In article ,
Jeff Layman wrote:

This faces south, but gets direct sun only in summer, due to other
buildings. While it is the warmest spot in my garden, the garden
is cold and Erythrina crista-galli grew but flowered poorly (too
late, or not at all) and I have just lost lemon verbena. It's well
drained, though obviously not this winter :-(

I want something interesting, with no permanent foliage more than
2' high or so (it is in front of a window), though flower spikes
etc. could go up to 8'. It needs to be no more than 2-3' wide, too,
and not seriously thorny.

Any ideas?

You don't say what the soil pH is. Are you looking for a shrub only, or
would a perennial or sub-shrub be acceptable?

Roughly neutral, on alkaline side.

Some ideas:
Pittosporum tenuifolium 'Tom Thumb'
Hedychium densiflorum 'Assam Orange'
Gardenia jasminoides 'Kleim's Hardy' (yes, really!)
Less hardy Salvias
Low-growing Grevilleas, Correas, and maybe other similar southern
hemisphere plants.

Thanks. I will look into those. Pittosporum I had thought of, but
it won't meet with wifely approval :-)

By the way, if you can flower Erythrina crista-galli, you obviously have
a warmer spot than me here in south central Hampshire! And, for what
it's worth, I've just lost lemon verbena too (in a sheltered spot).

That spot probably is. And I got one decent flowering and two VERY
poor ones in c. 10 years - after that, I gave up. I didn't think that
lemon verbena would grow, but the same was true of Feijoa, which we
now know is much tougher than we thought.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.