Obviously, you love ornamental grasses, but if you put them on an east or north-east exposure, they may not love you. Start with one or two; don't go too nuts -- they might not get enough sun, so you don't want to be experimenting with a big investment. Improve your soil and whatever you get, you need to water regularly (at least 20 minutes of gentle watering every three or four days unless it rains) so you won't have bad spider mite infestations and so azaleas can thrive in what should be perfect light conditions for them. Don't plant shrubs right up against a tree trunk, of course -- they need room for their roots to grow and get water. Hollies and yews should be easy-care, so if they are not doing well for you, examine the soil and your watering schedule. I would put some lovely small ornamental trees -- one, two or three -- near the front door. Try amelanchiers (serviceberry trees) or a cercis. You will get a bit of uplifting height with those slender trunks; the foliage on those is mostly airy and up top. Flank those with Japanese maples -- simple, green viridis -- or part-shade shrubs with lacy foliage... perhaps that newer cultivar of sambucus -- what is it called, 'Black Lace'? 'Black Beauty'? Something like that. Anchor with (evergreen) rhododendrons and/or azaleas, perhaps some mountain laurel (kalmia) or very late-flowering camellia. Tuck a few hydrangeas behind the lower evergreen shrubs. Perhaps also a viburnum or three, but only if it can get some sun. Perennials: hellebores, hostas, epimediums, bergenia, brunnera. Bulbs: ipheion, chionodoxa. Groundcovers: lamium, asarum europaeum. Annuals: impatiens, of course.

the red foliage comes from either euynomous or barberry. Both have their drawbacks...euynomous being that it's not "dense" like boxwood is and the barberry can get weedy and it's very stickery...has thorns. Privet is another for your area that takes to close shearing. Another is arborvitae, fora sunny spot and yew for shady areas. The thing to remember when shearing a hedge is to always make sure the top is a little narrower than the bottom to allow sun to reach the bottom so it doesn't get woody and lose the leaves at the bottom. Linda C

Depends on whether or not you also wish to view the grasses from inside. If so, either the C.x a. 'Karl Foerster (although it is taller in flower) or the Panicum. The Panicum v. 'Shenandoah' is great in full sun; so would be 'Heavy Metal,' 'Dallas Blue,' or a somewhat new one, 'Warrior' (sometimes called 'Squaw,'), which seems to be as red or redder and more purple in flower than 'Shenandoah' or 'H. Herms.' Panicums are a good foot shorter in flower (5') than the 'K. Foerster.' Another grass, judging by your photo, that would look good there is Achnatherum calamagrostis (aka Stipa c.). Grows to about 3' in flower, with pale green inflorescenses as early as late June. Foliage turns tawny in autumn. Likes moist but well drained soils and full sun. The 'Karl Foerster' and the Achnatherum are cool-season growers, so they will grow, green-up and flower earlier in the season. Panicums are late starters (warm-season) and tolerate (doesn't mean "prefer") dry conditions, but only once established. Generally, the cultural requirements for these three genera are about the same. [A soaker hose might be useful.] If your summers are hot AND humid, go with Panicum.

Thanks for the generous suggestions, everybody. bubba62, I'm concerned that you're right about bletillas and hellebores (especially the caulescent ones) not getting enough sun to flower in areas like what I'm working with, and neither genus has a lot of ornamental value without flowers. Iris japonica is an excellent recommendation and a good example of exactly the kind of tip I was looking for. It's a plant that I've never grown in my yard, but that I've always admired elsewhere. I think it will provide nice semi-evergreen foliage, occasional flashy flowers, and kind of a spreading groundcover effect, even in dark shade. Cool. I also agree with your assessment of Illicium henryi as a choice selection, but unfortunately, I don't know of any nurseries around here that offer them in anything larger than 3-gallon pots, so I'll probably have to stick mainly with my old standby, I. floridanum 'Halley's Comet.' Tricyrtis, Saruma, Asarum, Disporum, Disporopsis, Speirantha (my favorite), Trillium, etc., etc., etc. are all worthy suggestions, but for now I think I'm going to focus just on larger, more substantial plants as I lay out the structure of the new beds, and then go back later and fill in the gaps with smaller little perennials like those. jeff_al, I agree completely about Pachysandra procumbens, although I find its slow spread almost as frustrating as the aggressively rapidity of P. terminalis. Still, a better all-around choice, and I've put it on my list. ncdirtdigger, leatherleaf viburnum is another great example of exactly what I was looking for with this post. It's another plant that I have never grown and had sort of forgotten about, but I have seen it prospering even in very heavy shade. And I think it's really pretty, too, although I've known some people to be repulsed by the droopy, wrinkly texture of the foliage. Aucubas were already on my list, but definitely worth another mention as indispensable elements of the deep shade landscape in this part of the country. I'm not sure if winter daphne will get enough sunlight to flower in any of the areas I'm working on, but I love it so much that I think it I'll give it a try. If nothing else, I know that it's one of the few shrubs that won't be bothered at all by the extreme root competition that it will face from the maples and sweetgums in the wooded portion of the new beds. birdannelady, aren't fatsias terrific plants? I can't imagine having a dark, shady garden around here without it. I've already bought and planted two in my new beds, and may get more as the layout continues to evolve. Which variegated osmanthus do you have? My usual go-to favorite one is 'Goshiki,' which is gorgeous in light to moderate shade, but loses a lot of its color in heavy shade. Maybe other variegated varieties are better-suited to these conditions. What kind of acanthus are you growing? I like acanthus, but I don't really think of them as plants for dense shade. But I don't have a lot of experience with them, and I haven't really experimented with them very much. You're also exactly right about competition from tree roots being as big a problem as the shade itself. And I too have faced the catch-22 of the situation where each and every thing that we as gardeners do to provide good conditions for the roots of the plants we plant (soil amendments, fertilizer, supplemental watering, etc.) also end up promoting the roots of nearby trees to invade the hole and compete with your new plant. Some trees seem to be particularly bad (magnolias, river birches, and the worst: red maples), but most trees pose this problem more or less. It's a conundrum that I've never solved if you have any tips about how to cope with that paradox, I'd love to hear it. Nonetheless, I'm a big fan of edgeworthias, too, and in fact I bought one the other day for the new bed. Hopefully I can find a spot for it where it'll hold its own. Anyway, thanks again for all the help. I've begun acquiring some plants, but I continue to add to my list of others to consider for inclusion. In a lot of cases, I think the thing to do is just to find which plants will work there through some trial and error. But if anybody has any more suggestions or tips, please keep 'em coming. I really appreciate it.