One concept. Two completely different sets of plants. Same satisfying result.
That's the idea behind the video below—and it's one of the more useful things I can show you about how plant selection actually works. You don't start with a plant list. You start with a composition: a tree or anchor, a mounded shrub, an upright, a ground-level layer. Shapes and proportions. Once that structure is clear, you can go find the plants that fill those roles—and crucially, you can find different plants for different sites without losing any of the logic that made the original concept work.
(This post updated March 2026)
This is the same process I walk through in my sketching series—getting the composition right first, then searching for plants that match both the description and the growing conditions. The video above applies that idea in real time, with two specific sites: one in part shade, one in full sun.
The part-shade version is anchored by Stewartia monadelpha, a slow-growing tree with exfoliating bark that earns its place through three seasons—summer flowers, good fall color, and that distinctive cinnamon-toned bark carrying the winter. Beneath it, Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' fills the mounded shrub role: rounded, lightly variegated, and fragrant in summer. Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Barry's Silver' provides the upright—cool blue-gray, shade-tolerant, a good foil for the warmer tones around it. And Acorus gramineus 'Ogon' carpets the ground in bright gold-variegated foliage, dense enough to do real weed-suppression work.
The full sun version translates the same structure into a drier, sunnier palette. Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez' takes the anchor role—peeling bark, white summer panicles, strong fall color, a tree that earns its space. Cistus x heterocalyx 'Chelsea Bonnet' is the mounded shrub: gray-green evergreen foliage, summer blooms, genuinely drought-tolerant once established. Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow' is the upright—narrow, silvery-blue, built for heat and reflected light. And Carex testacea sweeps through the ground layer in warm copper tones that shift and catch the light through the seasons.
Set them side by side and the resemblance is obvious—not in the plants themselves, but in the relationships between them. That's the point. The concept travels. The plants are just the site-specific answer to the same set of questions.
Both of these compositions are built out as full combinations on eGardenGo, with planting plans available for download if you want to take the guesswork out of quantities and spacing:
Four-season, Foliage-centric Planting Bed for Full Sun
Zone:
8, 9
Exposure:
Afternoon Sun, Full Sun, Reflected Heat, Full Sun
Four-season Foliage-centric Planting Bed in Part Sun
Zone:
6, 7, 8
Exposure:
Open Shade, Filtered Sun, Morning Sun, Open Shade, Part Shade, Part Sun
If you want to try this process with your own site, start with the sketch. It doesn't have to be precise—a rough elevation view with relative shapes and proportions is enough. Describe what you see, then search for plants that match that description and suit the conditions you have. The sketching series walks through exactly that process if you want more on the method.
MEET THE SHADY CHARACTERS
Acorus gramineus 'Ogon'
Golden Variegated Sweetflag
Type:
Grass / Grass-Like, Groundcover
Exposure:
Afternoon Sun, Morning Sun, Filtered Sun, Open Shade, Open Shade
Zone:
6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Chamaecyparis lawsoniana 'Barry's Silver'
Barry's Silver Lawson Cypress
Type:
Conifer, Shrub
Exposure:
Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade, Morning Sun, Filtered Sun, Open Shade, Open Shade
Zone:
5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice'
variegated hybrid daphne
Type:
Shrub
Exposure:
Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade, Full Shade, Morning Sun, Filtered Sun, Open Shade, Open Shade
Zone:
6, 7, 8
Stewartia monadelpha
Orangebark Stewartia, Tall Stewartia
Type:
Tree
Exposure:
Part Sun, Part Shade, Morning Sun, Filtered Sun, Open Shade, Open Shade
Zone:
6, 7, 8
MEET THE SUN LOVERS
Carex testacea
Orange Sedge
Type:
Grass / Grass-Like, Groundcover, Perennial
Exposure:
Full Sun, Full Sun, Part Sun, Part Shade, Afternoon Sun, Reflected Heat, Morning Sun
Zone:
7, 8, 9, 10
Cistus x heterocalyx 'Chelsea Bonnet'
Chelsea Bonnet Rockrose
Type:
Shrub
Exposure:
Full Sun, Full Sun, Afternoon Sun, Reflected Heat
Zone:
8, 9, 10
Juniperus scopulorum 'Blue Arrow'
Blue Arrow Juniper
Type:
Conifer, Shrub
Exposure:
Full Sun, Full Sun, Part Sun, Afternoon Sun, Reflected Heat
Zone:
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Lagerstroemia x 'Natchez'
Crape Myrtle Natchez
Type:
Shrub, Tree
Exposure:
Afternoon Sun, Full Sun, Reflected Heat
Zone:
10, 6, 7, 8, 9
