Shade Loving Bushes for Zone 5?

As you can see, the front of my fixer-upper house is an empty canvas. It faces north so it's mostly shade (gets a little late afternoon sun). I've gotten 2 golden globe arborvitae and I have some hosta and sedge for filler but I need more bushes to provide interest. I'm looking for something that won't get very tall (nothing over 6 ft). If it attracts wildlife (particularly birds), that would be a bonus.

I plan on painting the house a tan color with brick shutters.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

A Holly would give you something green in the winter. Don't know enough about hollies to reccommend a specific one but some are pretty short. Red twig dogwood is pretty especially in winter. Mountain laurel has gorgeous flowers (Poisonous so if you have any small one who might munch leaves this is a bad idea.) Leatherleaf viburnum. Witch Hazel.

I don't have any good bird shrubs for the shade. On the north side of my house I have China Boy/Girl hollies, Bailey's compactum viburnum, and a kerria. Some flowering to those.

How about a lindera benzoin? Does well in shade, is native, and is host to butterflies. Don't know about hardiness for zone 5, but it does well here in zone 7.

Have you looked at the various cultivars of clethra? I have Sixteen Candles, Hummingbird, Sherry Sue, and September Beauty. I'd like to try Anne Bidwell next year. They can take some shade and have a wonderful scent. Butterflies seem to like them too.

Thank you for the suggestions everyone. I'll be doing some research on these tonight! :)

That house could use a little mud room on the front door. It's very square looking. Throw some bushes and flowers in there and it would look much better. Hope you don't take that the wrong way. If not a room then some sort of a roof and pillars to make the doorway look more formal.

If you plant beds don't do rectangle beds. You need to run the edge so that it curves along the front and that would break up the square look.

The open shade that you have gives a lot more light than overhead shade. Anything that says part shade will do fine. Any viburnum will do fine there. The compact forms of V. trilobum(and V. opulus) usually don't have berries (for the birds), but there is one trilobum cultivar that is very fruitful, although I can't think of the name right now. Of course, any spraea will do fine. A Harry Lauder's Walking Stick (hazel shrub), Carolina alspice (Calycanthus floridulus). How about some currants forthe birds? Ninebarks will do well, both regular and dwarf.

I planted Brandywine and Winterthur viburnums this year for berries and autumn color but they're still young so I don't know how they'll fare yet. And I have a Viburnum Burkwoodii in part shade that's doing fine.

I have a few Calycanthus that I planted this year. The "Michael Lindsey" that I planted in part shade is doing better than the one in full sun. My "Venus" that's in part shade is doing about the same as the one in full sun. But it's still too soon for me to tell much since this is their first year.

Alfreddo. Viburnum trilobum 'Alfreddo' (Alfreddo compact High bush cranberry). That's the really fruitful one.

The photo from Bubeez looks a lot like my house and I am also trying to give it some "curb appeal." If you planted shrubs, where would you plant them? Closer to the house or the street? My front yard just looks so plain I'd like to add some interest to it. I have a walkway from the front door to the street - should I plant a hedge on each side? I can handle my gardens in the back, but I am stuck on this front side business.

Plant hedges along the sidewalk only if you want a formal look to your front landscape. And you will need to carry that through everything in the front to look congruent. Symetrics is what you'd be looking for, the same things flanking each side of your front door, at the corners of the house, etc.

Most people use an informal landscape, and it's easier and more adaptable, IMO. Planting only around the house is ok, but adding things within the yard adds depth and interest, and makes your yard look bigger, and not flat as a pancake. Even a little garden, or shrubbery around the mailbox in the front yard will make a world of difference.

highbush cranberry is good for birds or making a tart jelly, it may eventually grow taller than
6 feet, another possibility is winterberry , hazelnut tolerates shade too. these shrubs can grow
a little taller than 6 feet, but may work for you, Jim

also rosa glauca or rosa rubrifolia is shade tolerant, and is known for it's foliage rather than
blooms, also american hornbeam can be kept small with pruning, and likes shade . Jim

I went shopping today and got 2 Viburnum Alfreddo's in town. The tag says they grow 5-6 ft tall. I'm thinking since they'll be in the shade they won't get to 6 ft or i can prune if need be. I also ordered 2 each of 2 different varieties of arborvitae from evergreenplantnursery.com. They had really good reviews on the watchdog so I thought I'd give them a try.

The areas in front of the basement windows I'll fill in with the hosta, sedge or perennial geraniums. I'd like to be able to see outside from in the house.

The beds that I'll make will be curvy to offset the squareness of the house. I plan on putting another separate bed in the front yard to go around the flowering crab I planted.

I'd love to put some sort of entryway on the front to set the door off. That's on the someday list. For now we'll be painting it brick red to give it a little something.

Again, thanks for all the suggestions!

Be sure that if you ever prune the Alfreddo's, do it by July 15. Pruning after that won't hurt the plants, but you might be pruning off next season's flower buds so that next year they won't flower (or fruit).