The stalks are probably from last year's blooms. This post was edited by Casia-NH on Sat, May 31, 14 at 22:35

Also the facts that should be considered when making a choice: -itea could tolerate both, full sun and part-shade, while clethra prefer to be in a more shady locations, -fall foliage of itea is very attractive crimson-burgundy, while clethra's is yellow-bronze, -itea blooms on old wood and could be/should be pruned if necessary right after the bloom, clethra blooms on a new wood and could be/should be pruned in early spring, -itea leafs out early, while clethra stays 'naked' till May.

I know it isn't a shrub, but Lobelia Cardinalis (Cardinal Flower) is a native perennials that will love the moisture, provide you with some beautiful flowers and attract butterflies. Nandinas will grow just about anywhere and with moisture as will Chokeberry. Redtwig dogwood is another option but it gets big. Leucothoe (related to Pieris) is another. As for Clethra, I just planted a Ruby Spice and the tag indicated full sun but also mentioned its shade tolerance. I have talked to several gardeners who say it will not suffer reduced bloom in partial shade. As for light, gardeners typically consider full sun to be that which occurs between 11-5 since that is the most intense light. Morning light is much less intense, so I think it counts toward the light total, but not as much as the sun between 11-5.

In addition to the suggestions aboveÂnote that actaea is a reclassification of cimicifuga, snakeroot, which is a terrific perennial I'd add astilbe and Celandine poppy (stylophorum diphyllum, much under-used in my opinion; it's a trouper), also, and despite opinions to the contrary, lots of different clematis, which you can grow nicely on a pillar or tripod kind of thingie in partial (even fairly heavy) shade. Gary