I have Physocarpus 'Diablo', the almost black foliage is striking, looks great when it's blooming, I find this one very well behaved, should fit your height requirements as well. One of my favorites.

A......

Thanks, I've looked at it a number of times and wondered. I've got multiple spots so this is a definite for one of them.

Any of the ninebarks are great shrubs - I also have 'Diablo' and the relatively new 'Coppertina', which has lighter, copper-colored foliage. 'Dart's Gold' could provide a bright gold color to the mix.

The viburnum will get larger than your requirements (10-12') in time but quite stunning when in bloom. 'Roseum' is the cultivar you're looking for.

Others you could add are Ceanothus 'Dark Star' for some evergreen presence or Philadelphus coronarius 'Aureum' for a gold color. And if you can provide sufficient water, oakleaf hydrangea will grow perfectly well here in full sun and offer great fall color (not to mention good late summer flowers).

Sorry, I simply cannot get myself to appreciate Hibiscus syriacus at all :-) IMO, a weedy looking shrub even under the best of circumstances.

Coppertina sounds like another beautiful ninebark, now where can I squeeze that one in :o). I had 'Dart's Gold' it would be a beautiful contrast to 'Diablo' mine was a dwarf form. Unfortunatly I did that one in, pruned it too hard. Leycesteria formosa is another shrub to think about, another of my favorites. The flowers and the berries are very attractive, in winter after the leaves have fallen the stems look like sea green bamboo,

A......

I had a hedge of photinius that acted as a fence between my property and my neighbors. Had the photinias removed and now have a hedge of viburnum tinus, forsythia, Viburnum opulus, diablo ninebark, PG hydrangea, pieris and Ceanothus victoria. I would recommend any of these as they look great together and are easy care. Now that it is established I don't water it but once a month or so during the dry season. I'm keeping the V. opulus within bounds by pruning out the largest stems every year to use for floral arrangements.

I also have a dark leaved elderberry that I moved a few weeks ago. It is a great shrub - all 20' of it! I bought the cut leaf dark leaved elderberry last year and it looks pretty.

I have a darts gold ninebark planted with three burgandy japaneese barberry and the contrasting leaf colors looks great. It is not growing very fast because it is in a very dry area with lots of root competition, which suits me just fine. I do not want it to get very large.

Can't give any advice on hibiscus because I haven't grown any.

Cheers! Sounds like a fun project. I loved picking out shrubs for my hedge!

You might consider a valuable fruit-producing shrub, Aronia. Here is a link about some health benefits of the fruit. My Viking is about 8' tall after several years and yields a lot of high quality fruit, all ripening at the same time in easy to harvest clusters. There is a dwarfer variety, Autumn Magic, that has good fall color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aronia fruit benefits, photos

Thanks for all your input guys!

I decided to start at one end of the bed where I have the most room and I planted a real nicely budded 5 gallon Viburnum opulus 'Roseum' today (before I read any of these posts :-) It can get as big as it or I want, I've got a Jean Marie in front of it. Next to that I have a Malus 'Sentinel', then I'm going for the 'Diablo'. Actually, today I looked at virtually everything that was mentioned except for the Aronia. You know what they say about great minds :-)

I had to settle for one plant today because momma has shortened the purse strings and I had already stopped at a bike shop to buy bronze anodized bike rims that I'm building into the middle of cedar/copper fence sections to hang baskets in for begonias and the like. I was broke by the time I got to look at plants. Fortunately, it's not the looking that gets you, it's the buying that does.

gardengal,

Where did you find the Coppertina? I'm thinking maybe I want three different colored ninebarks. 'Diablo' and 'Dart's Gold' seem to be fairly easy to find.

BofR - guess!! :-) Still a rather recent introduction so may not be widely available yet. It is also marketed under the "Proven Winners" tag, so you may find small (and grossly overpriced) ones at places that feature this marketing label.

What's this guess crap ? You're nuttin but a tease, you had the same cheshire cat response to my 'Midnight Wine' query and look where that got me...........NOWHERE !!!!!
I drove all the way up to your establishment only to find zero, zip, zilch, nada :-( In fact, you weren't even there for me to complain to :-)
I was at the "Despot" box store looking for arbor posts this AM and they had 'Diablo' one gallons for like $4.97 but not knowing how fast ninebark grows I passed for now.

You had mentioned elderberry, so I'm just going to throw sambucus 'Sutherland's Gold' into the mix. It's gorgeous!

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1072668}}

That is very nice, I actually like it better than the gold ninebark as a contrast for darker foliage.

BofR - sorry about that :-)) We did have them, but someone else beat you to it. More weigelas on order now, but the 'Coppertina' still not yet on the horizon. I've noticed that it takes a couple of seasons for many of these newer introductions to become very widely available.

And show up on days that I'm working if you want to gripe at me!! Here at the nursery is where I got both my 'Midnight Wine' and 'Coppertina'.......you might just have to visit a bit more often.......:-)

If I hear another customer ask for weigela 'My Monet', I swear I am going to scream - talk about an effective marketing campaign if a bit premature!

About the time I posted this thread, I also posted one about a tree to replace my 'Crimson Queen'. Nothing quite seems to fit this space. I spent a couple of hours last night surfing and looking at various ninebark and elderberry cultivars and either 'Black Beauty' or 'Black Lace' seem to be possible solutions. Does anyone have either of these two or has anyone seen them in the real (as opposed to unreal online) world?

This spot sits in a midlevel bed above a 6' block wall. A set of stairs comes up parallel to the wall (about 5' from the spot)to a subdeck then another set of stairs goes up to the second floor deck so this shrub/tree will be somewhat of a focal point. It will be viewed fairly close up from 3 levels. (Sorry, I have pics but haven't figured out how to post).

Anyway, I've looked at various maples, styrax, sophora, prunus, salix, etc. and they just aren't working for me so I thought maybe the sambucus would be thinking outside the box. Any opinions?

xantippe,

In my travels today, I stopped by a nursery to see what they had for ninebarks and elderberries. They had 'Diablo', 'Summer Wine', 'Coppertina' and 'Dart's Gold' ninebarks....all of which I've got a place for and will buy. Much to my surprise, they also had 'Black Beauty' and 'Black Lace' sambucus both of which I also like and will buy later. BUT, you know how it is when you are shopping for that one spot and the minute you see what you've been looking for you know.........they had this exquisite 4' 'Sutherland Gold' that reached out and grabbed me and the next thing I know, it was in the truck and home sitting in the spot vacated by my late 'Crimson Queen'. Thank you so much for drawing my attention to it, I had never seen one before. It's perfect!
I have a lot of holes left to fill and with one thread, I've solved at least a half dozen dilemas. Thanks all !

One more vote for a variegated ceanothus. I bought a few to put in front of my house a couple years ago, and although I didn't choose the best spot, I've been impressed. The dark green is cut by a lovely lime green so they look softer, great blue flowers that bees like, and I was surprised how fast they grew initially, even in winter! I've had to keep them pruned, but often think how great they would be with room to breathe. Plus they're evergreen! Google the variegated for pics.
HTH.

MG

One up the street is reverting. Many variegated plants do, sooner or later.