Seattle Sue, I met Burling Leong once. Luanne and Carol and I went on a road trip down to the Huntington one year, and stopped by at Visalia to meet Ralph Moore. It was right around the time of his 100th birthday. We also met and chatted with Burling that day. She gave us each a cutting of Daphne odora, a wonderful plant. Someone -- I think it was Ralph Moore himself -- said that she was so good she could graft a plant on a bowling ball! I'm delighted to learn that she now has her own nursery. If the new Cl Crimson Glory I ordered doesn't do any better than the one I have, I will look into contacting her. Many thanks for the link. Jacqueline, it sounds as though you have a wonderful rose there. Did you find it easy to root? Like you, I have wondered if somehow I got the shrub form instead of the climber. This rose shows no indication of ever wanting to climb. Misidentified roses happen all the time. That certainly would explain a lot! And it would comfort me. I have been thinking of myself as a Bad Rose Grower. Rosefolly

So it's not an 'ugly brick front', it's an ugly formstone front. I'd go with climbing hydrangea if facing north or east. Choose climbing roses if facing south or west. Presumes that you are not severely shaded by other buildings. And formstone says 'city' too me, so might want to go with the climbing hydrangea if you're in the shade of other structures.

I think about any kind of groundcover is a place for critters to live. Juniper looks good along edging such as stone or brick. I was looking in Neil Sperry's book and he has pictures of trailing junipers along sidewalks and brick edging. There are different varieties of the groundcover type of junipers ranging from about 4" to 15" tall, and spread anywhere between about 6 - 8 feet. Some are a blue green and others are deep green. I think junipers make a very pretty groundcover. Drive around your neighborhood to see if anyone else has trailing junipers as groundcover to see if you like the look. Also look for any problems they may be experiencing such as parts of the plant dying back. If you do see die back, then look at the rest of the landscape to see if it is cared for because it could most likely be from simple neglect. But as tx_ag_95 said, they are prickly. If you plan on planting them, plan on leaving them.

You need to check first with your HOA (if you have one) and also with your local building authorities. In general (and this can differ by municipality), you do not require neighbor's permission to build something on your own property. But you do need to check into the legalities of building such a structure.