Exactly where in AZ?

Some aloes, some agave, other succulents would work. Check species for those that are for "light to full shade".

Hi Lazygardens,
Thank you.

I'm in Tucson, sorry, I thought I put it in my post.

I'm afraid agave and aloe may be taller than what mom would want. I've thought about succulents, but haven't had a chance to dig deep and find some that like shade.

JoJo

Interesting! Here's what I'm growing right against the north side of my house, or the north side of the walls around my garden. I'll leave it to you and your mom to decide which visually violate what they're seeking.

I've got lots of Aloe vera which has done great--the leaves are 18 inchs tall and most of the plants bloom each year. I've also got good ol' "elephant food" or "dinosaur food" Portulacaria afra (*not* portulaca)--that's one that they could trim to whatever size they want. I've got some "pencil cactus" (Euphorbia tirucalli) which would probably be too tall for them, some Alluadia procera (again, it snakes around a lot but I want to mention it), a Pereskia grandifolia (too large for their needs) and some Gasteria plants (aloe/haworthia relatives, but much smaller than most aloes). None of these need much water.

If it was me, I'd vote for Portulacaria and just trim it back if it gets too tall or hangs over the neat bricks. I'm sure others will chime in too. Let us know what you/they select and how it works out! :)

Take care,
Grant

I have a similar area, and I tried Portulacaria. They just stayed completely dormant until they finally withered and died. When you say full shade, does that include deep shade? My area on the N side is under both my eaves and a large African sumac, so it's never reached by a single ray of sun light, even filtered.

The only thing I've had survive is cast iron plants, but they have sat there, completely unchanged for years, not even putting a single shoot of new growth out.

Ghost Plant (Mother of Pearl Plant) --
Graptopetalum paraguayense

You can get them from Lowes

Check species and varieties onagava and aloes. There are hundreds of them, in all sizes.