 and lo and behold, the stingy sucker started blooming. Chamblees sells Carl Pool BR-61 and you should pick some up - its a good fertilizer that can be hard to find. I buy the gallon roses from Chamblees rather than the larger size because of price difference [and I am always buying so many!] but you might want to spend the extra and get larger roses for more instant gratification. You will have a great time looking through everything. When I went last Friday, I was with a friend who is a gardener but isn't into roses so I tried not to spend too much time looking. I really like going to Tyler by myself so I can take all the time I want. So I cant recall exactly which Austins were available......I know I saw a beautiful Tess. If you need shrubs, I would definitely pick up Sophy's Rose [this was Frank's favorite Austin] - Molineaux, Tamora, Scepter d'Isle [this makes a lovely shrub, blooms lots], definitely Carding Mill. I am going to get Heritage next time I am there........saw one at a rock and stone place in Nacogdoches that was huge and covered with blooms - need to find a space for it though. It was new last year, but I like my Darcey Bussell. Ambridge Rose has a lovely scent and beautiful blooms. I had a Benjamin Britton years ago, but it was not in a sunny spot and rarely bloomed but it did act like it wanted to climb. Might try this again in the future. Have fun! And do report on what you bought! Judith

I wouldn't say that the red needs more sun and moisture. I have 'Sunningdale Variegated' and 'Ruby Cloud'. The first has, as the name implies, variegated foliage in spring and white-ish flowers. Ruby Cloud gets a few hours more shade than SV, but less moisture. Both do fine. The flowers of SV seem to last longer, but I think that might be because they are just white colored. I agree that you might need to move them to a sunnier site though. That is a long time to wait for any plant! I had a Phlomis that did not bloom for over three years. I think the problem was the slightly low (i.e. sunken) position I put it in. I put it in a raised location and it put on a bloom this year! Maybe you could try moving your Acanthus to a raised area before giving up on it completely. There is nothing to loose... CMK

Great ideas, thank you :) I like the look of the Devoniensis, Reve d'Or and Lady Hillingdon, I'll ask about those at the nursery. In regards to the colour on the house, it is washed out in the strong sunlight. It is actually more like this but a bit lighter: Sorry for the huge colour swatch lol! So I do think white could work as well as pick. Apricot I'm actually less sure about but given that a lot of the colour on the house will be covered by foliage I think it could be ok. Sounds like Kiftsgate and Mermaid are out - I don't want the house to be eaten alive! And definitely no staff here to do the hard work! Thornless would make life easier - I did like how limber and thornless Renae was - but it's not an area that receives any traffic, it's really just seen from the nearby path. So thorns aren't really a make-or-break for me. Swane's used to be one of the biggest rose specialists and I think they still have a great modern selection but I would generally go with Green E Roses for potted plants or Mistydowns for bare rooted. Both have a great selection of OGRs, Austins etc. I went to Swane's recently and didn't find much except for a very spotty Buff Beauty and a few sad Austins that I rescued from the bargain section. I like the climbing Austins but from what I've seen I think they would be too high maintenance for what I'm looking for - all my Austins here need spraying regularly unfortunately and are fairly temperamental (but lovely) creatures. Of course I only have a small selection of Austins and I'm far from an expert but that's just my gut instinct! Anyway perhaps it's been narrowed down to a Noisette or a climbing Tea? Does anyone know if Blush Noisette would get fried?