How many hours of sunshine/day does it get? K.

Hi Karen,
Good question. It faces directly west with no trees to shade it so I would guess by noon it would start to get sun from the side and be in full sun certainly by 1:00 (if not before) through sundown.

Have you looked into clematis? On a white wall the darker colors would stand out well. Rai

It would look nice, but I think the area is too large (wide) for a clematis. I was thinking more of a shrub or maybe even a small tree. Plus, I would have to build something for the clematis to climb on.

Well, I was going to suggest hydrangeas, but they don't generally want/need full sun. Limelight is one that likes full sun in our zone. It gets about 4-5 feet high. It has large, cone-shaped blooms in late summer. They're greeny-white and they blush pink when the nights get cool. Like now.
I love mine! At its base, I've got chocolate Joe Pye weed and barberry (reddish foliage). Nice combo IMHO. Then under THAT, you could plant nasturtiums (they're bulletproof) or annuals (marigolds, petunias, geraniums).
Full sun is ideal. Most plants like it. K.

Thank you for the suggestions. I will definitely use your suggestions somewhere, if not in this particular spot. I have lots of ground to cover. In this particular spot, however, I really think I need something that's going to get very tall, since it's a very tall wall - at least one and a half story. I would like a small tree, but I'm afraid 5 feet won't be enough depth.

I know I'm responding to my own post, but does anyone know if a crape myrtle would work here? I've never had one and not sure I've even seen one. I always thought they were only grown in the south but after doing some internet research they can also be grown in the northeast. We can get very cold winters and it's windy.