Trees, Shrubs and Conifers: I'll have the cheesy combo, 1 by Pseudo

Pseudo wrote:
I planted a Korean Spice last summer right next to the Syringa, but it was one of the few woody plants that died completely. The other was Cornus kousa. This spot only gets about 3-4 hours of direct sunlight, and I moved three struggling Diervilla's to this site. I spend a lot of time moving plants...

Just down from the Diervilla's is an A. palmatum, which as you can see didn't much care for our past winter. It survived, but looks just a bit ragged. Kind of how Keith Richards looks a bit ragged. I sited here thinking it was the best chance for it to survive. I'm actually surprised it came back at all, so I might have been right about that. However, more to MLM's point, I was wrong to plant it in such a visible location. Any ideas on what to replace it with? Calycanthus? Dang it, there I go again!