the plant I need more than any other

[awyman]

Semi-circular 4'x 8' dry shady spot by front door in Seattle seeks shade-loving, drought-tolerant specimen plant. Must stand approximately 6'hx3'w and bring winter interest to the relationship. Special needs plants OK, but must have a stable personality by 3yrs old.

Comments

[thebaronofmspg]

OMG, 2 Amy posts in a row, almost! Wow to that!

B.

[awyman]

Yup. I'm tryin'!

Again...

[bezigebij]

Love the way you describe this.
Ideas:

Skimmia - there are sorts that aren't hideous
Aucuba japonica -
http://www.esveld.nl/htmldia/a/aujapo.htm

Though they both might be a bit on the short side...

You could also go for a deiciduous shrub, like maybe Corylopsis spicata or a Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' (blooms in the winter!!!) and plant an evergreen ground cover under it. This is what I would do.

3 canidates for ground cover under the plant:

Asarum
Euphorbia amygaloides robbiae
Epimedium

[awyman]

I can't really explain what I have against aucuba. Something about it seems severe to me. Skimmia is not a plant I am familiar with, but it looks quite nice.

The ground cover around the specimen plant will almost definitely include hellebores and euphorbia. (That particular euphorbia you mention is one of my all time favorites.) I saw some really nice looking asarum at the nursery yesterday too... So many plants...

[bezigebij]

A Camellia might also be fun...

[awyman]

You know, that's what I keep coming back to in my mind...

[awyman]

Of course I also keep thinking I could line it to make a bog and put in a giant gunnera or alocasia. For some reason I am craving tropical. Of course that often leads to zero winter interest...

[anexstacy]

Daphne odora

[awyman]

I was looking at a lot of daphnes yesterday, but I couldn't find one that would get more than 3' tall. :(