A few traditional choices include:

Myrica pennsylvanica, Northern Bayberry, Candleberry. This would be grown
primarily for its fruit rather than flower. The fruit is a 'drupe', 1/6 to
1/5" across, grayish white, covered with a waxy coating, effective from
September through April and later of the following year, borne in great
quantities and usually covering the stems of female plants. Very attractive.

Berberis thunbergii, Japanese Barberry. Hundreds of cultivars available. A
nice combo is a mass planting of a red form interspersed here and there with
a chartreuse-green form such as 'Aurea'.

Viburnum trilobum 'Compactum', American Cranberrybush Viburnum. Great
flowers, fruit, and foliage.

Cornus sericea, Redosier Dogwood. This is very nice in winter if you have a
contrasting color behind it to show off the rich red canes.

Dave
Fairfax, VA


"Groundswell" wrote in message
...
Hi --

I live in the northern Washington DC suburbs and I'm looking for ideas
for a flowering hedge or thick border plant. I'm bored with the idea of
the typical yew or boxwood or privet. The location has mediocre quality
soil, it's neither heavy clay nor heavy sand, full to medium sun. The
length of the hedge would be about 40 feet.

I'm interested in something that is relatively low maintenance. It
doesn't need to be a privacy or security hedge, just something to define
the border and discourage the dogs and kids from running off the
property. Ideally it would thrive at somewhere between 3 and 5 feet.

One possibility is Rose of Sharon -- I have a couple of plants right now
and I'm used to taking care of it. I've had bad luck with azaleas for
whatever reason. I'm not crazy about the look of forsythia. I'm also
open to the idea of a mixed planting -- say 4 different plantings to
flower at different times of the year.

Any suggestions are welcome.