Hi Brad,

Just to be clear - are you talking about a tiny spot that is one and a half feet by sixteen inches? I understand hot and your zone. I lived that zone while in Ottawa for many years.

You could try getting a purple coneflower. It would take a year to get taller if purchased from a garden center.

May I suggest you may want to get a small bag of soil that is designed for hanging planters. The soil sold for containers and hanging planters is a mix that has moisture retaining stuff in it to help hold the moisture.

The other thing I recommend is putting some sort of mulch on top of that little block to help keep the heat out,the moisture in and the roots of the plant cooler. This could be grass clippings piled up or even some gravel or small stone or pebbles.

Another heat loving perennial is "gaillardia". There are many varieties - I suggest googling them.

Are you looking for a specific height of plant? Colour?

Or you could put a container over that spot which would give you the opportunity to put in seasonal plants.

Or, you could even put in a small trellis and plant a vine flower like morning glory (it's an annual).

There are many options available. May I suggest you look around your living area to see what is growing well in gardens. Don't be shy to ask people if they are in their garden what their plants are if you like any. Many gardeners are happy to share a piece of their plants for free. Walk around with a camera and take photos. Visit your local garden center and ask staff about plants.

I do not recommend planting any shrub of any type.

These are a few thoughts,

Cheers,
Peggy

I have a similar, though larger (3' X 20'), south-facing bed along my house. I have clematis and an Explorer climbing rose on trellises, an herbacious peony, lavender, balloon flowers, lillies, bee balm, coneflowers and a rhododendron.

Sorry Brad, obviously I did not read the dimensions right.

You can actually do a fair bit with the length of 16 feet. Like Dianasan recommended, going vertical really increases the garden. And as she mentioned you can add further plantings of smaller plants.

Vines:

Clematis
Climbing roses
Honeysuckle vine

Tall Flowers:

Coneflowers
Daylillies
Monarda (Beebalm)
Lavender
Phlox
Black Eyed Susan
Russian Sage
Sedum (like Autumn Joy)
Munstead Lavender
Alaskan Daisy

You can go for an eclectic look with a lot of different plants or you could go for a more eye candy look by sticking to a few types of plants and planting in a pattern.

Many perennial flowers can be divided in their 3rd year of growth giving you more flowers over time. You can fill in areas with annual seeds or annual flowers.

If you have something like "freecycle" in your area you can check the posts for people getting rid of plants or sharing plants. I don't know if you can ask for things on freecycle but your can on "kijiji".

Don't forget your local library - they have good gardening books for free to give you more ideas.

And don't forget to read the labels or look up plants on the internet for space requirements.

Now that I have my glasses on and a good coffee in me, I hope this helps somewhat.

Cheers again,
Peggy

In my south facing garden I've put in monkshood, jacob's ladder, phlox, hostas, coral bells, dianthus, daylilies and a few medium height ornamental grasses. The area was all weeds and bad soil....few bags of top soil and some peat moss and everything is growing very well.

Bearded iris, any height....what else? :)