Bboy, those maps were obviously drawn up with all the seismic lines taken into consideration. Sorry. Bad joke- bad, bad joke. God, don't strike me down. Seriously, microclimates DO exist EVERYWHERE- like the South facing side of my brick home where I grow my Loquat, but I do know that the terrain out West is very diverse. Hope to see it in person some day. Most shrubs sold at a nursery though should be suitable for planting in the not too distant vicinity of the nursery's location WITHOUT the artifical extra heat of a brick home's exterior. I'm not saying I don't ever shop at the Big Box stores, but I've really stopped expecting them to get much of anything right. There is NO replacement for a gardener's own behind the scenes research- however, I view the knowledge of the staff as a major indication of a nursery's reputabilty. You ought to know what you sell by in large. Sure, you may have a few grunts loading and unloading things off of a truck or people who have just begun to get their feet wet, but there should be SOMEONE present who has some idea of the plant you are asking about or has the ability to summons someone else who does ASAP. They should also have good reference books ON HAND because, obviously, no one can know everything. And I don't think I'm a snob about latin names, but if I go to A NURSERY and the person in charge of shrubs doesn't know what "Prunus laurocerasus" is when they've been selling "Cherry Laurels" for years, I will be extremely leery and take any info I gather there with half a grain of salt. I've been shocked by nursery owners who obviously couldn't explain the difference between a genus, a species and a cultivar if they had to. Not that I've ever directly asked someone to do so- I never set out to embarass someone, but I will find subtle ways of "testing the water" if I wind up at a strange nursery and feel like maybe gambling on a plant that I am less familiar with.

You have been given so many really great suggestions that I don't think I could think of any that are better or more helpful. I did however want to address the "ugly" wall. It is possible to colorize your wall with what is generally known as "white washing" but by adding a cement additive you can tint it any color you would like. It's very simple really. You would need a bag of white portland cement, a bag of white hydrated lime and the colorant powder of your choice. Mix the portland and lime 3 to 1 and add water so it's a milk consistency then add the colorant until you get the color you like. Measure the colorant as you add it so subsequent batches will be mixed to the same color depth. Brush it on with a paint brush. The painting goes faster than you would think by sort of swishing the brush in all directions to fill all the little crevices, You have about 30 minutes or so to work the cement mixture but if it starts to stiffen just add more water and mix well again and finish up. I did this on my very old cement stucco house this past summer and it is the brightest shiny white you could ever imagine. It looks beautiful with freshly painted trim. Anyway this will work on anything with cement like texture (bricks too) and because of the added portland cement it will not wash away like a simple lime only solution will eventually do. You could even do a really bright color like red or deep blue if you wanted to and consider it an art wall if you wanted. Just something to consider in addition to plants. Any left over materials can be mixed with sand added to make stepping stones or cement planting containers etc. Good luck!

Our wall was finished up today, so I thought I should follow up on this in case someone finds it later so this isn't just left "hanging". I also wanted to share pictures because we're so excited about it. Now, ever since we moved into this house, we have had serious flooding issues out front due to the poor street paving work we were left with (Thanks, City of Atlanta!) Then there was the stupid mound in front of the house which didn't do much of anything worthwhile except collect weeds. Any time we rec'd any significant downpour (more than a half an inch in 1-2 hours), the result was a "lake" in front of the house that left us unable to park. It would fill up until it reached our sidewalk, at which time it would overflow down the sidewalk, right down into our beds, which resulted in the death of several salvia last year due to waterlogging. When I say "lake", I'm not kidding....this is at least 6"-8" deep: Well, after posting this thread, we (unexpectedly) got a solid contractor lead from it, and the real green light was a solid reference for this contractor we'd received from another member (thanks, GGG, for everything!) The contractor we chose was GW member 'vroomp', or Brad in real life, and his company DCR, Inc. I was not kidding about the previous contractors we contacted above over the past couple of years - if we got a call back, most wouldn't show up, and this led to so much delay. It was amazing - out of probably three dozen phone calls to Brad, the only time he didn't actually pick up was on a Sunday at 9pm, and, really, I wouldn't have answered either! He was literally at our house within a day or two to walk through the plans and give us options, hash out ideas, toss out suggestions. It was quite refreshing, a huge change from what we were accustomed to. What started out as a small 30'-40' wall wound up finding its way up to 62', and then almost 75' .... our fault, of course - the neighbors wanted to join forces and have the wall spread between both yards. I imagine we were the nightmare customers from hell - changing lengths, changing shapes, took us a while to pick out the stone, we couldn't decide on lighting or drains, etc. Through the process, Brad was really communicative and very sensitive to issues and changes we needed to make along the way, and *incredibly* respectful of our budgeting desires, and held his cool even when our neighbors and I couldn't get our crap straight on budgeting (again - thanks Brad!!) We got everything sorted out. He even tossed in a couple of extras including sealing the back of the wall and adding an additional drain for the neighbors, which was not in the original plan. The end result is bigger and better than we'd expected, and the wall has already become a fixture to hang out on and chat with the neighbors and relax with friends, rivalled only by our deck. For pictures of our flooding issues and the mound itself, in all of its (ha ha) glory, check out this gallery page For a couple more pictures of the mound, and the wall before and after it was veneered out, check out this gallery page Since the wall was constructed, we have not had a single issue with flooding, in fact, the drain works like a champ and the sea outs we have growing at the base of our rather steep yard's slope (back/rear of the house) couldn't be happier about the additional water. All in all, the pictures speak for themselves, but I really felt it was necessary to come in and share my experience. I know this was a small job for Brad in comparison to what he's accustomed to, but we're really grateful for his taking it on, and regardless of how small it was, he treated us as if we were spending ten times what we actually did (and again - if you're reading this - THANKS.) We've already sent two of our friends his way, and they've had good experiences as well. I'll post more pictures of the wall in this thread as it gets planted out. We're waiting on stone to revive/refurb the original granite curb that exists throughout our neighborhood, and some fill dirt and mulch to bring the soil level up just a tad. The ultimate goal is to fill/amend, landscape mat, then plant with edibles...cherry and plum trees, blueberries, cranberries and several natives for the fill-in between. The end result:

Aloha, Got it,,Not being in Colorado I am not sure if I should make distinct plant suggestions.My bloom times and such run behind you guys.LOL, maybe some more suggestions for you to consider,, the four season impact,,is important,so try not to limit yourself as much,,in that length you can add more variation for this reason alone.Unless your looking for a more continuity through out the property with the shrub plantings.You also may want to look at the heat that comes from the concrete with some of your considerations,, Personally if I was hitting this type of job I would be suggesting Xeriscape in a cottage based design.with several focals,, such as large stone that match the patio and retaining wall.They could be flat to hold a large pot, statuary or taller to stand on their on.To break up the planting a bit but also to add details for 4 season interest.. With the plants you have listed I am going to assume that is not a go,, Now we know your garden needs the visual on both sides that also brings in another aspect,,The gardens at the Happy House are designed this way since our decks and roof are our outside living space,,Our drive by "tourists" get a beautiful mixed view this way and the house views are great,,You can intertwine the taller and shorter plants to achieve a great relaxed look,, not to forget bulbs mixed in as well,Lily's are wonderful in these types of gardens..but spring color under the shrubs before leaf out brings spring into the picture,,Same with autumn crocus..In the 4 foot width this can soften that straight look dramatically,,Even if you choose to use just the plants you have listed if you interweave them you can accomplish this easily,,, Carpet roses are yes prickly but they also stay with in your height limits, some offer scent all offer nice continuous summer color.The light pinks look beautiful with the salvia and more so the cat mints.If those are your preference. Climbing vines like clematis make cool ground covers intermixed with shrubs,,We have honeysuckle splayed out here as well that brings in smell and just intermingles with the other plants,some people do not care for the look others love it,,,,Would that drop off area be a nice area for a vine to cascade down? Year round visuals are always important in this type of scale,, what about adding in some ground cover based evergreens or miniatures that would bring in color in the winter and spring??? This is where the grasses add so much dimension as well.They look wonderful brought forward as a specimen for fall, winter and spring interest. Water and mulching have not came up either,, assuming drip system under the mulch to address the individual plant needs..Since I do not live in Colorado, I am not sure about the full water usage during drought.. Not much help am I ,, Just keep tossing out more thoughts,, Skybird, LOL the Potentilla you see that up here in MT as well,,I have had some clients who pick it out of the commercial plantings where it was highly over used..When it gets that odd die out I have went in a few times and turned them into bonsai..They look nice that way in the right circumstances..Most of the time they get yanked..Spirea gets used a lot up here these days too and people forget to trim it back so it gets a ratty appearance they they want ti fixed ,, and have heart failure when I have went in and cut it down to 6 inches tall.. Steve your not out there with the annuals, I have had some clients whom enjoy the yearly process..Myself when I had my show gardens I put in a 4'x100' row of tall mixed Dahlias, cosmos,tapered down to dusty miller,, around my cul de sac for the summer visual, also made it okay to plow in the winter with out concerns of damaging anything.Annual impact and convenience if your raising your own is great,, My greenhouse is home to thousands of starts from seed and propagation ..I have to admit to raising quite a few for my containers.. But who can live with out annuals in their vege and herb gardens? We may have a few going out,,LOL,,Teaching the alternative gardening it is always a challenge for me to get men, especially ,to realize they need annual flowers in their gardens for many reasons,,They think they are all about fluff and don't look at the beneficial benefits,,So it is nice to see a man who can appreciate them Aloha, I am sure that which ever way you decide to go your gardens are going to be beautiful,, Mary