Yews, euonymus kiatschovicus 'Manhattan', hydrangeas, some viburnums and liriope (L. muscari only, NOT L. spicata) are some starters. Vinca minor and English ivy are good IF NOT INVASIVE in your area (varies across the country). Harry Lauder's walking stick needs a bit of sun to do well, a few hours a day minimum. I tried to grow one in 90% shade and it has struggled. Hortster

The back of my house faces north, and I have a sloping bed next to the deck I am hoping to replant. The area is approx. a 10' x 12' triangle. I was originally thinking of a lilac for the corner where the deck meets the house wall, but it only gets sun for about 2-3 hours per day-from just before 2 p.m. til around 4:30 or so. Currently, I have a peegee hydrangea there, but it's been there for 3 years now and hasn't done anything to inpress-no height, no flowers, nada. So I want to move it somewhere else, and replace it, but with what? Now I am thinking a small tree. I am considering dogwood, redbud, Japanese maple, weeping cherry, ??? Maybe an evergreen. I want something that won't get too tall-no more than 12'-15', with a similar spread. Thanks!!

Mccord, I'm in almost the exact same situation as you. Of the variety of plants I've tried, the most successful is lirope. It borders the strip (mine is actually a curved bed) and they absolutely love it and are going on a good 7 years old. Behind them is the "dead zone". I have tried several different ground covers. Currently there is sweet woodruff which is giving a spotty performance and some ajuga, which stays cowering (but thick) in the solidly shady sections. This year I was thinking of trying nicotiania as I heard it's one of those sun-loving flowers that does pretty well in partial shade. I wanted to put in linum perrenne (blue flax) but am afraid it needs more sun than it'll get. Behind the dead zone are two azalea bushes, one of which is half dead despite it getting plenty of water and almost total shade. Next year I think I will pop them out and try something else, maybe a pink cletha.

As far as I know, there aren't many evergreen shrubs that are also host plants for butterflies. I've heard of people planting red bay (Persea borbonia) or swamp bay (P. palustris) which are evergreen and keeping them pruned to bush size, but they're only regularly used by palamedes swallowtails, which don't occur in north Alabama. Once in a blue moon I find a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar on mine, but it wouldn't be worth it for you. Spicebush swallowtails lay eggs just as freely on sassafras as they do spicebush, so you could plant some 'out back' for them. Sassafras doesn't need a shady swamp like spicebush. If I were you, I'd use one of the native viburnums for foundation planting, like V. acerifolium/maple leaf viburnum or V. dentatum/arrow wood. Maple leaf viburnum has some of the most beautiful leaves, plus azalea sphinx moths occasionally use viburnums as host plants. Bird just LOVE the berries! The best thing about the native viburnums is that they're so easy to grow, they can survive foundation soil, which is usually full of subsoil turned over by the builders and hard to repair. If your foundation area is real wet, you could plant the possumhaw viburnum, which is evergreen. The best wildlife plant out there is wild black cherry/Prunus serotina, but it makes a big tree. If you have a big enough yard, it would be well worth it to have several. It's host to both tiger swallowtails and red-spotted purples, plus many of the big moths, like cecropia moths, use it as a host plant, bees use the flowers, and birds love the fruit. In regard to butterflies, you probably should watch to see what butterflies occur in your area, look up their host plant/s, and plant them if you'd like to see more of them. Buttonbush is a real draw as a nectar plant for butterflies and MANY other insects, but, unless you have a consistently wet spot for it, it might not make it. I have about a dozen blueberry bushes which have gotten big, and they keep me and the birds eating blueberries from about the first week in June until August - I have different varieties that mature at different times. And they're SO easy to grow, no insecticides needed, just acid soil! There are many plants that make good nectar plants. I have a bottlebrush buckeye that butterflies just LOVE, but it only blooms once a year. You could plant some pentas, which butterflies like to nectar on and tersa sphinx moths like to use as a host plant. Of course, there's milkweed, the monarch host plant that all butterflies like to nectar on, zinnias, butterfly bush, and lantana, which can't be beat! A good butterfly book that includes host plants, and a good bird book would be a great buy! Sherry