Campanula, Close to a north facing wall that gets sun from perhaps noon for a few hours in the afternoon, 'Ghislaine de Feligonde' does pretty well, blooming most of the summer with nice foliage. I grow it as a mounding shrub. On the eastern cliff edge of my back surrounded by forest with maybe 20 feet clearance, I grow hybrid musks pretty well, Cornelia, Pax who is new so iffy as a rec, and Buff Beauty. Those might please you. There also there is Reine de Violette; a noisette which will probably die, Lingo Musk; and you might like this one, Till Uhlenspiegel, a hybrid sweetbrier. TU is really healthy there. I also have Gilda, a hybrid multiflora, along that edge, and seems to be fine there. I like that rose, but don't know if it's a style you like. I remember Mad Gallica remarking that the setigeras are her most shade tolerant rose; i think she's in upstate NY. Sally Holmes might do okay there. If you are at all interested in mosses, Henri Martin or William Lobb might be okay. My HM gets only a couple of hours of afternoon sun, if that. My Pomponella is a sun lover here too. She gets shaded by some aggressive lah-de-dah dahlias in the summer and definitely resents them. I've found the hybrid multiflora/multiflora types seem to do well in less than ideal sun spots. Purple Skyliner is in the edge of a forested area and is doing okay. Do you like Lyda Rose? Would you want to try some rugosas? I think Wasagaming is shade tolerant; or at least mine puts up with shade. Both Therese Bugnet and Polareis/Ritausma seem to need sun, though. And then the albas - semi -plena might be fine in either place and a bloom form you might like. Do you dislike Madame Hardy? I'd also try hugonis or some of the other early yellows, just to see. My hugonis is a baby but too in a woody spot and it's doing okay. I read that Spanish Beauty/Madame Gregoire Staechelin is shade tolerant, somewhere. I think I also read it is not shade tolerant, so much for books, doncha know. But I'd be tempted to try it just to see; I've read you love that rose. Would it grow as a mounding shrub, do you think? I don't know about Duplex - I have mine in sun at the edge of the apple terrace. Honestly, if it were me, Campanula, I'd dig up or take cuttings of everything I loved and plant it just to see how it did. Otherwise, I'd spend the rest of my days wondering if it might not have worked after all. Courage, you will make it beautiful! Gean This post was edited by harborrose on Tue, Oct 8, 13 at 20:30

How about the shrub Flowering Quince? It's Chaenomeles something--speciosa, I think, but there may be other related species. I don't speak from personal experience, but I've seen it listed on hummingbird plant lists. It is blooming here now in Zone 6, southwestern Pennsylvania, and my native red columbines aren't yet. That would fit the bill for an early bloomer. A couple of days ago, I noticed a mass planting of these on a hillside beside a gas station, so it looks like they might be pretty tough, too. When no one was looking, I plucked a blossom off to test it for nectar, and the flower was just full of it! The flowers of these particular ones were sort of a coral pinkish red, and the 2-3 foot shrubs were just covered in blooms. I think they also can be found in white, but I suppose the hummers would prefer the reddish ones. Here is a link that might be useful: Hummer Flower list with Chaenomeles

I did the same exact thing as you, only I put the spanish moss on my trees today. Im definately not expecting it to survive the winter, but I just want to see how much it can handle. I also only have a little bit on the trees, and plenty left which will stay inside. If it lasts for most of the winter, Im definately sure I can manage to find a way to protect it to survive an entire winter, but if it dies after the first snow, then Ill have to face the facts that they cant grow here without some type of serious protection. My plan is to lay the remainder of my spanish moss on my trees in may (after nesting season for the birds so they dont steal as much) and let it grow during the summer and bring it inside aroudn this time of the year.

"May I have someone's thoughts on Bottom layer of lirope or mondo grass followed by lambs ear with lavender in the middle circling the tree peninsula ???" I would stay away from the lamb's ear because it resembles a common weed here (which I am unsure of ID, but it looks almost identical) and it would bring me to think that you need to weed your garden. Your plant that you purchased on sale is a hibiscus rosa-sinensis (tropical hibiscus, like the kind they grow in hawaii). I have two of them, and due to our recent blast of cold weather, I brought one indoors and covered the other with a blanket. I would recommend that you bring it indoors, or keep a close eye on it until crepe myrtles are leafed out. Also, while the blooms are pretty, they usually only bloom one time each year for me, usually around june-july. Also, you may want to consider putting it in a new container. Oh, and $5 was a great deal! You will probably never see such a sale again.