OK- here's my Paulownia story: Paulownia's are the devils own tree. I had two ancient Paulownia's removed from the front yard of our new house in May of '07. I had the roots ground out as deep as the largest grinder would go. The roots shoots that came up that year were horrendous- one every foot covering the entire yard. It was literally a daily chore to keep up with them- I went out every single morning spring through summer to cut them by the HUNDREDS. They were impossible to pull. They came up again equally as bad in '08. In '09 they slowed down a bit on my property but began seeking new areas as I saw them in neighbor yards- not only on the adjoining properties but across the street as well. Spring of '10- three full years since I had the trees taken out- and I was still getting shoots. THREE YEARS! By '11 I only got two or three and was FINALLY able to close the chapter on this horrendous experience. They are one tenacious tree.

bahia - thank you for your many wonderful suggestions, I will research all of them. The 'Charles Grimaldi' is beautiful and just the size I'm looking for. I might limb it up even more to form a more umbrella-like canopy for a more see-through structure. I'm also considering a large Schefflera tree like the one we have in a similar spot elsewhere in our backyard. It doesn't flower (at least not yet). It did have some black leaves when our winter temps dipped to 26 degrees one year, but recovered nicely.

Can you post a photo of the area? That often helps me with ideas. If you can find a low-growing rhododendron, that would give you evergreen, structure, low maintenance, and flowers. I have a Rhododendron 'Checkmate' that stays at around 3 feet without pruning. It's a small-sized member of the PJM group (Weston Nursery), so it looks like them with sort of mahogany winter foliage and magneta spring flowers. It gets perhaps 3 or 4 hours of sun and bright shade the rest of the day, and stays tidy and dense without any effort on my part. There are also smaller Rhodies such as 'Purple Gem' or some of the series that include 'Yaku Prince', 'Yaku Princess' or 'Ken Janik' which all grow slowly enough to keep in check without much effort. You can use the search engine I'm giving you a link to below to look for others in your size range. There are other Heath family evergreens (all acid loving like the Rhodies) that stay low such as some of the dwarf forms of mountain laurel, Kalmia latafolia, such as 'Elf' or 'Minuet'. Leucathoe is another that is native and mine haven't exceeded 3' in over 20 years. Some forms have variegated leaves. There are a few forms of andromeda, Pieris japonica, that stay below 4', and there may be some smaller, though since I can't grow these I can't give you much information. It might be a bit shady for best color with a ninebark, and I definitely wouldn't want a full-sized one there, but Physocarpus opulifolius 'Little Devil' is supposed to stay in the 3-4' range. Mine is too young to know if it really will, but perhaps T2D will add her 2 cents since she has some that are older. Microbiota decussata (Siberian Cypress) looks a bit like an arborvitae but is much shorter (1'-2') and completely shade tolerant. Some perennials that might look nice with the shrubs include sedges/Carex - many are variegated or have colored foliage Hakonechloa macra (Japanese forest grass, hakone grass) - variegated or gold, clumping, looks nice (tan) for at least part of the winter Epimedium - flowers and can be clumpers or spreaders Astilbe - flowers in the white/pink/red range and ferny foliage Pulmonaria - flowers in the pink/blue/white range and spotted to almost entirely silver foliage (check out 'Majeste' or 'Samurai') Heuchera - evergreen, many different foliage colors and many have nice flowers that the hummingbirds enjoy Also look at other hosta - smaller, variegated leaves, longer blooming. Here is a link that might be useful: American Rhododendron Society database

"Hibiscus syriacus" can be very invasive because every blossom when pollinated will produce a seed that will grow into another tree or shrub. If you keep cutting the leaves off these the roots will die off because they will be getting no food, no nutrients, with which to grow. You could spray something but that is, like cutting off the leavs, something you will need to do often, not a one time thing.