I am in Mississippi and the spot where the pot will be is facing the south. So it will be full,hot sun all day. That's why I am being so careful about plant selection. The tubs are antique washing machine tubs, they are white and are very large. I have considered several shrubs, perennials, and grasses. But since the site is next to my front door, I would really love to have something evergreen, if that is possible.

Labels for the photos of April 9: Photo 1 has 3 large shrubs, front to back: Fat Albert Blue Spruce, Coppertina ninebark, Shadbush of some type. Lower growing, back to front: Amsonia hubrichtii has the feathery leaves and very pale blue flowers; the bright pink flower on a low bush in front of the blue spruce is a rhododendron, I think Independence Day; The bright purple is a Salvia, but I don't remember the type, and the one sort of between the rhodie and the salvia is a Hellebore seedling. Photo 2 has two Rhododendron Olga Mezitt with a combination of green and bright red leaves, one on the far right in front of the dark green arborvitae Techny and one in front of the bright yellow spice bush. The yellow tinted arborvitae between the Rhodie Olga Mezitt is Sunkist. The red, yellow, green shrubby thin between the Sunkist arborvitae and the right side Rhodie is one of the same varieties in the first photos, Amsonia hubrichtii in all its fall glory. The blue-green low groundcover in front of the Sunkist arborvitae is Greystone dianthus AKA pinks (though it is white flowered) and the rambly out-of-control groundcover near the front left is Nepeta AKA catmint. There are a couple of the same Fat Albert blue spruces, one to the left of the yellow spicebush, and one just peaking out to the right of the Sunkist arborvitae. Here are some photos from earlier in the life of this bed when it was in its third growing season. I deliberately left lots of room for the shrubs to grow, so there is quite a bit of mulch showing. Since then I've also added a few plants here and there as I could shoehorn them in. From June 2010 This covers much of the same area as photo 2 above, and though the trellises shown here are still in the same place, they are not nearly as visible now as they were in 2010 when this photo was taken. The Techny and Sunkist arborvitae are smaller as are the Fat Albert blue spruce. The purple flowers are the Nepeta AKA catmint, and the white flowers are the Greystone dianthus AKA pinks. The feathery plant to the right and slightly behind Greystone is the Amsonia hubrichtii in its first season. To the right of that in front of the blue spruce and also in its first season is one of the Rhododendron Olga Mezitt. From June 2010 This is a close up including the blue spruce, Amsonia, and Coppertina ninebark (plus a tiny bit of the rhododendron's leaves at the bottom) from the first photo in my earlier post. And here is a photo looking down the bed to give an idea of how relatively sparse it was in its third season. From June 2010 I spent a bit more money than I often do on the evergreens to get reasonable sized plants, though I did buy them at the autumn sales in 2007, since I wanted medium-slow growing evergreens. Many of the rest of the plants have been added as quart pots, or in the case of the hydrangeas in this bed as, rooted cuttings in 4" pots. I knew that the hydrangeas, clematis and perennials would get larger faster than the evergreens so the smaller plants would catch up. Here's a photo (taken from a higher vantage point so things look a bit shorter than they are) of the whole bed from the end where photo 1 from April 9 was taken. This is one of the quietest times of year in this bed, after many of the spring and summer bloomers have stopped, but before the fall color erupts. There are still a couple of hydrangeas not very visible in this photo, some asters, colchicum bulbs blooming, and the white fluffy seedheads of clematis along with varied foliage texture and color.

There are different types of shade. If your shady corner is open to the sky it gets more light, even with the roof overhang, than if a tree also shades the area. Between the spring and fall equinoxes, an open, northeast-facing area will get some morning sun. This is important because even shade plants do better with some light. If this area is densely shaded, your best choice would be ferns. Summersweet (Clethra alternifolia) prefers sun to part shade but will grow in full shade, or morning sun with afternoon shade. Summersweet can also be a large shrub so plant it about 3 ft away from walkways, walls and such. This shrub prefers moist to wet soil. It is useful for stabilizing stream banks and widens by suckers. Its late awakening can be exacerbated by location. A shady spot can remain cool longer tricking the plant into thinking it's still early. It's at the northern edge of its range, but the yew (Taxus x media, var. Densiformis) is an evergreen that does well in shade. Its mature height is around 3 ft, but its width is 5 ft. The plant is poisonous, so don't put it where small children or pets can get to it. I'm suggesting this plant for the following reasons: it takes shade; it is long-lived and slow growing but can be cut back if needed; it's not particular about soil type or pH, though it won't take wet soil: it has bright red berries in the fall. Here is a site that may help with plant selection as the state includes hardiness zones 3 to 5. University of Minnesota

@lbooras54 I would point out that you have a lot of large trees in the view of your deck. So to plant another tall tree in your planter creates a somewhat boring repetition of the same vertical shape. One of the things I like about the Mugo Pine suggestion is that the bush form of pine will offer a contrasting shape and texture to the trees in the backyard. At the same time, the plant can easily survive your winters and will stay evergreen. The shape of the Mugo Pine is quite attractive and will be a focal point for the deck, particularly if you plant two of them in different locations. From the list @gardengal48 provided, I think the Sherwood Compact variety. looks interesting.