HOw about a hydrangea? In your zone, you should have plenty of cultivers to pick from, so you should be able to find a bloom color that will work with the roses. Although a lot of the hydrangeas will get larger than 4', they can be pruned to keep them to size.

It rains plenty in Portland except in July, August and September when it hardly rains at all. Hostas grew like weeds for me in the house we rented before we bought this one and that was under a black walnut and a tree of heaven, both whom are supposed to suppress plant growth. I've had disappearing hosta here in shade beds under Douglas firs, arborvitae, boxwood, dogwood and Japanese Maples. The soil is red clay but I've been amending it with compost for over ten years. I have multiple ferns though some like deer fern also did the disappearing act. The hostas that have disappeared did not wilt or act water stressed. They just simply fail to come back in spring after a year or two and the second year is smaller than when planted. They were gallon sized when purchased. I have not been careful to not put the crown too low. I do plant rhodies, heathers and heaths high but never hostas. Here is a photo of one of the beds in March, don't you think it needs hostas?

Hi, everyone! I think I posted to this forum last spring when I was trying to choose plants to put in, and I did follow the advice you gave me then to go for less-variegated, darker leaved varieties. I'd have to go back and look at my notes, though, to tell you the names of what's there. Obviously I'm not a "real" hosta person! So, as to what's shading that spot: a house, a deck, a fence, and a nearby apartment building. Oh, and a few bradford pear trees. And a couple of blue atlas cedars. Even if there were no trees at all, it would be pretty shady. But the trees do make it worse. We've reduced them once before and will probably do it again in a year or so. It made a huge difference. But those trees provide an important privacy screen from our neighbors, especially the lower branches (which are not very low). In certain seasons, at certain times of day, some direct sun sneaks in, but never much. I actually watered quite a lot, since I'd put in so many new plants. I was pretty diligent about it. We also didn't have all that dry a summer here in the end. However I did slack off on the watering later in the summer when things seemed better established, so maybe it was an issue constraining that second growth. More likely, though, there just wasn't that much new energy gotten from the sun--that's my concern. About the critters and the ferns, I just don't know what else can make all of the foliage on a plant just disappear overnight, or sever a frond from the roots, or drag a plant two feet from where it was planted. Drought for sure does not make that happen. Some of those brave, tough little ferns grew back new foliage two or three times, only to have it stolen away again. I took a lot of pictures as the garden developed over the summer, and as soon as I figure out how to post them, I would be happy to. Thanks so much for your attention.

Except for the gardenia, which prefers more sun in our area, these plants sound fine. Look for dwarf pieris or sarcococca (S. humilis) to substitute for the gardenia. And you could add epimediums (some species) and hellebores to the mix as well, both of which are 'evergreen' perennials. Clematis armandii, the most common and best performing evergreen clematis for our area, gets to be a BIG vine, so plan accordingly. And while it is quite shade tolerant, it will grow to the sun and most flowering will be concentrated in this area. PS: Seattle is zone 8 :-)