Linda ....
There are different kinds of shade ... just to confuse things:
Dry Shade
Deep Shade
Woodland Shade
Dappled Shade
Part Shade
Can you tell I've been doing some research about shade ???
Here is a link that kind of spelled it out for me. Others here can tell you more about their experience in your zone with the plants listed.
http://allyeargarden.com/creat...
It's a starting point.
I have fallen in love with heucheras because instead of different colors of flowers, they come with different colors of foliage, which I think is quite interesting.
Here's a link to an article on ATP about heucheras.
http://garden.org/ideas/view/g...
A couple of photos of 'Amethyst Myst'. I love this plant ...
Smiles,
Lyn