How about oakleaf hydrangea (h. quercifolia)? These have oak-shaped leaves which are deep green in summer when the long white flowers are borne. In fall the foliage turns deep gold and russet while the flowers gradually age to muted pink. Snow Queen is a reliable cultivar which will grow to 6', but there are dwarf forms as well. I grew this when I lived in the Midwest as well as in the Northeast, and it looked good year round. For perennials, my favorite flowering plant for shade is monkshood (aconitum), mainly for the gorgeous deep blue flowers which are produced from summer to early fall. I grew this in a shade border with astilbe, cimifuga, rodgersia, ligularias and fringed bleeding heart (dicentra eximia). Cheryl

CarrieB see the thread Clematis in a Tree. I have several pictures there. Perle d'Azur in a variegated privet. Durandii grows in the cage behind the bird house. Integrifolia in the front wire obelisk. Integrifolia in a wire pineapple shaped form (hidden in this picture for the most part). Here is the actual support for above. Petit Faucon in a spiral topiary. The actual topiary form. Andante in another rusty obelisk. Olgae in a tomato cage. Also have Hakuree growing in a similar cage. A rusty iron chair that houses Arabella and Roguchi.

You can use just about anything to make a pattern.Just find something you like and trace it onto the gourd with graphite paper or tracing paper,then paint away using the original pattern for reference.If the pattern is smaller than you want you can have it enlarged and a print made,or do it yourself if you have a scanner/printer.Be sure to clean and prepare the gourd for painting first.Have fun......Lillie

The birdhouse would be inside a cube made of grids. Nothing larger than 1 1/2" could get in, so the birds could fly through the grids but the squirrels and other larger predators could not. Sort of like a birdhouse in a cage, but the cage is to keep varmints out, not birds in.