Question
We have a gray townhouse with white trim in Baltimore, MD with a North/Northeast exposure. The front of our house catches the morning sun and spends the remainder of the day in shade. We have a 4'x4' flower bed to the left of the steps leading to our porch and a  4'x13' flower bed to the right of the steps. We recently removed a purple Rhododendron from the smaller bed and 3 pink azaleas bushes from the larger bed. (We also removed a dead Crape Myrtle from the center of the yard.) We're looking for a garden design with more soothing colors that compliment the color of our house without overpowering the small yard. I love hydrangeas and would like to plant bluish/purple ones in the larger garden. But I don't know where to go from there. I love that they bloom for so long, but in the winter they won't be so attractive. What would be a nice complement to the Hydrangeas that will look nice year round? And should I plant something different in the smaller bed to the left or keep the continuity and continue the plant pattern across?  

Answer
Hmmm.  Year-round, in the shade/near shade, in the northeast is a tough one.  My initial thought for color compliment is Blue/Red/Purple and maybe a touch of white.  You'd be hard-pressed to get an evergreen to survive in full shade.  There is more shade in the winter, as the sun is lower on the horizon - especially with a foot of snow on top of everything, too!

Here are some suggestions for your shady yard:
Annuals: Wax Begonias, Impatiens, Balsam
Perennials: Bleeding Heart, Hostas, Japanese Iris
Bulbs: Lily  hybrids - not the orange ones - red/pink, maybe
Vines: Climbing Hydrangea (H. perioleris), Boston Ivy
Groundcovers: Ajuga (really nice with Hydrangeas), Wild Ginger, Lady Fern, Liriope (expecially nice with the dark-blue varieties), Periwinkle
Shrubs: Aucuba (white/green variety), Mahonia, Vibernum, & Japanese Andromeda.

All these plants will thrive in semi & full shade.

Hope it helps.  -Marc