How tall is the house? If the plant can get sun once it gets to a certain height, there would be nothing wrong with getting a plant that won't perform optimally in shade but will survive. It will look good in the long run. If not... well, my ability to process common names is at a low ebb today and I can't even think what a weeping alaskan cedar actually is. But there are indeed weeping conifers of many species that might perform here. I'm thinking the very narrow types of Chamaecyparis nootkatensis might work, such as Green Arrow or Van Den Akker. KarinL

Suggest you contact your county's Extension Service office. Use this map http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/ Here is a link that might be useful: locate your County's Extension Service office

nandina will grow in the shade , abelia is better with more sun but would survive with your conditions, clethra does best in a moist soil, so probably not the best choice,both Japaneese and sasanqua camelias will get alot bigger than your space alots, you might be able to find some dwarf pieris, and kerria suckers ALOT. I might suggest you look into Encore azaleas. Most of the varieties are said to remain around the 5' range and they bloom in spring and fall. You would need to improve your soil with some soil conditioner and compost but these are wonderful shrubs. I have 9 different cultivars of Encores and I love them all.

I am another vote for removing the burning bush both because of its inappropriate size for the spot and because of its invasiveness. It will seed into your yard and your neighbors’ and into any wild or unmowed areas within flying or running distance of the birds and small mammals that eat the fruits. There are areas of woodland near me that are infested with burning bush, displacing native plants. In your situation I might take it back to the place that sold it to you, ask for your money back, and request that they stop selling invasive plants. If they won’t take it back and continue to sell them, take your business elsewhere. Start saving for a walkway that is at least 4’ wide with a landing and stairs as wide as the porch opening, and plan to replace when possible. As someone else mentioned if you move the walk further from the house so you have a bed that is 5’x6’, it will look better and allow you more choice for plants you can grow there. There aren’t many bushes that will stay narrower than 3’ without a lot of pruning, and in all honesty, you likely don’t want ones that need a lot of pruning. GG48 ‘s suggestion of sky pencil holly is one that will look nice all year, and some evergreens are helpful to make the house look nice in the winter. If you fill up the whole 3’, people using the walkway will end up feeling hemmed in or brushing against the plants, so narrower than 3’ or less than a foot in height will be better. I might plant one kind of low perennial or groundcover with a small vine on a flat trellis closer to the porch than the walkway. An annual vine that could work might be Thunbergia AKA Black-eyed Susan vine. An perennial vine that might work could include one of the small clematis bred for pots, but not one of the large ones like sweet autumn or Betty Corning. Then plant one type of low perennial or groundcover around its feet such as Veronica Georgia Blue or Sedum Angelina or thyme or creeping phlox. I would place any ornamental pots on concrete stepping stones set on either side of the walk, halfway between the walk and the pillars. You could decorate the trellis with little white lights for winter if you choose a vine.