I live in Iowa Falls and had some better luck with weigelas.

I planted some Pink Weigelas (weigela florida-W. rosea) in 2002 in a part sunny location and in a full sun location ... they all are over 4 ft this spring. The full sun location is near my down spouts and the part sun location is on my property line next to the neighbors large garage. The garage has no gutters so all these plants get lots of water when it rains. I have given each shrub a miracle grow spray "shower" each year after it's fully leafed out and bloomed.

My neighbor liked the shrubs so much she planted two in her front yard near the foundation. The plant near the down spout is 4 ft the plant not by a down spout is half the size.

I'm no expert or master gardener but ... water seems to be the key to weigela growth.

I also planted some red Bailey Dog Woods that really have grown fast and have nice red branches all winter.

My plants all came from Wal*Mart and Lowe's so theres nothing special about them.

Weigela should be hardy to zone 3. Maybe if you gave them a little extra water you'd see more growth.

Pete

Rugosa Roses make a nice informal hedge and some shrub roses bloom all summer. Neither of these are fussy, needy plants. I'm not a rose expert so maybe someone else here can give you advice on which roses to choose, or check at the rose forum. I usually find the perfect plants by accident.

I have Cardinal Dogwoods and they're filling in a corner of my yard nicely. They have pretty red stems in winter.

Cricket