Cuttings wanted. I have lots to trade. Thanks!

Thank you GaMud! I will go with a different option then. I found an old post elsewhere on GW where someone mentioned the SE being too cold in winter too. I might put in a variegated Abelia (Kaleidoscope perhaps). I have several Abelias already so was wanting something different, but they are pretty reliable for a flowering evergreen in full sun so that might be my best bet. Rosie, thank you for the Spirea suggestion. I have other places where evergreen isnt so important, so I might add one of these there. I am quite liking the splash of lime thing!

Local soils get cold and soggy in winter, making conditions much worse for kinds of plants needing warm and well aerated soils. Even rhododendrons, although adversely affected by heating up of the root zone do not do well in the heaviness of many local soils, particularly if flooding or puddling sometimes occur. Even the locally native lowland Rhododendron macrophyllum is seen growing naturally pretty much only in areas with sandy or otherwise very well - even excessively - drained soils. One site I was on one time had been cleared for development but not yet developed after at least a few years. Hundreds of coast rhododendron seedlings were growing together with those of hairy manzanita - the presence of the latter showing just what kind of soil the rhododendron responds to. The native rhododendron being absent from extensive areas not having perfect drainage is not unusual behavior, many other kinds of plants occur in nature only where soils are just so. Extensive sections in our region having mostly the same small set of native trees and shrubs dominating the uncleared landscape is due in part to glaciation diminishing the assortment but also due to the excellent aeration and drainage demanded by so many plants not being present. If you are on the flat there in the Fraser River drainage the vegetation on your lot, before it was developed may have been most wetland species.

Thanks for the suggestions, all of which make more sense than mine. Having checked again, I agree Philadelphus was a poor choice. I like Choisya but watering whole hedges is not an option. We'll likely limit the use of this shrub to specimens on the way up our main drive and close to the house. Ceanothus or Grevillea seem like the best candidates. Ceanothus 'Edinburgh' I know and there is some on our island but Grevillea is new to me. I couldn't find a good online illustration of it but assume it's similar to Firebird except for the colour. If it's fast growing it sounds like it might be the right answer. There is a small island off the coast of Brittany called L'Isle de Callot, a nature reserve and bird sanctuary. The island, mostly traffic free, has pedestrian lanes which are defined by Escalonia hedgerows 10 - 12 feet high that seem very old. They support an enormous variety of birdlife and are stockproof. As a trigger for happy memories of that beautiful island, we'll also include some Escalonia hedges somewhere in our landscaping plans.