You might consider the original Knockout rose, Radrazz. I've read that it will bloom with as little as two hours of direct sun per day.

Thank you, colorado-plantswoman. You reminded me that I forgot to say one last thing: We have a herd of 9 deer that browse in the meadow below us every day/evening, and regularly travel through our yard. I've tried everything short of an electric fence or lethality to discourage them and can't say I've had much success. I looked at Radrazz now; it's beautiful. Bringing it up on google though there are many websites that say rosette disease is a huge problem.

That's interesting about rosette disease. Knockouts have been the darlings of the rose industry for years. How do you feel about Oregon grape holly? I had a Mahonia aquifolium for years, and I liked it because it was always doing something--blooming yellow flowers, producing blue berries, staying evergreen. Dee-resistant plants

I'm not a "shrub person," so can't help in that department, but here are some more deer resistant lists that might help you in this or future situations.

This one is from Rutgers and seems to be one of the best because it lists the plants by "degree" of resistance, so it gives you some idea of "how likely" they are to be eaten! Having said that, deer have very differing tastes, and at different times of the year will even eat things they "don't like" if other plants are scarce, so no list is really a guarantee of anything--just gives you a place to start! Also, sometimes they'll eat plants when they're very young and tender and leave them alone after they get larger and more established, so you may find protection will be helpful when they're just starting out!

You can change the parameters on this list to just see bushes or just perennials, or trees, vines, etc., and you can also change the list to search by Latin name.

http://njaes.rutgers.edu/deerresistance/

Here are three more lists than might help if you want to make comparisons, but don't be surprised when the different lists disagree with each other!

http://www.deer-resistant-plants.com/scientific-name.htm

http://store.msuextension.org/publications/YardandGarden/MT199521AG.pdf

http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1237.pdf

I checked the lists and Aquilegia is on them, so that is a possibility. You might want to consider the columbine I give away at the swaps, Aquilegia chrysantha. It's yellow, so it is definitely "bright," and it blooms for a pretty long time. The flowers are fragrant, with the "right" weather conditions sometimes very fragrant, but the downside for some people is that it reseeds PROLIFICALLY! I believe it would do well with your light conditions, but it would definitely need more water than your xeric things. Here's a pic.

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7KQ24ma12Jfn_8rIXA7lkvgUcP2kjYyd5Da_HXpBd-k?feat=directlink

Skybird

How about a weigela? Also I have a short, mountain variety of lilac that would probably do well there. Or Butterfly Bush?

Skybird, thanks so much for all your suggestions. I've been away, so didn't get a chance to answer. I think I'm going to try the columbine. There's a red one that I'm hoping would work too.

popmama, I looked at the weigela, and it's beautiful, but I'm afraid we don't get enough sun there. The two places I looked said weigela, as well as butterfly bush, do best in full sun. I hope to get something bright rather than blue or purple since we have so much of that already.

Thanks, popmama. I've been timing the sun in the space I'm trying to fill and so far it only gets about 45 minutes of late-afternoon sun a day. The house shades it the rest of the time, although I wouldn't say it's deep shade. I'm going to wait until May to plant anything, I guess. We really do need something about 3 feet tall at least. I was sure hoping for blooms there, but maybe it's an impossible situation. Thanks very much for your help. I'll look at yarrow (we already have a huge patch of yellow yarrow in our yard). I didn't know there were any red ones. We do have some daylilies that do very well in other places in the yard, but they're not very tall.

To add height, you could always build a "raised bed" under window with cement pavers or blocks. The downside: cost and labor, but there is a a couple benefits.

1: it would give you a little more height to be closer to the 3' with shorter plants.

2: you can fill it with soil more suitable for growing plants than the hard clay we typically see on the front range (particularly in a residential neighborhood and right up against the house no less)

3. Since your yard is more "xeric," which also often means they prefer a lot more sun as well, the different soil type and a different watering regimen would allow you to create what is known in "xeriscaping" as an oasis zone of plants that prefer richer, wetter soil, which many of the shade tolerant/shade preferring plants do.

Of course 2 and 3 can also be accomplished without building a raised bed, but from a landscaping perspective the hardscape of a decorative wall would give a definitive transition between the xeric yard and the mesic bed. Just some thoughts :).

I like this idea. A lot! Makes sense aesthetically and gardeningwise to me. Thank you!!

Even a broken clock is right twice a day haha.

That fact has been a great consolation to me personally!

Dad has a better saying about sunshine and a dogs hindquarters, but its not really appropriate for polite company :P

I had (moved them to a shadier area yet last fall) yellow columbine that I got from Skybird at one of the swaps that I had planted on the East side of the house with a porch overhang and a nearby tree. I was surprised at how long of a bloom it kept up - about 4 months. I have had other columbine in my previous yard and they'd bloom for a short time. It had large flowers in comparison to other columbines I had seen. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as to where I relocated them (new raised planter box) in the backyard.

I think it will be columbine, whether we put them in a raised bed or not. Do you know the name of the yellow columbine? I wish you good luck this year!

DH is saying we would need to put a back wall of blocks against the house if we make a raised bed because we can't have soil right next to the stucco. I think this would make a raised bed look less "connected" to the house and spoil the effect, but maybe not. I really like the raised bed idea.

Aquilegia chrysantha are yellow columbines (though not the ONLY yellow columbines). High Country Gardens has a couple different kinds, if you wanted to research them and see if you can find any at the plant store.

http://www.highcountrygardens.com/perennial-plants/aquilegia

Plant select has A. chrysantha "Denver gold." You can find Plant Select at many places here on the Front Range. http://plantselect.org/plant/aquilegia-chrysantha/. 

As for dirt right up on the stucco, you might be able to avoid that with a sheet of galvanized metal or something between the house and the bed, or even if you did do a wall of blocks, You wouldn't really notice with the plants there, I don't think.

Thanks again!