Bleeding heart dies back to the ground in winter; you can either leave the (rather messy and collapsy) dead foliage standing, or cut it back for winter. It needs humidity and constant soil moisture and to be protected from much of any wind, so it is only appropriate for a NW exposure that is very *sheltered*. If it is only "half happy" in your location, it may die back in mid summer and leave a gap in the bed.
Some small shrubs for shade:
IME, Peegee type hydrangeas do reasonably well with not much sun, although some varieties may get bigger than you want and they can get straggly in a lot of shade unless pruned well.
Snowberry/coralberry/indiancurrant (Symphoricarpos spp) do real well in shade, and have attractive berries, but be aware the bushes themselves are rather straggly and unkempt looking, although I find that pruning helps keep them looking more civilized. They sucker pretty badly too, good if you want to fill in a 'semi-wild' area but not good for a more formal planting.
Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa, I think it is sometimes labelled as Photinia melanocarpa these days?) is also pretty shade-tolerant, and as long as it gets a couple hrs of sun will also have nice bright fall color. Brief white flowers in spring, then dark purple berries. Less untidy than Symphoricarpos, but still benefits from pruning.
Some Potentillas will flower somewhat even if they only get a couple hrs of sun a day, although really they *prefer* more.
Perennials:
Daylilies will flower *somewhat* even if they don't get much sunlight.
Solomon's seal is an EXCELLENT EXCELLENT shade plant, and some spp get as much as 3-4+' high (not generally the first year). They spread but are easily removed if they get carried away. Highly recommend. SOme of the striped-leaved forms are nice for brightening up a dark corner.
Filipendula purpurea (a relative of queen-of-the-meadow and meadowsweet) does real well for me under a large pine tree where it gets minimal if any sun; it gets about 2-3' tall with light pinkish meadowsweet-type flowers.
Astilbe is always a good shade perennial as long as the ground is evenly moist and does not dry out (likes conditions somewhat similar to bleeding heart, although has a *bit* more of a sense of humor)
There are plenty of others, of course, but that's what comes most to mind at the moment and should give you some things to think about
Good luck, have fun,
Pat
:rainbow-sun
