I'm growing some others that may be ok with your shade, probably the best is Aronia aka chokeberry. According to Wiki, "red chokeberry is more palatable and can be eaten raw" with red and black making excellent jam and wine. I have Mahonia aquifolium aka Oregon grape doing very well in full shade next to Leycesteria formosa plants that you might possibly want to try. The berries at best tasting pleasant like caramel depending on the individual plant. You may strike lucky and get a very good tasting berry or something you wouldn't want to eat twice. I have several Prunus laurocerasus. Mine didn't like being under dense trees but can deal with a few hours sun a day or maybe a north wall. I've seen these sold as vase shaped 6 footers that didn't look very suitable for my confined garden, my own plants have grown more reasonably. You may be able to grow a Berberis vulgaris and I'd say do it if you can, on a corner with a few hours sunlight if possible. It will become a large attractive shrub in a few years, loaded with Barberrys. These are pretty good when fully ripe and containing the antioxidant berberine. There was an old elusive seedless variety that has been thought missing but a specimen might turn up someday somewhere in Europe. It's thought that this seedless cultivar is the same as the Zereshk of the zereshkestan orchards of Iran, berberis grown together with saffron.It seems probable but good luck getting hold of a seedless one. When I first started growing I cut down a huge 10 year old shrub to make room for fruit plants. It was a Berberis vulgaris I was soon to learn and I was kicking myself. Luckily I hadn't completely destroyed it and it now produces about 200 Barberries. This would've been 10,000 if I'd have left it, several thousand if I had known what it was and pruned it carefully. :( You can't win 'em all. I might take a photo tomorrow to show how it sprung back (an invasive plant in places apparently).

Well, I can't tell you specifically, because mine are in full sun. But, other honeysuckles (Lonicera), such as the Tartarian honeysuckle which takes over all of the roadsides and woodlands, thrives in limited sun. I suspect that the honeyberry would be the same. It's described as being a forest dweller in it's native habitat. Black raspberries would do ok in the type of situation you describe, and probably currants and gooseberries as well.

One largish shade tolerant perennial is Cimicifuga AKA Actea which blooms for a couple of weeks in early fall with white bottlebrushes. There are cultivars with dark reddish foliage that are decorative all season. Variegated Solomon's seal has subtle spring flowers, but they aren't the main reason for growing the plant. Its arching green and cream foliage is lovely. My Georgia blue veronica makes a lovely groundcover in substantial shade, blooming mid-dark blue now and then keeping tidy foliage the remainder of the season. There are some ferns that are drought tolerant, but I don't know what they are off the top of my head. I like using Missouri Botanical Garden's plant search even though they are a bit warmer than I am, and they also have pages devoted to problem areas. Plants for dense shade: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Resultspsp8.asp?pspid=9 Plants for dry shade: http://www.mobot.org/gardeninghelp/plantfinder/Resultspsp8.asp?pspid=10 Here is a link that might be useful: Missouri Botanical Garden's plant search

Isabella Skinner is a free-standing shrub of sorts. She got 7' tall here. Her canes were upright, so they couldn't be wrapped easily... BUT she will not stand alone. She needs to be supported big time, especially if you let her grow without taking out canes. She is a cane factory. I wanted to love her, but her blooms shattered quickly and the repeat was twice in a season with scattered blooms in between. She was by my patio and just was too much to take care of. I had 3 of them in an 8 foot area, and it was too much. :) In all fairness to her, I only had them for 2 years and yanked them out. (I am a notorious shovel pruner). So she may have improved in the cane strength area. The other thing is, I had her in morning sun and afternoon shade. She would have done better in a full day of sun. If I were to grow her again, I would have a big trellis, one plant, and tie her up like crazy. So failure of Isabella Skinner in my yard was probably more my inexperience with tall roses than her shortcomings. Try her... You might have better success and your expectations may be different than mine... Which I think now were unreasonably high. Rebecca