Suggestions, please

[sweet thunder]

The new fence is in and I have space begging for plants.



The trellised plant is an evergreen clematis that should quickly cover the fence, but it needs some friends. This area is highly visible from the patio or from the house through the big picture window, so I want something attractive, preferably with year-round interest. It's on the north side of the fence. It gets some morning sun, but short plants will spend most of their time in the shade. The soil is lovely, slightly acidic, and drains well. I'm in zone 9/Sunset 17.
Any suggestions more exciting than ferns and hostas welcome!

[cynthia_h]

These are some vines/climbing plants I've seen growing hereabouts:

trumpet vine
star jasmine
morning glory (beware, though...)
sweet peas

I'll come back and add more as/if they occur to me.

The fence looks nice!

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9

Vergil is doing so much better today. He has been a very good little boy dog (all 105 lb of him), hanging out in his pen while I work at the computer and do other things as well.

[applestar]

Ferns, Turks Cap Lily, Arunculus, Cohosh, Spicebush, Summer Sweet, Buttonbush (very tall), Blackberries, Lobelia, native azaleas and Kalmias.

[sweet thunder]

Cynthia, thanks for the suggestions, but I expect the clematis to fill that trellis up by itself, eventually. I'm mostly looking for things to plant beneath it that will be roughly 1 to 3 feet tall.

[cynthia_h]

Sorry; misunderstood. You're looking for 1- to 3-foot tall plants that'll grow on the northern side of the fence; correct?

Approx. how many hours of sunlight right now, near the summer solstice? And is there any sunlight near the winter solstice? (trying to figure out whether to put "annuals" or "perennials" in the hopper to see what comes out... )

And, no matter what AS says, do *not* plant blackberries. She has cold winters to help keep them under control; we do not. (You and I know that; she may not....)

Cynthia

ahhh...the happy sound of a post-op dog contentedly sleeping...

[rainbowgardener]

Dwarf evergreen shrubs of some kind. AS's suggestions of azalea or kalmia (mountain laurel) are very nice and both of those would come in dwarf versions the size you want, and have beautiful spring flowers.

Another such would be leucothoe (dogs hobble, fetterbush, agarista). It is a small native shrub with fragrant flowers, but comes in hybrid versions (var. Scarletta) with gorgeous green and red variegated leaves:


http://www.landscape-service.com/plants ... thoefs.jpg

[sweet thunder]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm thinking I'll probably do an azalea, at least on the right side of the trellis, but I'm still looking into it, so if anything else comes to mind, let me know.
As for sun, right now the spot gets about 7 hours a day, but in the winter it probably only gets a couple of hours in the morning before my neighbor's house blocks it.