I think you would be fine with hydrangeas there. If salvias are too floppy, try some veronicas or agastaches. You might even be able to grow baptista (false indigo). I have a similar exposure in my zone 5 Iowa yard. Trees along one side, and then it slopes too, so it is a bit of an odd long bed. It used to be grass and mostly invasive Asian honesuckle shrubs. I have only been gardening at this house for 1 1/2 years, so I am still experimenting; plus I am new to this zone and previously lived in zone 9. I first considered this area part shade and planted accordingly. Now I see there are pockets of more and less sun. In this area the plants doing best are: Hostas--This surprised me, but I see them in full sun around town now that I have started looking. Not sure if it is the same for zone 6. Foam flower--this looks GREAT right now with tidy foliage and is still blooming. I had some red tulips behind the foam flower and they looked lovely. Columbines--flowering nicely with airy foliage. Agastache--the one I have has short white flowers, but blues are common I think. Overwintered and re-sowed abundantly. My soil drains well so may be why they like it there. Garden phlox--were small plants last year from Bluestone spring sale. SO far they are growing nicely but will see if they flop. Today the whole area seemed to be in so much sun! Daylillies--will see how they do this year Foxglove--sowed last summer, getting ready to bloom, seems to be good for them in this spot. Monarda, bloomed last summer and no flopping. Soloman's seal--in a shadier pocket, but still gets some afternoon sun. Doing really well right now. helleborus--one little helleborus which has been doing great so far this spring, to my surprise. When I realized how sunny the spot was, I thought I'd move this little plant, but it is doign well. Toad lily--these are growing nicely and had attractive late flowers last year. Lobelia--there are some nice blue lobelias available. low growing veronicas--doing very well and blooming profusely. Happy planting. :)

Hi Vera, I was born in Puyallup, WA. I'm sure you know where that is, but we moved to WI when I was a year old. I've been back there to visit a few times, but mostly to visit relatives in Tacoma. As I can recall, Eastern WA is much different than Western WA......Eastern WA much flatter? Anyway, about the weather here - you can expect anything and everything. Our summers can be extremely hot, in the 90's,or 100's, dry or humid, droughts and flooding, long cool rainy Springs that never seem to end, or so short we seem to go from Winter to summer. (Same for Fall) No matter what the weather is, the Hostas survive. And as Ken mentioned above, plant whatever you want, and if it doesn't do well, move it. Have fun experimenting. I know I will. Julie

I think you can plan on all the hostas growing slower in more shade. I don't think there are any that actually prefer that level of dark, other than the spring dessication problem on Frances Williams and the other variegated sieboldianas - and if I were starting out a garden now, I wouldn't bother with any of those plants anyway. There are so many good ones without the worry of that genetic defect. I just looked at an Aurora Borealis that is is deep deep shade - after our cold snap, it is a total wreck... don't know why I don't put it out of its misery. This will be a terrible year for that whole family... So rather than shade tolerance, I'd be looking at a list of the fastest growing hostas, figuring the faster ones will be slower in the shade, but will still be faster than the slower ones in the shade... and I'd look for older, less expensive, tried-and-true varieties in the size and colors you like. Plants that did well in really deep shade - meaning grew faster than average - include Squash Casserole, Abba Dabba Do, Golden Tiara, Paradigm...

well ... hmmmm .... you are on the right track ... but working on the wrong variables ... i am going to come at it from another angle ... hosta are VERY HEAVY WATER USERS ... and they use the most water.. in the most heat .. which is why they struggle in the deep south ... they simply cant pump enough water to offset the loss ... and part of that is ... night temps.. they can cope better up here in MI because at night it cools considerably ... hosta actually sweat ... transpire ... in england.. which is above the 60th parallel.. or 2/3 of the way to the north pole.. they are ALL FULL SUN ... partly because the sun barely shines.. lol .. but also because of the declination of the sun.. the British are a pasty peeps.. because the sun is not as strong.. so the hosta can cope ... compare that to LA.. and you can see a stark difference. .. so.. hosta can grow in full sun .. hosta are only shade tolerant.. but the sun .. or conversely.. the shade is not really the issue.... its all about how effectively they can pump.. enough water. and if they have a recovery period to cope ... the fact that a hosta looks ratty in late summer.. is more a function of not enough water.. rather than too much light ... ken ps: zone.. which is.. in its simplest form.. MINIMUM WINTER TEMP ... has nothing to do with it .... pps: i have tons of wood hyacinths.. i dont know why you failed with those.. unless there are multiple plants under that common name ... ppps: hosta also have a requisite dormancy period.. and if you go too far south.. they dont get it ...