I'd put in a small redbud.

That does not look to me like enough room for even the smallest cultivar of redbud.

where are you, both nearest large city and USDA planting zone. Between the walkway, the foundation, and the rock mulch, that area may well heat up considerably, depending on how much sun it gets. I would wait for a season to see how the butterfly bush fares during the heat of this summer before spending money on other plants.

I think we are in some 7a! Near Philadelphia.

The rock "mulch" is not encouraging for plants. And I fervently hope there is not plastic or fabric underneath it.

The rocks in ALL of your beds are going to present problems as far as plant choices and maintenance. I would get some enormous pots and use them to dress up the beds.

Well- not really. If it was ME I'd get rid of all those rocks, I would expand my beds to be deeper front to back, and I would use compost and mulch.

Rocks are HARD.

They are hard on your eyes, they are hard to work in (and you WILL have weeds that need to be pulled), they hold and reflect an enormous amount of heat, and they do nothing to contribute to soil quality. Unless you are in desert or water restricted area and do xeriscaping IMO there is no place for rocks as mulch.

I get that you like the clean aesthetic. That's because it is all perfect and new but it won't stay that way. Birds drop seeds, seeds blow, and weeds happen. Walking/working in rocks is terrible so we avoid it. Then you'll have weedy, hot, messy rocks.

But you've done it and hopefully you had a good reason.

But as far as plant recommendations go I say pots.

Agree with pots. Big, BIG pots that will hold enough soil to retain enough water to keep your plants alive.

You have created a plant oven. The work that has been done is lovely, neat, and clean. But not plant friendly.

I think an agave appropriate to your zone would look nice there. We have an awful lot of plants growing in rock mulch and thriving and any weeds we get pull up easily.

^^^ The above poster lives in an arid climate....one of the very few places where a rock mulch is appropriate. Gardeners in non-arid area, with normal rainfall, distinct seasonal changes and the usual amount of leaves, weeds and plant debris seldom found in more arid climates will find it to be an ongoing challenge and offering nothing of benefit to the plants it surrounds.

One should be able to discern from all the negative responses to a rock mulch from those living in a non-arid climate that this is not a sound choice.

btw, unless a plant collector, there is a landscape design concept known as genus loci that would discourage the use of something like an agave as being horribly out of character and misplaced in a Philadelphia garden. Much the same way the rock mulch is..........

Can you move the butterfly bush over to the circular area? It naturally has an arching branch shape and needs more room. You can trim off the branches on the lower sections of the trunks and have a multiple trunked tree-bush. Depending on the type of butterfly bush you have it can grow up to 6 ft.

I have a rocked walkway along the back of the house that is the French drainage solution for the sloping toward the house back yard and weeds are a constant problem that must be delt with.

Don't get discouraged. Show a picture of the whole house and that might help get others to offer some more advice.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to move the butterfly bush. I could always just remove it depending on what I put on that corner.

We have other neighbors with stone mulch and they have beautiful shrubs growing.

I understand your resistance.

But we've been doing this for decades (many of us 50+ years) and we are urging you to not try to cultivate plants with rocks as mulch. You are going to anyway.

And I get that, too. Some of us just have to learn through experience.

All I can say is please give us an update on your choices in fall of 2023.

It will take a huge amount of maintenance in very undesirable conditions.

I have one teeny tiny rock garden area and it is a nightmare. It is so difficult to walk, to kneel, to place a kneeler, to sit, to crouch, to crawl- it's just uncomfortable all around and I regularly hand weed for hours every day, I'm used to it. But the rocks cause me to put it off, and so much of the year I have ugly weedy rocks instead of the lovely, neat, ordered rock garden I have immediately after weeding. You'll be digging out wild onions, wild violets, dandelions, butt tons of bird dropped weeds from seeds, and every other damn thing that blew in.

IMO you'll rue the day, so to speak :)

But it's turned into a bit of a pile on here, so I'll stop now.

I do hope you enjoy the process of getting your yard to be exactly how you envision it. If you don't enjoy the work itself it's daunting, but just keep reading and learning and moving plants and trying things until you settle into walking the line between the vision in your dreams and the reality of keeping plants healthy and your beds weed free.

But I still want that update.

My dad has rock mulch and tries for flowers. Most die. Some that have survived--phlox, salvia (the perennial kind) and day lilies. Oddly the coreopsis died, it seems like it would have been hardy . . . as for a tree, maybe something evergreen like a holly or juniper . . . I've seen small crabs survive in hell strips, (on the edges of hot parking lots) so maybe a Sargent crab if you could find one . . . I wouldn't bet on a redbud. Maybe a chaste tree or crepe myrtle . . . I've seen those do ok close to houses . . .

Maybe some plants that like a Mediterranean type area like rosemary, lantana, sages, loropetalum, lavender, thyme etc