magic carpet spirea

[megangardener]

I am replacing plants in front of a short brick wall in my front yard. After much indecisiveness, I finally settled on magic carpet spirea and pink ice spirea. There wasn't much info on these plants at the nursery, so now I'm doing my research at home and realized these plants are deciduous. What exactly are they going to look like in the wintertime? Are they going to have any visual interest during the winter months? Any other suggestions of what to plant? Currently we have purple gem (or similar variety) rhododendrons but half of them died in the summer heat. The space is close to 20' long. Thanks!

[KeyWee]

The are going to look like dry sticks, just like any other deciduous plant in winter. You do have the option of cutting them back as far as you want, but that doesn't please the eye much either.

Oh, and welcome to the forum! You don't say where you are located so it's hard for us to give suggestions on what else to plant. I am not a big rhododendron fan, so that wouldn't be my choice

[megangardener]

Thank you. I am in Western WA, USDA zone 8b, or Sunset zone 4. Any suggestions on evergreens to add to the mix, or to use instead?

[KeyWee]

For evergreen shrubs, I am currently loving the dwarf golden arborvitaes. Their bright yellow color at the tips is so eye-catching. But then I am a BIG yellow fan and not everyone feels the same way

[megangardener]

I, too, like the gold color. That's why I went with the magic carpet spirea since it was more golden in color with the red tips! I think the dwarf arborvitaes will be too tall for the space. The wall is just 12" on one end and about 30" on the other end where the hill slopes downward. I'm hoping to not cover up the brick wall since it looks nice too.

[applestar]

Is there shade or full sun? Which side of the wall? I guess we can use rhododendron death as sign that more heat loving plants would be better. Does the hill slope away from the wall or does it block and pool water when it rains?

What color bricks? I like frosty foliage against redder bricks.