Northspruce - I'm with you regarding the yellowish leaves. I like my plants and trees nice and green.

Are you a fan of evergreens? Dwarf Mugo Pine and those spruce (?) they call nest egg look really nice in certain places. How about Litle Giant Cedars? I just bought two of them. They get more than two feet, but it'll take forever. Just think......no raking leaves =:) Big bonus if you have plants nearby that you don't want full of leaves, or just get tired raking a bazzillion leaves in the fall.

Mmmmm well I'm so-so about evergreens. I prefer something with flowers. I do very much like tiny pines though. I just don't trust the labels when they say what size they reach, since most evergreens are fussy about being pruned. I've already got a globe cedar the size of a bungalow in my yard. I always assume they're lying like when you go to the dog shelter and adopt a puppy and they're all "oh yeah it's a small dog" then it turns out to be a Newfie. But I digress.

Any other thoughts for deciduous shrubs?

Oooh one I've been eyeballing is Double Flowered Plum, but I'm not sure of their maximum size and I'm also terrified of suckering plums. I've never been able to find out for sure if they sucker.

I like potentilla. They come in a variety of colours -- yellow most common -- and bloom all summer.

Anthony Waterer spirea starts out with leaves that are quite red early in the spring, then go to a dark green - not yellowish at all. This is my favourite spirea.