Forget the clethra!!! It needs loose moist soil to really thrive & having gardened in the Denver area...you'd have to work hard to get enough compost worked in your soil plus you'd have to provide extra water, probably weekly, to get clethra anifolia to flurish. The red twig dogwood or the variegated one are both good choices. There's also a yellow twig that is beautiful in the winter against the snow. The stems are bright yellow and stand out quite dramatically. They are also inexpensive, readily available, and require little to no maintenance other than annual thinning of 1/3 of the oldest stems to keep the shrub growing new colorful shoots. The stems begin to darken and loose their bright red or yellow coloring as they age...hence, the need to prune annually. Just cut out, at ground level, 1/3 of the stems taking the oldest first. Very good choice for your area. A 3 plant grouping of one of each type would be stunning in the winter & attractive all summer. I find the yellow twig blooms heavier than the red or variegated. Mine blooms in June and sets nice dark berries that the birds love.

How about Chelone 'Hot Lips' ? It provides a nice shot of hot pink color in the 2-3 ft range, full sun, in FALL ! Looks very nice paired with the Aconitum (monkshood) mentioned above, as both are fall bloomers. I will also strongly recommend lilies. I have just added about 20 lilies of different types to my pastel beds this year, so i am eagerly awaiting that show for the first time ! Plus, you don't have to dig and lift each year, they are quite hardy and will multiply, and the forms, scents, colors and variety of heights means there is one or more that can fill any "holes" you have in the June/July garden.

Karyn, Sorry for the delayed response - I missed your question. I've had mine about a year. It's not much larger than it is now (you'll get me to take some new pics of it, so thanks), but it's very sturdy in its pot - I'd not be surprised if there might be a pup or three in the offing. Might I suggest two more for you if you're liking these little variegated cultivar / hybrids? 'Sakura Fuji' and 'Silver Fuji', both from that Miles2Go cactus feller, are delightful, inexpensive, and don't take up a lot of room while giving lots of eye joy. I'll get some shots for you this weekend to convince you of joining my obsession to have one of ALL of them.

I'm a little confused. Dax- I hope you are okay. I've learned a lot from posts from you as I've searched the archives. In any case, I guess I respectfully disagree with the idea that colorful foliage = plant zoo. Then again, I'm not sure if you are using that term only in context of rock gardens or landscaping in general? Personally, I'm a huge fan of well-used colorful foliage, be it variegated or otherwise. I think it is most certainly the direction more and more people are chosing because of the appeal the landscape has irregarldless of flowers. The nursery industry is certainly going this way. The main 'new introductions' these days are either plants with interesting foliage colors OR those that grow on a smaller scale to fit our smaller yards. That said, it can certainly be poorly done. I guess that's why I have a job- I know how to do it artfully. The design work I do for clients is based largely on mixing foliage types to develop a landscape that is interesting and colorful without relying solely on flowers. Whether or not it is good or bad is, to some extent, in the eye of the beholder. I get paid pretty good money for my design work so I guess there are people who agree with my premise. I also fully expect to have those clients who want a more subtle palate. How wonderful to have so many options to chose from that there is something for everyone. A more limited color palate relies more heavily on texture to be sure. I have had one client who hates the combination of blue and red (no blue spruce + barberry). I don't often group those colors (I much prefer blue + yellow) but there it is. And I do understand that just because someone will pay for a design, it doesn't mean it's all good design. Oh- and in my own yard, I'm sort of more of a collector. I use my yard for experimentation and it's a pretty new (thus still largely empty) landscape. I hope I can pull off a cohesive design for myself but I have no discipline in my yard OR I'm paralyized by indecision- if I have one spot and 5 possible plants to fill it, I struggle to choose. Easy to choose for a client- if I don't use plant x on this landscape, I can use it on the next. Not so in my own yard. Sigh.