OK, I finally did the corner this AM - waiting to do in front of the beds when we put walkway in. We're planning on digging down (to correct drainage - it's low in front of the steps), laying down filter fabric, then sand, then setting the huge stepping stones piled around, then filling between stones with the pea gravel that's in the driveway. Just filled a drainage ditch going down the edge of the driveway with 3/4" stone, after I stacked the stones for the wall this AM I raked the peastone over the ditch up to the stone wall to blend in the driveway. Stairs (I tried to make the edge near the driveway step down like I did here, but this may change depending on whether we dig out to put the stone 7 " below the first step, or bring it right up to the tread so I don't have to try to make a stone riser. The top step will have a white vinyl riser like the kickboard under the door, and we're going to face the deck support with white vinyl too and then I can fill in the last course of stone under the porch). Think this will keep people from stepping into the flowerbed to get up on the end of the porch? I also planted an azalea as close as I could to the corner, given the buried pipe from the downspout going in front of the porch, and the small hole we connected to the ditch (and filled with stone, I just mulched on top) where the gutter overflows every time we have a cloudburst. I hope it doesn't drown. I also hope it gets a lot bigger - this was a 99 cent salvage plant from the grocery store. Azaleas have shallow roots so I don't know how tall it will get, but I can't plant a tree there b/c of the pipe.

I like Porch #1. (A copy of Porch #1 on a wider footprint than your current porch...another 12'' or so added width on both sides of the door & sidelights.) Extending a long porch along the front of your house will shade the windows...depending on where you live, that could be good or bad?

I have finally finished. It took a little longer that I thought. Mainly due to weather. After parging the sides, we replaced the bottom step with a precast step from a local brickyard. It was about $50. Plus some solid blocks to set it on. Then I parged the sides of the new step to help blend it in. Then I painted the whole thing one color. Gave the railing a nice copy of shiny black rustoleum, put up a new mailbox, and some nicer looking house numbers. We also took down the railing next to the sidewalk as it wasn't necessary. I need to touch up the paint a little after adding some flexible caulk around the new step, and spilling a little rustoleum. And get a step stool and take down the little numbers over the door. Then some flowers. I n

I agree with Dingo about sun exposure. H. arborescens doesn't much like full or western sun, though it wants some sun to bloom really well, so it should be fine in the exposure you described above. H. paniculata in my garden is fine in full day sun, though farther south it benefits from some shade, but with the bright shade involved here, it still should bloom and grow well with morning sun. I have a friend with Bobos in part shade, part sun and they look happy. One difference between the two is that H. arborscens suckers some, so for my Annabelle, I have to remove suckers once or twice a year (ususally fall and then in spring for the ones I missed) if I don't want it to overtake the surrounding shrubs. I don't know if all H. arborescens are quite as vigorous as Annabelle. H. paniculata doesn't sucker so in my garden is less work. I had an injured knee that made much garden work difficult to impossible for about three years, and here's my Annabelle, unchecked for all that time, but if kept maintained it is a lovely plant.(windowsill sits at 4' to give you height.) I would look at the summer color and fall color of various H. paniculatas and H. arborescens in your size range along with the shape and density of the flower heads and how upright the branches are. Only you can decide which appeals to you the most. They should all bloom well for you.