Luis, if you google for tapestry hedge, you should be able to get photos of hedges made up of a number of different plants. The hedges may be sheared and have straight sides, or they may have been left to grow naturally. Laceyvail is right, too much variegation can be very busy looking, while some is an accent. I wouldn't have a border made up of a plain shrub, a variegated shrub, a colored shrub, a plain shrub, a variegated shrub, etc., etc., but would rather plant a plain green (which might flower or have berries), maybe another plain green with a different texture of leaf or color of flower or time of flower, a variegated, a plain, a colored, a plain with some interest, another plain, or a not-too-busy variegated, a colored, etc., etc. No regimentation, no clashing colors or overpowering shapes. Despite my mentioning a tapestry hedge, I would plant the shrubs far enough apart that they can grow and "show" off their shapes, colors and forms. Chueh, how much room can you give to this project in width, and how long is it? And how much sun does it get, at what times of the day, winter and summer? Knowing these things, we can offer suggestions as to what of the shrubs mentioned can work. I STRONGLY advise you to look around your neighborhood at what you like that is growing well there, both in private homes and in public areas, then look around and see what the local nurseries have, so you know you can get then easily. I would also look up on the various websites and in garden books the various shrubs mentioned here, so you know what they look like and if you like the looks. One suggestion - take nursery advice with a bit of caution - come back here and ask if it is good before acting on it as some nurseries, and their advice, are better than others. And take the hang-tag's - attached to a plant in nurseries - statements as to the mature height and width of a plant with a large grain of salt - frequently the height/width mentioned is what to expect after 10 years in the ground, not the ultimate height/width.

Thanks for all the input, folks. This is an interesting design question! I'm looking for something that has both bulk and distinction, because I want the onlooker's eye to stop at the plant and go 'Oh!' and not travel beyond; and I want the onlooker to be able to study the plant at length and with pleasure. Hence a single plant, not the diluting effect of a grouping, and because the terrace ought to continue as a terrace, and not end in a garden planting. (You can have one plant on a terrace and have it still be a terrace. It doesn't work for a grouping. At least I don't think so.) The plant needs to be informal, because the grass terrace is below a scrap of woodland and above a scrap of olive grove. I'm not dead set on a rose, as I said, but a rose does seem one of the best candidates to satisfy the demands of the situation. Carol, If the U.S.'s 'Monsieur Tillier' is Europe's 'Archiduc Joseph', well, I agree that it's wonderful: very vigorous, thrifty, and with lovely, lovely foliage. It might work, in fact; I was rather hoping for something outside the Tea family, as there's a line of roses along the terrace forming the woodland boundary, and warm climate roses dominate it. Still, out of my own experience I can't think of a better rose. (N.B. 'Archiduc Joseph' makes its quality felt right from the start. My senior plant is 5 1/2 years old and about 8' x 8'; I have two younger plants, one about three years old and one two years; and every time I pass them I think, what a handsome rose! It just is pure distinction.) 'Buff Beauty' isn't one of my best-growing roses; I think this spot would be too dry and poor for it. I've been thinking that I would like to propagate another plant of BB and try her in better ground to see what she can do. Mendocino Rose: 'Mme. Plantier'?? I was going to say no because in my experience, as a shrub she needs support. But rethinking the matter you might be right. I LOVE that rose, and I don't have her. Do you think she'd be evergreen here? Would she take kindly to a dry summer position? 'Nevada' I'm not personally familiar with, so I don't know how it would grow here. 'Mutabilis' I fear would be too light in effect. Thinking over your various suggestions I become aware that part of what I'm looking for is a rose handsome--and interesting!--for its foliage and other non-flower attributes, and with a certain weight to it; possibly that's why I was intrigued by 'Nevada', which is supposed to be a species hybrid. I like the idea of a more wild-looking rose as well: one that isn't in the rose border, but by itself out in the grass: a meadow rose. So, Rosefolly and Duchesse, my ideas are off in another direction. By the way, on the subject of grasses: we have so much meadow and open woodland that my grass appetite is satisfied. I can see it would be different for someone who lives in a world of lawns and flower beds, streets and houses. A pomegranate is interesting, but I just don't like them, and also don't think one would work stylistically: it's an orchard and garden plant, which is not what I need here. berndoodle: I think R. laevigata and 'Mermaid' are both too rambling; also, I've tried R. laevigata here and I don't think it likes our conditions; a pity, as I adore its camellia-like foliage. This is the land of dog roses, and I want something with their solidly shrubby habit, but evergreen if at all possible. Ingrid, the climbing Teas I know I fear would be too lanky. And you're right that I need a specimen-quality plant. Everybody's suggestions have been really helpful. If you have any more ideas please post them! Melissa

Thank you all so much for your replies!! Yes I did end up IDing them (took the photo to a nursery last night) and they are most likely goldflame spireas. Also, my previous gardener (the one who moved out of the country) ended up replying to my email, and it turns out the reason why the spirea's growth was stunted last year was because our pool maintenance people (we have a pool in the backyard) drained pool water into that section of the garden bed and ended up killing a lot of the spirea roots!! So there we have it. He had actually told me this last summer, but somehow I completely ended up forgetting about it. I need to make sure the pool guys stop this draining chlorinated pool water into our garden beds immediately for this season. Anyways, he also recommended just to remove all the spireas and replant something new entirely, since most likely the roots are damaged anyways and they may never grow back to the lush fullness that they once were. I definitely will be learning more about caring for our plants :) it is a brand new journey for us since this is our first house but I am definitely interested in learning more! We hired a new gardener now but he hasn't had a chance to come in to do a through maintenance yet (we had a loonnnng winter and spring only basically just started like a few days ago lol) Thanks again for all your help :) I really appreciated your responses!

Mostly we are used to bigger houses - both on the forum and IRL. Just a comment. The Primary bedroom is pretty small and I like them small. You would be crammed to have a king bed in there and it is smaller than the kid's rooms which probably have 50% of the occupancy rate. Is there a door to the closet off the primary? Have you laid out bed/dresser/nightstands? For a point of comparison, I think we are 14x15 but our closet has our dresser. I find that 13x13 is the smallest to have a king bed. For a small plan, the hallways really seem wasteful - the percentage is huge. Agree about having a closet in a corner. If money is the issue, then build over the garage. While it isn't ideal, it isn't that bad either. You would be looking at a huge boost to square footage for relatively small cost. It will be easier to appraise - I have never seen appraisals consider footage above a garage to be diminished like the way a basement is. You don't even have to build over the whole thing if you don't want. You could possibly put the closet there which would allow the primary bedroom to have the corner and you could have a bathroom that isn't right out of a condo or a 1980's house. You could have suitcase etc storage off the closet (unconditioned and nearly free). Lastly, loathing something is not rational and can lead to irrational decisions. Let go of the hate and at least give yourself an EIK. That has been a desireable feature for over 50 years. Do your kids like to eat alone in the morning or do you have sitdown breakfasts every day? Do they like doing homework alone while you cook dinner? If space is tight, I would let go of the formal dining and just have that area open. Having 4 separate spaces with hallways in a small house is why people tear down houses around me - it is really hard to fix. Your pantry is tiny BTW for 4 people. I suspect most people's islands get a heck of a lot of use. I know mine does. My MIL's does - like every time we go over. Why would we let her be alone while she is finishing up or plating up a meal? Even a bit of lunch doesn't magically appear in a dining room. She lives in a 2100 sqft 3/2.5 with a FROG. Take away her FROG and it is about this size. She has an EIK with a peninsula to sit at. Built in 1983 and feels more modern than this.