Sorry, greenfreek, I can't say how well it would do in your zone. I have both the green and variegata in my San Jose garden, and they do great here. We do get a lot of days in the 90's and anything above 95 is considered a heat wave here and we get a few days in the triple digits. Mine are in semi-shade with their roots in a cool shady spot. Maybe growing it in more shade in your area would make a difference. wanda

"Tiny Towers" Italian Cypress are superb for tall and narrow. They don't get gigantic like the big ones do. Spearmint Juniper is also great. Beautiful green color and takes to shearing very easily. "Purple Pony" purple leaf plum is also excellent as a small tree. Only gets about 12' tall. Doesn't get huge like the big ones do... There are also some smaller Cassias that do well as small trees and have nice flowers as well and are only briefly deciduous.

Thanks for all the suggestions and help with this decision. After thinking about it and studying it, I decided on a Miss Kim lilac. The deciding factor was the mature height. I think it will be just right. The scent makes it hard to resist too. And I think it fits in with the informal look of my yard. The biggest problem with the Grancy Graybeard was that it would eventually get too big for the site - no way around it. The dwarf sounded great, but not easy to find is such an understatement. I just have to have a Grancy Graybeard some place in the yard. A storm recently blew the top out of a sweet gum tree, so I think when I have the tree taken down I'll put a Grancy Graybeard in it's place. Thanks again for all the great suggestions.

Hello, everyone, A year ago I moved into an 1870's cottage in Little Rock. The front yard (holding to old Southern nomenclature for now) is already a pretty, highly traditional (if predictable) azalea, dogwood, oak mix, but the back is a mess with some nice plants. It already divides fairly naturally into three areas. I'm going to follow my longwinded predisposition and describe the whole space before getting to my questions, which mainly apply to the third, quite shady area north of the house, which will be a woodland areas focusing on natives and bird habitat. 1. The first spot is tiny, about 12' square just north of the garage. The garage is a separate outbuilding west of the house, and I'm turning it into a pottery, so gardening-unlike myself-is on a no fat diet for now. Bamboo, an unknown tree, loropetalum, and a non-blooming biggish crepe myrtle grow there now. The crepe myrtle is on the property line opposite the garage, and makes a natural division into the next area, I plan to stay with all dark foliage and blue and pink bloomers back here. 2. in the central portion, I cut down two sassafras trees (to which my neighbors objected and for which I had no love). This made a sunny area. This is 35 feet wide at one end and 25 the other (where the deck cuts in), and about 50 feet long. Here, I want roses and other sun lovers in the broader, full sun space. The narrower portion is partly shaded by a large unidentified tree that butts up to the deck and is midway between the house and the garage. The narrower space ends where a magnolia grandiflora stands just west of a large crepe myrtle. Almost buried behind the trash trees among broken furniture was a lovely wrought iron, gothic arch. I've moved that so that it bisects this sunny section of the yard from area 3., which is almost full, but not deep shade, as it lies on the north wall of the house. Steps come down from the deck across from the crepe myrtle. To the left of the steps, a small fishpond sits off a picture window in the sunroom. The pond is currently uninhabited due to Beelzebub the raccoon, who ate the previous tenants last winter. The pond needs a total. face lift and has to be deepened before restocking. However, my desk is by that window and, even in it's ugly as-is state, you talk about bird watching heaven! I LOVE it! So re-camping that little pool is where the largest pot of my broke-ass garden-dedicated pesos are headed this round. OK, so now you'll pass under the arch into 3., a small (25' L x 15' W?) woodland garden. At present this area has 2 small redbuds, a pretty 10 foot Enlish holly, a lot of spindly nandina, a multitude of evil-minded vicious, but well-grown Rotunda holliies, and the a/c condensers. Opposite the house is a 6' fence. I thought I could put in 2-3 native shrubs and some vines here. On the other side against the house, I want to replace the Rotundas with mix of camellias and natives. So I finally get to the question, what should I plant, hoping for 4 season interest?