You are in a different zone from me but some shade perennials that I have had luck with include woodlands like dicentra, hosta, and various ferns, plus shrubs like leucothoe.

And yes, you can grow your hibiscus in a pot. I have a tropical one that is 12 years old in a pot and I am about to put it back outside for summer this weekend. For your cold-hardy ones, you can let them die back naturally in winter. I am wondering if the ones you "lost" were actually tropicals and not the cold hardy ones. Since the cold hardy types bloom in summer, they are slow to sprout and leaf out in spring so they may not be dead at all and just haven't sprouted yet. The cold hardy "hardy hibiscus" (Hibiscus moschetos) and "Rose of Sharon" (Hibiscus syriacus) should be reliably hardy down to about Zone 5 (Zone 6 or higher if potted and left outside with protection). The tropicals (Hibiscus rosa-sinensis) can get frosted back to the roots or killed outright in Zone 8 and are marginal in Zone 9 with a need for protection during occasional frosts in Zone 9. Those are sensitive to temps below the 50s in any case.

I planted a couple of Rose of Sharon's last fall, and they are just now starting to leaf out, so I second what Jenny said about them being slow to "come out" in the spring, and hardy to at least -20. My DH thought mine were dead too and kept asking me what was up with those sticks, LOL. They do need a good bit of sun to bloom well though.

What about heucheras? Some varieties grow best in the shade, but mine are in full sun, and are doing fine. They come in all sorts of colors, and the foliage is just as interesting as the blooms. They would do well in a container. My favorites are 'Creme Brulee', 'Marmalade', and 'Peach Flambe', but there are many more great ones to choose from.

Heucheras are a good one. I have one myself (this is its 3rd year in a container). I bought mine for the flowers believe it or not (for my hummingbirds) but there is definitely some beautiful foliage on many of them, whether golden, pinkish, or deep purplish, that makes them a very popular perennial. They are generally evergreen too, so that is a bonus. It's been sortof hard for me to get a good picture of the foliage on mine, which is just plain green, but the flowers look like this:

{{gwi:30185}}

jenny_in_se_pa
Please tell me how you over winter the hibiscus in a pot. The tropical one that you have and is 12 years old in a pot and I am about to put it back outside for summer this weekend. I only have a small amount of window space and tried to save one from last year. I had to really trim the branches but it is a stick with leaves just now starting to come out. I live in MONTCO so it is zone 6. Thanks!

mdr944 - When I bring mine in - usually around Columbus day, I stick it by my balcony sliding glass doors where there is a plain floor-ceiling glass that is part of the door. In winter, I go no sunlight there (I face NE), but it is somewhat "bright". But more importantly, I have a table lamp with a 200W reading light near it, so it gets artificial light during the day. I reduce the watering a bit and cease fertilizing. It may have a bit of a shock and will yellow and drop some leaves but it recovers and will often give me a couple blooms in February or March.

I understand that some people place them in a cool dark spot, but then since they are evergreen, that tends to really stress them and they will drop leaves, but will resprout later when brought into warmer brighter conditions. But when that happens, they are very late to bloom since they bloom on new growth. However if you can keep it near a bright reading lamp, then it can hang on through the winter and can bloom too!

The main thing to look out for if you keep it in a bright or sunny warm spot inside, is to keep humidity around it. These can easily get spider mites if the air is too dry around the leaves, so either sitting it in a big pebble tray filled with water or using a humidifier (I keep a couple going in winter), will help.

I was trying to see if I had a fuller picture of it from last year when it was outside but I did manage to find one not long after I brought it in when it was still blooming:

{{gwi:30186}}

From an older picture of it when it is outside when it is blooming, it looks like this (my hummingbirds like perching on it and will peck at the flowers too):

{{gwi:724}}

Believe it or not, this was from Home Depot in a 2 gallon pot with 4 plants in it. It has slowly died back to two thick ones over the years, but I have actually never pruned it to shape (which I really really should do...LOL). I just prune off any dead or broken branches. It is in a 14" pot, which was about the biggest that I felt that I could lift (I have since potted a large coffee plant in a 16" pot, but that is a bit easier to lift since it is one central trunk that sits straight up).

jenny_in_se_pa
Thank you so very much for your help. I have all of my shrubs/trees in 12 inch pots; do you think that is too small?

As they grow bigger, I have tried to pot most to larger containers - except my blueberries, which have remained in their 12" pots for ages (and I usually remove the oldest canes on them every couple years). I have a young Sambucus nigra 'Black Lace' (black elderberry), along with a young Callicarpa americana (American beautyberry), and an Itea virginica 'Little Henry' all in 12" pots until they get bigger and more established. These were originally either 1 gallon size or smaller. I was going to pot the Sambucus up to a larger pot this year but ran out of 14" ones (but may use one I already have if I pot something else up to a larger size later). I think it will be okay in that for another season but I definitely want to get it up closer to its "permanent" container since it is a faster grower than the others.

On average, my shrubs and a tree are in 14" - 21" pots as their "permanent" homes. If you have a dwarf or "sub shrub" type of shrub, it might be able to stay in a 12" for some time but 14" or larger would be better if you can accommodate that size. When they are too potbound, they constantly demand water until you get them into a bigger pot, but you can do some top and root pruning to maintain it in a smaller one if need be. I have found over the years that they will often "self prune" (branches will die back) until the top matches the amount of roots that can support what remains, so some judicious pruning can probably head that off and give you a better managed plant.