I'm embarrassed to show you this picture. This spring I moved into a 20-year empty house. That means 20 years of neglected overgrown Gardens. This area was used for storage as I have no sheds on my property. Well actually, I had 2 of them but they were falling down so I had to get rid of them.

This year I tackled the front and side Gardens. Obviously the ones that could be seen from the street. Next year this Garden is on my to do list. It gets almost no sun. I go out at 7 in the morning and it's still in the shade. It has a Northeastern exposure and 7 feet deep under the windows. As you can see I have started planting hostas at the end. I tried to put it off till next year but a friend was digging up a whole bunch of Hosta that were growing in the middle of her grass and just brought me over several bags full. What can I do? I couldn't say no, wait till next year, right?

I want a small tree or shrub that won't get bigger than 4 feet tall as I don't want to cover up the two windows. Something that blooms and smells good would be preferable but not mandatory. In the 20 years of neglect a lot of tree seedlings sprouted and took root in all the gardens so obviously, I will have to spend some time digging out those mini trees in the corner.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm having a hard time finding something. It seems every time I find something interesting it needs full sun or a different Zone.

Look through the Kalmia plants - evergreen, hardy to your zone, pretty flowers. I was also thinking Sarcococca but that is pushing your zone, another evergreen with really tiny but fragrant flowers. Given the corner setting, you may be able to get away with a shrub not quite hardy to your area, although you'd also have to factor in where your prevailing wind is coming from.

http://www.hgtv.com/design/out...
Japanese Kerria
also some Serviceberry stay smaller.

Good ideas Bob. I think one could keep a serviceberry pruned back into a shrub form rather than tree. And it gets lovely fall color. Kerria is another good choice - mine is quite happy to colonize a bit (but not aggressively). Even if it got above window height, it's open enough to not be a serious light detractor.

Deb, the winds seem to come from the South West most of the time so that corner would be well protected from the wind. And boy, do we get wind! I always look at plants a zone beyond whats safe here. Over the years I think I've had more good than bad luck keeping them alive. And with the corner being in a well protected spot I'm pretty confident zone 5 would work. I'd like to think even zone 6 would work but factoring in the temperature for z6 I'm not so sure its workable.

I will definitely check out your suggestions, Thank you so much.

Bob, I will check out the Japanese Kerria and the website. The Serviceberry, however, I hate! They grew wild at my last place and they were a real pain in the butt!

Japanese Kerria is a good suggestion. I have 'Pleniflora' and it blooms in the spring and again in mid-late summer. You might check out viburnum acerifolium too. That will get red berries in the fall if you plant two.

Try 'pink flowering almond'?

Are those able to be grown in full shade? I thought they were more of a sun lover. Also, I'm pretty sure those plants have a short life span due to a variety of maladies, including fireblight.

I have one area on the east side of my house, behind a tree and under very deep eaves, that gets virtually no sun. I have tried several shrubs and plants there with no success so far. My latest experiment is bugbane (cimicifuga simplex atropurpurea) and it seems to be doing quite well. It isn't a shrub, but it gets to be pretty good size, it blooms, and the blooms are fragrant. And I think the dark tinged foliage is very pretty.

Irisarian, I take it you love Iris' too! Whenever I move I take them with me. And if one of my sisters has something I don't, I make them share. I love the flowering almond but it does need sun. That was one of my first choices. Sad it wouldn't work.

Foraygardengirl are these the ones with 6' tall spikes? That might work too. I just want something tallish to fill the corner. Can these be started from seed? Hmmm

Thank you both for the fine suggestions!

Meri, so sorry I have been offline for a while...my computer died and it took some time for me to replace it. Yes, some varieties of bugbane can be 5-6 feet, including the flower spikes. I would guess the foliage on mine is around 4 feet high so far, but it may not yet be full size.

Jeannie I researched the Bugbane and it definitely is going in the garden! It'll look great with Hosta, Ferns, Bleeding Hearts, Tradescantia Sweet Kate and whatever else I can come up with.