And Other Suggestions...?

As I set my sights on the perfect front yard:


Rhododendron? Check. Lilac? Check. Picturesque dog? Check (although the vet says chubby has to lose 14 lbs).

The problem is that bush at the corner:


It's ugly. It grows in funny directions. It's hard to trim. And it has no flowers, which is a cardinal sin for yard shrubs in the northwest.

It needs to go.

This may be a summer project. But, does anyone have any suggestions about what to plant instead?
For reference, the blue hydrangea is behind it. The lilac is just out of the picture, to the right. And the English Bluebells below it probably won't last through June. This was also the bush that had the alleged Rose of Sharon bloom underneath it.

Obviously, I'm not expecting something that will get that big right away (that thing is a good 7 feet). But I just want something with a little less boring.

Another Identifier

So we have a cool lilac bush in the front yard:

But next to it is a bush that apparently, years ago, was trimmed back to a stump, only to grow new branches and flowers:


Is this another form of lilac? They oddly have almost no smell.

One Year Later

This weekend, it will be one year since we first saw the house. An arbitrary anniversary, sure, but it made me think about what the garden looked like then. One bush that I remember from out first viewing looks the same this year:


But, I don't remember the side yard looking this full:


This was a pleasant surprise...and, I'm happy to say, did not require much work. I just had to weed below the retaining wall.

But...the base of the retaining wall looks a little spare. There were some nice flowers there last summer, and I never checked to make sure they were perennials. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.