If the part shade is in the afternoon then Russian Sage would be a good choice. It's low maintenance and blooms non-stop spring to fall. The first time I saw it, I really did stop and say "what is that."

I like Russian sage too. Something else that has a definite 'WOW' factor, but is not as drought tolerant as Russian sage, would be 'dinner plate hardy hibiscus'.

Some of the other hardy hibiscus that are not dinner plate size are pretty amazing too. I've seen a red one which comes back every year that is out by a telephone pole near a church parking lot that I have to say "Wow" about, because it is always blooming and I don't think it gets much, if any, extra care or water. I'm gonna' have to take a picture of it sometime and see if it has some seeds :-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Images for dinner plate hardy hibiscus ...

Erythrina herbacea (Coral bean)

Omar

Here is a link that might be useful: Erythrina h.

But Omar, my coral bean gets LOTS bigger than 4 x 4 !

Hot Lips salvia might be an option. Other salvias, too, which have nice blooms. Maybe a bright Knock Out rose ?

patty

Not everybody can afford feeding plants with steroids, Patty. To the best of my knowledge only you, Roselee, Jolana, Jim and RC do that.

Seriously, now. I don't know. What kind of Coral Bean do you have? The genus Erythrina has 130 species but most of them are not cold hardy.I'm pretty sure I have E.herbacea. There are a bunch of Erythrina species that are trees. In fact I saw one the other day at the Nature Center of San Marcos. It was about 12' tall and had an 8" caliper. However, E. herbacea is supposed to grow up to 48" (I checked on Dave's Garden). I've had my plant for 2 years and it has reached 4' by fall, then dies back in winter.

Omar

Here is a link that might be useful: E. herbacea