hiya! same zone, and i have 2 beds (working on a third) for shade, by a creek. hostas, blues look BEAUTIFUL in shade, astilbe, ligularia (not rocket, but desdemona, or dentata), heucheras, day lillies, toad lilies, lobelia, epimediums, and my favorite back there, for color, non-stop begonias, just keep them on the dry side in nice 50/50 organic soil (hummus) and they will do very well. :)) send pix when you have them - i'd love to see what you come up with! :)

If you are looking for a tree, we took a chance putting in a "full sun" Arizona cypress (cupresses arizonia "Carolina Sapphire") and it's VERY happy in light shade. I love it's silvery-green color.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have Ligularia dentata growing from seed right now! I have taken before pics already but I have a 35 mm camera for now. So, I am going to get the pics developed on disks and then I will certainly post the before and afters. Dawn

I have a small alberta spruce tree that gets a few hours of morning sun and is doing great!

Once upon a time in a late fall I divided phlox 'David' and due to the absense of immediately available sunny spots planted divisions 'temporarily' on a north side of the house where sun visitiations only allowed by the 1-1.5 last hours of the day.
Hehe, nothing is more permanent than temporary.
They are there for third season already and floriferous pretty much as those that in full sun. Only difference is that they bloom later and don't have enough time to produce second set of blooms if I cut spent flowers. Though, flowers last about 2 weeks longer than in a sun.
Some lilies, especially late blooming martagon and L. speciosum will bloom good in a part shade.

PHLOX will grow in shade??? and flower??? that's a new one as i had my hands on david seeds and was told no no no FULL sun! i'm gonna try and see what happens! ty, ego. :)

dawn, that ligularia is soooo pretty! deep purple tops with green undersides, that really stand out in the shade. and the flower is lovely as well. can't wait to see your pics! :)

also, i picked up some dwarf hydrangeas, pia, for the shade gardens as i have never grown hydrangeas and was a bit skittish about trying a full shrub back there. so far they seem happy but it's still early! :)

Rudbeckia triloba is probably the best for shady conditions. And I've had good results with phlox in mostly shade conditions too.

Nasturium does not do well in shade for me at all. Neither does Phlox. Neither do irises, also advertised for part shade, for that matter.

Plants which have exceeded my expectation in not only shade, but dry shade are:

Hydrangea Annabelle
Goat's Beard (Arunculus)
Climbing Hydrangea (petiolaris)
Lady's Mantle
variegated dwarf dogwood
viburnums
clematis (any that tolerates northern aspect is fine)
Heuchera
Dicentra- Bleeding Hearts
lilies
daylilies
lily of the valley (invasive)
hostas, of course
Pachysandra (can't imagine a more difficult place it grows in and survives, and is evergreen!) It is very invasive in normal conditions, though

Shade:
all of the above and:
azaleas
Japanese yellow grass (ornamental grass, but not too big)
Periwinkle
Daphne mezereum
rhodos
Fallopia
Toad lily
Maltese Cross

I just realized that I was off topic :)

That was great magda. I forgot about Maltese Cross. I will put that there also. All the ideas are great.......thanks guys!!!!

Merry Berry Holly.
Martha

Jeez! Nobody even mentioned the lowly Impatiens.(Or if they did I missed it.) Planted in mass, they make a great colorful border. And talk about exceeding expectations: They just keep reseeding and reseeding. If you are not careful they will sprout up just about anywhere. Make a great potted plant on a shady patio, as well..

no one mentioned sweet woodruff. its a happy little shade plant, but just a ground cover. right now i'm surprised at how well a mock orange is doing in the shade-- itsa 2 year old transplant so it hasn't started to bloom.

of course spring bulbs are nice if it's not ever green shade. as are some of the spring ephemerals. columbine does well and can repeat some times. feverfew-- can be a pest
burt tolerates shade as does golden hops (helps slow it down.

diggerb