Hi Ken, I believe they were firmly planted into the soil. I tilled my dirt a few weeks ago and mixed some starter fertilizer from home depot. I don't believe to have any drainage. Looking forward to your reply. Thank you

'Puget Blue' was selected at the Seattle arboretum sometime prior to 1945. It is thought to have been grown from seed of Ceanothus papillosus sent by Lester Rowntree (of California). A plant labeled 'Puget Blue' grew for years at the entrance to the old arboretum offices, however the late J.A. Witt (arboretum curator) felt that this specimen was not the true item. So stock originating with people helping themselves to cuttings of this prominently located plant may have been circulated erroneously as 'Puget Blue' in the past. The original 'Puget Blue' may have been selected, grown for a time at the arboretum and then lost (to the arboretum) decades before the one at the offices was present. I bought C. thyrsiflorus 'Oregon Mist' recently, it originates with Xera Plants wholesale nursery in Oregon. From their web site: Very odd that a genus cherished in California and Europe- with many native representatives in Oregon has NO selections made from this state. WeâÂÂve decided to change that by selecting a form of Blueblossom from near its northern native limit. From Coos County we chose this variety for its deep green leaves and striking turquoise blue flowers. Large growing evergreen shrub that should provide superior cold hardiness. Also, it is a great representative of this species in the wild. We took cuttings of this plant where it grew simultaneously with a salmon flowered variety of Rhododendron occidentalis inbetween California Bay (Umbelluaria) and blue flowered Iris douglasiana. Interesting that this shrub grew in heavy clay soil where running water flows during winter. To 8â tall and as wide very quickly. May grow larger in optimum conditions, tip prune to limit size, increase density and blooming wood. Flowers late April to late May. Excellent shrub for low water native gardens. Underplant with Pacific Coast Iris which bloom concurrently and have the same cultural requirements. May also be used as a small garden tree Most of the interesting dry climate shrubs and related items appearing at local garden centers in recent years are being supplied by Xera Plants. See their web site for photos and descriptions. Note that the hardiness zone designations they make are too optimistic, as is often the case with commercial sources. As with other nurseries if you add a zone to the one they give you will often be closer to the true picture. This post was edited by bboy on Thu, Mar 28, 13 at 15:19

I for one think everyone has had a great comment here, and I would combine the answers into one plan! If this were my yard, I would enlarge that paved area by about three times - at least out to the ac unit and out to the line of the downspout. I think having that paved area (whether it's concrete, stones, pavers, whatever) would just help define the area, and as it stands now that walkway is too tiny and utilitarian. A bigger area will give some definition to the area as an entryway, a sitting area, etc, and look better in scale to the house. Might even be nice to have a pathway connect from that to whatever other path/walkway you have in the yard. I can't tell from the photo if there is already one there or that is just dirt. I have three rain barrels, and love them. I should note that not a one is connected to a downspout, as DH won't hear of cutting into the downspouts, so I can only dream of the abundance of water I'd have if I did! However, even without that, mine do fill up slowly but nicely, and I do use them with watering cans, either dipped in, or under the spigot, as my barrels are on cinderblocks to give just enough height to get a watering can under. These rain barrels help me cut down on my well use, and IMO are a great idea in general in terms of water conservation. I'm not quite sure WHERE you want to put a garden - along the wall where the ac unit is? To the left of the photo where that bag is? Extending it out from the bag to cover that green area? Is that where the moss is? IMO, you can have a garden almost anywhere, if you have the right plant for the spot. I've put in a bog-type garden in an area where it floods every spring, and which sometimes has standing water well into August. Again, it's the matter of the right plant. Determine just how wet this area is, and do your homework researching plants that like that moisture level and the sun levels you have. Amending the soil helps, but do it as nature would - don't try to change the soil there, but enhance it. It will take some trial and error but I'm sure it can be done. There are many plants you can use. As for moss, I too don't understand why some people dislike it so much. I had a friend who I used to help in her garden, and we live in a very wooded area. She had a quite damp yard, and lots of shade and trees, and along the edge of the lawn she had these wide swaths of moss - a good 10 to 15 feet deep from edge of lawn to woods. She tried for years to get rid of it and get grass to grow. I always told her it looked wonderful, it was soft, green, and from a distance who could tell? She was constantly worried about the resale value of not having a lawn (and it's going on a least 25 years that she's been in the house and worrying about this!). The one downfall to moss, IMO, is that it does rake up very easily when you are raking up leaves, so that is a pain. But other than that, if its green and nothing else will grow there (in terms of lawn, not garden), then that is the plant to have there! I don't know. I guess I'm just a big believer in working with nature and not against her. Good luck and keep us posted on your evolving garden! Dee

I disagree on the pic being nice. The over saturated picture above makes the plants look like plastic. The post is not relevant to the question as as far as I'm concerned it's nothing more than an advertisement, and a poor one at that. I doubt sun and drought tolerant plants are a primary concern in this case. It's the north side of a house in New Hampshire. The placement of the plants shows me a case of 'even space-itis', more common with rock positioning than plants. Why are all the rocks in the 'stream bed' the same size? Why are plants placed in front of the boulders? Do they need to be hidden?! Pros should be able to do much better, even in Poway. Kaitlin, The first thing I would do is enlarge the bed, it's too small proportionally to the house and limits your choices as to what can be used. I would also pretty much stick with evergreens next to the house and deck. Deciduous plants used in a foundation situation don't do the job in winter. The gaps, when used with evergreens looks like missing teeth to me, snow or otherwise. I used to design and install a lot of yard makeovers as well as new garden construction. As a landscaper, I would kill the lawn, till it in, throw the edges in toward the back of the middle and cover the whole area with trucked in topsoil, leaving it low around the edges to make room for the mulch. Now you can plant, and the digging is fast and easy! I would have evergreen plants about waist high around most of the deck with something taller where it meets the sidewalk. Those plants can act as a railing for the deck on the deck side. On the side facing the driveway I would plant those 'railing plants' several deep so as to appear as a drift instead of a hedge. That gives the bed some visual flow and can be enhanced from there by adding different plants to enlarge the drift and conform to the shape of the bed. In front of the glassed in area I would take a different approach and design the area looking at it from the inside. Lower evergreen shrubs next to the glass in the middle and a little taller on the edges. There's room for a small deciduous tree out in front of the glass a ways and another on either side, one being on the other side of the walk. Those trees should have an interesting branching form for Winter interest and good Fall color too. Japanese maples come to mind. :-) You don't want something that looks like a brush pile when the leaves are gone. (Lilac, Quince, etc. An evergreen groundcover that can handle shade is a must in my book. It ties it together. The small leaved deciduous trees gives it shade further out in the sun in the summertime and the groundcover swallows the leaves in the Fall. I'm not too familiar with what you can grow in your Zone, but I'm sure the people that are can help with plant selection. It's the concept is what I'm communicating. Mike