Need suggestions for a sun loving flowering shrub for my front yard, it needs ti be tall enough to create afternoon shade for some brugmansia. Right now i have a rose of Sharon which turned out to be GIANT after only a few seasons. What could i replace it with that would max out at 8 feet tall, 3 feet in diameter? Maybe a short crape Myrtle? Flowers are a must. I'm zone 8a.

How about a nice Camellia? I have a big Rose of Sharon out back, it was about 8x8 and I pruned it to a tree form and it is much more manageable. You can prune the ROS to almost any size and also by pruning you will get bigger flowers.

Yes, a camellia would be nice, I've never grown one and everyone seems to put them in sheltered spots next to their house. The area i want to fill is out in the open, do you think it would work?
And maybe I ought to try pruning my ROS beforei go chopping it down. You really pruned back an 8x8 giant to tree form? Maybe I can try that. Thanks so much for suggesting, I'm going to give that a try. My husband is going to have to provide the muscle, some of the branch are thick.

Yeah, you already got the growth, would be a shame to throw it away.

You would have to get a large camellia as they are generally slow growers and only bloom in the spring. For the rest of the year they are a bush.. How about trimming back your althea to the size you want? There are dwarf crepe myrtle trees out there that get about 8-10 ft tall. Not a bunch of shade though. The leaves are pretty small. Maybe two crepe myrtle trees?