The best book of that sort is The Sunset Western Garden Book. This has a section in the front which has sections on Trees, Shrubs and Flowers of all sorts which can grow in your particular micro climate. As a landscape professional this is an invaluable guide. I strongly recommend any home owners who want to do their own planting to invest in this book.

the sunset western garden book is indeed a very useful (but not infallible) source of information and well worth a look. some evergreen shrubs to consider include viburnum tinus and escallonia rubra (this plant makes an excellent trimmed hedge), the native medium to large shrubs vaccinium ovatum/huckleberry and gaultheria shallon/salal/"lemon leaf", large shrubs to small trees include the evergreen arbutus unedo (excellent plant), prunus lusitanica (great screen plant much easier to deal with as tree or shrub than the more common p. lauracerasus/"english laurel"), the many different forms of the deciduous japanese maple (acer palmatum) or the native vine maple/a. circinatum, the hybrid dogwood cornus "eddy's white wonder" or the asian cornus kousa are good companion plants as well. for a large tree the native garry oak (quercus garryana) and/or the incense cedar (calocedrus decurrens) or the western red cedar/thuja plicata. add all sorts of native and introduced rhododendrons and azaleas various camellias (medium to large evergreen shurbs) plus deciduous hydrangeas and the tropical looking but generally hardy large shrub fatsia japonica and you have a lot of plants to potentially play with. all of these and many more are discussed in the garden book (and of course on the internet)--- i would also add that the university of british columbia has an excellent botanic garden that could provide a wealth of ideas and information on what plants to plant and how and where to plant them. good luck looking things up..

several other (IMHO) very cool plants to consider---paperbark maple (acer griseum) stunning peeling red/orange bark and brilliant red fall color, betula jacquemontii/himalayan white birch with beautiful smooth peeling white bark (superior plant to the commonly planted european white birch/b. pendula),, and for the exotic look if you have a wind protected spot to keep the leaves looking nice--chinese windmill palm/trachycarpus fortunei---hope this is of some help. good luck..

There is zone 9 in Canada? That can't be Sun intensity zone, I am 5 here in Pa, and hardiness zone 6. How can that be, the Ocean may help it be warmer near the coast, but zone 9?

Yes, zone 9 :-)) Many protected coastal areas of the PNW - like around Puget Sound, the San Juan islands, the inland waterway between mainland BC and Vancouver Island, etc., can all have pockets of zone 9 conditions. I myself live in one of these coastal pockets and my climate is significantly more mild than the small town just a couple miles inland. And even that is listed as zone 8 until you are up in the Cascade foothills. All in all, this is a pretty balmy place :-))

To the OP: I have a couple of thoughts.......first, you could hire a landscape designer or consultant to help you with the trial and error of plant selection and placement. A great (and pretty reasonable) investment with a blank slate canvas or if new to gardening in general.

The second thought is to go visit any public or botanical garden in your area. These will typically offer a large selection of climate-suitable plantings, including trees, and are usually labeled as to specific plant as well. Plus you can get a feel for placement and design layout as well. Butchart Gardens is a prime source in your area. Or the UBC Botanical Gardens and Van Dusen Gardens on the mainland.

first ... the EASIEST planting time is fall or spring.. not right now ... except for GAL .. she amazing.. lol ..

so you have plenty of time to go to parks.. take pix.. use the name that plant forum or here.. or any other forum.. to ID plants.. then start tracking down supplies for the proper planting season ....

and while you do that.. get out the lawnchairs.. and sit in your yard.. and figure out how you want to install them.. and for what purposes .... including future patios.. walkways.. sight blocks .... etc.. what one might call.. the backbones of your space ..

you could also post some pix of the barren backyard here for ideas..as well as the landscape forum ..

good luck

ken