Here's the important background info:
- The foundation planting bed spans from front of the house (facing east) to the side (facing north). The bed has curves and is 4 feet wide at its smallest point and 7 feet it its widest.
- We live in Colorado, zone 5, so everything must be able to withstand cold, snow, winds, and late freezes. Some winter interest plants would be nice.
- In the foundation bed and the rest of the front yard beds, I'm looking for mostly white flowers and some plants with dark or red foliage. The house color is a tan/beige stucco, and we have a streetlamp in our yard that nicely illuminates white flowers.
- The bed is lined by a patio and a walkway, so frangrance would be nice, but is not necessary.
- The soil is fairly average sandy loam, fairly well-draining, and alkaline. I will add amendments to make the soil richer and possibly more toward neutral pH.
- There will also be perennials and annuals in the bed, but I want to get the shrub selection taken take of first, since that seems to be the most structural piece (other than the hardscaping, which is already done).

Here are the plants I really want, but I'm not sure they go well together:
- Wine and Roses Weigela (have 1 growing nicely)
- Little Lamb Hydrangea (have not seen this in person, but did like Limelight. Would prefer Little Lamb's smaller size and bloom appearance)
- Black Lace Sambuca (Love the foliage, but worried it may not get enough sun if located on the north side of the house)
- Artic Fire Dogwood (Love the dwarf size and red stems for winter interest)
- Boxwood (For an evergreen presence. Possibly green mountain and possibly green column as well - if I can find it)
- A few rose bushes (likely Iceberg, Snowdrift, or Moondance and maybe a red or two as well)

Here are some alternatives I'm considering:
- Dwarf Mugho pine (for an evergreen presence. Also I like the texture.)
- Some sort of barberry (for evergreen)
- Virbirum (possibly Aurora or another small variety)
- Dwarf double mock orange (I think the one I liked was called snowbelle?)
- Ninebark coppertina or diablo

Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to be as complete as possible. I'm really trying to analyze this because I want to be happy with this decision for the several (or more) years we will be in this house. Thanks in advance!

I also wonder how well a Sambucus will do in Colorado. I found it a prima donna, and couldn't keep one alive, though there are native elderberries in the woods.

find the annual growth rate of any conifer you are interested in .. and figure that it will start growing at that length after about 2 years.. and for the rest of your life thereafter ...

i suspect you will find that the mugo will outgrow the space ...

if you want a conifer.. research MINI[s] ....

ken

Laceyvail,
Yes, I think Diablo would likely be too big for the bed. Coppertina may be as well. Acutally, now that I look at it, the elderberry could grow a bit too large. The nice thing about the elderberry is that others have said it can easily be trimmed to the size you want it without hurting the appearance of the plant. Thanks to you as well. I will continue looking.

I'm sorry to say I don't know the variety, but I have a 36 year old mugo in my back yard that I've kept in a lovely, perfect mound pretty much at 3' high and 5' across. It was originally a dwarf variety, but it would expand 6" in all directions each year if I allowed it to do so.

The minis ken mentioned are "adorable" - although they grow too. Much better suited for that niche or specimen garden than mixed into a foundation planting.

I'm experimenting with a couple of Green Mountain boxwoods - suffered a little winter burn or sun scald, but grew out of it. I'll be considering some screening this year to try and prevent that.

On the side of my home that faces the creek I have a huge picture window. In front I have boxwood-barberry-boxwood then a burning bush (I know, but it was inherited) followed by the boxwood-barberry-boxwood again and another burning bush. I thought about ripping them out but they look nice.
I also have a very tall lilac that flanks that entire combination on both sides. There is plenty of space between the shrubs and the lawn to fill in with annuals. I planted purple poppy mallow this year to let it ramble through.

Have fun!

On the boxwoods, I'll do a search and read up on them.

Thanks for all the help!

Dwarf Mugo Pine will get anywhere between 3-6 X 3-6, its a slow grower. Mine is in full sun and was grown maybe a couple inches in 3 years.

Diablos can get to 10-12, but its not common. Most of the mature ones in Wisconsin are 7 X 7. They take well to pruning to you could always maintain it.

Some of my favorite plants include:

Pink Supreme Flower Carpet Rose
Quickfire Hydrangea
Fine Wine Weigela
Mohican Viburnum
Korean Spice Viburnum
Ivory Halo Dogwood (over Arctic Fire)
Vernal Witchhazel
Royal Star Magnolia
Blackhaw Vibrunum

Obiviously some of these plants are larger than your planned area. Just don't forget some long blooming perrenials for the border.

Use this link to help find varieties of what you like.

http://www.northscaping.com/Tools/LPS-Engine.asp?10000000

Most of the shurbs I have looked into seem to grow smaller here than some other places. In fact, some die down nearly to the ground each year.

Can I ask why Ivory Halo over Arctic Fire? I love the bright red fo the stems of Arctic Fire.