the higher the number, the more shady. At least that's the rule here. 90% cloth is quite dark. Regarding why people think you don't need to remove the shade cloth, presumably once you have hardened them off under shade cloth they are strong enough to go outside into direct sun.

Well I guess I'm contributing to the hijack - sorry scraplolly! I used to live in a house with a driveway just like dtownjbrown and I hated it. So I was kind of interested in contributing to his story. You could think about mixing some evergreens in there. Microbiota, dwarf chamaecyapris, pencil holly, rug or pencil junipers, etc. But they are kind of dull in a row... Another way to go about this is to plant annuals for a few years to see what responds to the lighting. I would think you could grow coleus, petunias, maybe even an indeterminate tomato - cherry tomatoes, the italian plum tomatoes. I grow them in less than optimal sun in containers. My favorite is San Marzano - good for salsa. This year I'm growing calladiums in full sun planters so go try some new things - you never know what will work. Sometimes the repeated annual amendment helps also. Your soil looks good in the picture but who knows how old it is? You say it drains quickly- its possible that somewhere along the way somebody re-waterproofed and improved the drainage down deeper. When we had our back wall re-waterproofed they dug down 11 ft and then filled the space with limestone to about 2 ft from the top - then backfilled my topsoil on top of that. The space right up against my house is very dry as a result. A good resource for you would be the Botanical Gardens in the area - just do a search. Another good resource is the Plant Search function at MOBOT - Missouri Botanical Gardens. For ex. I just searched on Full sun to part shade, Dry to medium, 6-12 inches spread, Zone 3 for scraplolly and got a list of plants back - http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Results.asp I don't know if you want anything to hang out over the line of the bed into your driveway but I'd think about that as you select plants.(daylilies)Whacking the flower heads every time you drive in has a tendency to look kind of ugly. The above was in case you don't like my idea: Given the narrow space and lighting my personal recommendation would be to plant a unifying ground cover like pachysandra which is evergreen, make space intermittently to have a few clumps of daffodils/tulips and alliums in spring and then have a nice white lattice structure just covered in green ivy to cover the wall. I would have parts of the lattice go up 6-8 ft and parts down at the level your siding begins. - sort of like the silhouette of a town. I would use horizontal and vertical crossbars rather than the cheaper looking diamond shaped criss cross pattern. You need to fasten it so that it is out from the siding about 1.5-2 inches for long term home care. You don't want ivy putting tendrils into your siding or cement. Where you live you might succeed with Boston Ivy which is very colorful in the fall. An alternate might be grapes or hydrangea petiolaris which I doubt would be watered at all after established. I could see having round blue ceramic planters filled with colorful coleus and impatiens set right down into the pachysandra with the wall of green ivy behind them. To give more space you could have cutouts in the latticework to center the planter in the space. You could have a small water fountain on the wall among the vines - or frame it with the lattice. Another planter idea is pruned boxwood with annuals/trailing vines around them for summer - and you can do something with them for the holidays. You should be able to have Korean, Vardar Valley, Green Mountain, etc live in a container if you keep pruned. The Blue Girl holly also does well in low light/bright sun but you'd really have to stay on the pruning to keep a holly in bounds. I would also try some unobtrusive stick in the ground solar lights to create a soft glow after dark along the drive or you can wire lighting in. I get container combination ideas every yr from the White Flower Farms catalog - gorgeous stuff altho this yr they were too in love with bronze and orange combos. Shrubs that I have kept pruned for yrs to 12 to 18" wide are taxus, boxwood and believe it or not - euonymous - burning bush. I have a 3 ft deep bed along my house and its underplanted with pachysandra and the burning bush are at least 20 yrs old - you just have to keep up with the pruning to keep them to the size you want.

Hi, are you talking about native azaleas or the evergreen asian azaleas? Apparently the asian ones can take some sun (I've seen several posts to that effect, people talking about how much sun they put them in). I have native azaleas and I find they can take about 6 hours of sun, preferably morning sun to early afternoon (1 pm or so). In fact, they bloom best when given up to 6 hours of sun. So I would suggest if you can protect them from the post-1 pm sun, then go for it. Be sure to give them plenty of mulch (shredded leaves, pine bark) to keep them roots cool and make sure they get adequate water in the first year. Plant them a little high in a hole that has been lightly amended with soil condition (composted pine bark). Not sure how much sun the area gets? I read a great idea. On a day when you are home, go outside every hour and if the area you are watching has sun, then plant a flag or other marker. At the end of the day, count how many markers you placed and that is the number of hours of sun it gets. Have to do this on a sunny day, of course. If you are looking to buy some native azaleas, there will be a great selection at the GNPS native plant sale in Piedmont park in April.

Well, maybe on the dust and dirt thing. Although, now that I think about it, I see dust on my dark TVs faster than anywhere else. My carpet is pretty light with flecks of other color...great for hiding dirt. lol Running the vacuum a few times a week cures it. I dust once a week or so...or when company is coming. GRIN As far as fading, I've had a few things fade over time. The back of a couch once, for example. I try not to put something upolstered where the sun will beat on it. I *never* put photos or art where the sun will touch them. Frankly, by the time furniture shows fading, I'm ready for it to move on anyway. I can't tell if my carpets have faded. Doesn't look like it to me. Now that I think about it, you have to work to get the sun actually into the house. We have south facing windows in the back. A porch keeps most of the sun off the windows of the living room while still allowing great light. Blinds shield the rest from the intense winter sun. By summer that wall in in shade all day. The blinds go up and are not lowered until fall. For me, the light is paramount. I must have it or I slowly fall into a coma. lol We joke that I'm solar powered. It is so pronounced that when our real estate agent was showing us houses, she knew to enter first and flip on allllll the lights and open the curtains if possible. Once we entered a black hole of a home~dark, dark paneling, dark window treatments, black fixtures in the bathroom. Dee couldn't get enough light in there to make me want to tour it. LOL I couldn't breathe. Which is kinda funny when you think that I spent most of my teenage and young adult years working in photographic dark rooms. Or maybe that is why. Light. Gotta have it. Here is a link that might be useful: Creative Soul