You are getting great suggestions so far...I grow most of the plants listed above and the deer (usually) leave them alone. Let me add a few I didn't spot...all are surviving in my yard with little supplemental water--in spite of drought. Carex 'Evergold'--mounding, variegated, evergreen, deer haven't touched it in my yard. It should be hardy in your zone. (I'm 7b.) Omphalodes cappadocica 'cherry ingram'--listed as hardy in zone 6... beautiful blue flowers in spring--attractive leaves in summer once blooms have faded. Peonies --at least here in NC. They benefit from some sun in the morning, shade in the afternoon. Gorgeous blooms in spring to early summer--attractvie foliage thereafter. Deer don't touch them. Pulmonaria--several varieties. Bloom in spring--but I grow them for the beautiful variegated leaves. The blooms are just a bonus. Convallaria majalis (Lily-of-the-Valley)--Yes, it blooms in the spring. But the foliage is attractive, and the deer DO NOT TOUCH IT. (At least, not in my yard!) Aruncus dioicus--another spring bloomer that has interesting foliage...good texture plant. Nice fall color as well. Polygonatum commutatum and/or Polygonatum odoratum 'Variegatum' (Solomn's Seal) --the variegated form is nice...but I like the solid green as well. Another great texture plant. You are going to have one wicked cool shade bed!

I would really love a small clump of black bamboo if anyone has any to trade. I will be bringing: Penstemons tenius, pinifolius, whippleanus and kunthii Riverside Grapes (Vitis riparia) Basye's Purple Rose Hedysarum coronarium Darmera peltatum Brugmansia versicilor peach (cuttings and a couple of plants) Maybe some Crambe cordifolia babies too. I'll bring many other odds and ends as well. I can bring seeds from my seed list too if you want to see it please e-mail me and I will send it to you. Linda Thistledown Farm

yeah, theres no shortage of oregon grape here! theres epic patches of it that covers miles of forest in the mountains. i picked until my hands got tired! its a great, very powerful medicinal. to be able to harvest the best part, the root, you do have to kill the plant, so thats kinda sad... but in areas where its really established, its basically just dividing them up, the place you take them up from will fill in again as it spreads by roots. if the OP is still around, i have several of those for trade

Wow, I am surprised that there is interest in this thread, I had posted this ten years ago! I took a break from this site for years, but I am back with a slightly different screen name. I am still growing many of the double flowered trillium. It is my understanding that it is against the rules to be selling any plant material here on GardenWeb, and when this was originally posted ten years ago it brought out a number of people that thought because I was growing so many of these that I would agree to trade it for something that I had no interest in, or that I would just send them some because I had so many. That was a learning experience for me! Here in Ohio bagged Fafard soil mixes are still available, I don't remember which exact mix I used for pot culture, but it was one formulated for containerized perennial plants. Trillium would probably do well in any soil mix that has a percentage of fine bark in it, and one that drains well. Over the winter I would "trench" my potted trillium burying the pots in the ground just under the rim of the pot. It has been my experience that rodents have no interest in their rhizomes, there is a large population of voles and chipmunks here that have never ever bothered any of my trillium. It is the deer you have to watch out for - I think they can smell trillium for miles and are attracted to it like a magnet once it is producing leaves and flowers. Last spring I had deer eat a section of my trillium bed down to the ground and will put up fencing this year as soon as I see them starting to grow. They don't usually show any signs of growth above the ground until the beginning of April here, so don't despair, it is still early in the season. Be patient and they will grow for you. Here are pictures of my trillium bed last spring, this is Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon' that blooms at the same time and is a nice companion plant.