OH and kid and pet friendly. So no Oleander, even though I really like the looks of it. :)

Full sun in Sacramento IS a bit too much for camellias. But there are many other possibilities. I would avoid just choosing one kind of shrub but in various colors. The bloom times tend to be too close together so all the flowering occurs at once, leaving you with just a green shrub for a good portion of the season. And you run the risk of a disease that could run through the whole planting. More interesting to mix it up a bit.

here's some you could consider:

Ceanothus - California lilac

Rhapheolepis - Indian hawthorn

Abelia x grandiflora

Escallonia

Acca sellowiana - Pineapple guava

Buddleia lindlyana - Butterfly bush

Callistemon sp. - Bottlebrush

Tibouchina urvilleana - Princess flower

Plumbago auriculata - Cape leadwort

Leptosepermum scoparium - Tea tree

Grevillea

A visit to a better local independent nursery should offer up these and many other possibilities.

A brief browse through some websites gave me:

Salix integra 'Hakuro-nishiki'

Love buddleia but it looks so weedy if not in bloom (or maybe that's me being picky)

Rhododendron

Azalea

Ceanothus

Caryopteris x clandonensis

OH, I do have a grevellia I love behind the tupelo. I need to remember which one it is so I can repeat it further down. That's a great idea.

Ca Lilac - do they last awhile? The nursery said they're kinda a short lived shrub.

Indian hawthorn - look nice but our front yard is filled with them...literally the builder put in a sea of one shrub...like 12 of them. Maybe I should move a few to the backyard...I love them but the front yard makes me tired of them. I want to redo the shrubs in the front too but I'm trying not to get ahead of myself. :)

I'll look at abelia again.

And escallonia. Think I recall really liking this at the nursery.

I LOVE pineapple guava but my hubby has something against fruit because of the mess...despite the nursery telling us they don't really fruit much around here. Can't get him on board with this one.

Buddleia...to me they look weedy when they aren't in bloom. Does it get better as it gets bigger??? I guess I've only seen them as the little things in pots at the nursery. Never seen a large one.

Callestemon...we WILL be using these mixed in the back border we just haven't gotten that far yet. Hubby loves these. Are there any large ones? Not trees, but just tall shrubs?

OOO I forgot about princess flower.

THANKS!!!

Yes, I do plan on visiting the nursery, but I like to have a short list of things I want to NOT miss. So I don't accidentally skip over them. And to supplement the nursery suggestions which seem to always be photinia and pittosporum.

Maybe I should finish the back planting area first and then take what we use back there to do a mix of shrubs along this side fence. Hmm..

Oh and then there's always Viburnum.

California lilacs are only short lived if you are too nice to them :-) No supplemental irrigation after establishment and no fertilizer. The ones in my old PNW garden are approaching 30 y.o!!

GG recommended Buddleja lindleyana which is a much more graceful plant than the usual twiggy 'Butterfly Bush', Buddleja davidii and its cultivars.

Thanks so much! I like plants that thrive on a little neglect so maybe CA lilacs are right up my alley.

And thanks floral...I will definitely look up Buddleja lindleyana. I think of the regular twiggy butterfly bush and never give them a second thought but I'll definitely check this one out... Thanks!