Suggestions for plants that grow well in shaded areas

The north side of my house is mostly shaded. When we moved in there were some overgrown shrubs growing really well there, that we ripped out. My grass and weeds grow well there. I'd like to plant something that compliments what we have growing in the front of the house, which is the picture I have attatched. The salvia is now blooming and a bit larger than it was in the picture taken two weeks ago.
The cistena plum bushes are pretty much the same.

The side of the house I'd like to plant on would be to the right side of where this picture is. We have about 6 feet from the side of the house up to the sidewalk/weird low metal rail. (you can kind of see part of this on the right side of the pic) I don't really want to plant all of that, I'd still like a narrow strip of grass between the planted area and the sidewalk.

I like the look of coleus(sp?) and have read it does better in shaded areas color wise. I'm bummed that it's an annual here. What would go well with that to break up the height a little and be easy to care for? I'd really like to use perennials if possible.

I just realised that there are a ton of varieties of salvia. haha. Mine look like these right now and are in full bloom.

http://www.extension.iastate.edu/newsrel/reiman/SalviaMayNight.jpg

Figured that might help while trying to figure out what would look nice with those.

So you want something tall for shade?
Astilbe, columbine, lobelia, goats beard, iris

I like hostas but they wouldn't fit into the height requirement you want.

Hostas come in many, many varieties. I would definately consider them. Some of the larger ones would meet your needs

I really like the look of the astilbe, lobelia and iris. I will definitely look into those at the nursery tomorrow.

I've never been a big fan of hostas. Most of them seem very plain to me and I see them everywhere. I swear every garden in my neighborhood has them. I did do a google search to see if maybe I just didn't like the commonly used varieties around here. The patriot ones aren't bad, but for some reason I've always thought the flowers on hostas looked out of place and gangly.

Is there anything else perennial that has interesting colored folliage?

A lot of people cut the flowers off hostas.
There are so many varities...but if you don't like them you don't like them
Few examples
hosta with yellow
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2956/
hosta with white
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/3228/
smaller pointed leaves-love this one!
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/2998/

Huechera, tiarella have very nice foliage

I don't know that you're going to find as pretty as coleus that's hardy in your zone, but for a little bit of foliage interest you could consider Lamium maculatum http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=lamium&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=maculatum&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search Brunnera macrophylla http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=brunnera&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=macrophylla&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search or Pulmonaria http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=brunnera&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=macrophylla&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search Or one of my absolute favorite grasses, Hakonechloa macra 'Aureola' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/54890/ Some Heucheras have pretty foliage too http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=heuchera&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Oh! I really like the heucheras. I will definitely have to check those out!

My trip to the nursery today I got the following:

3 light pink astilbe
3 dolce creme brulee heucheras
3 amythyst mist heucheras

Going to put them in tomorrow!

Hydrangeas and Hosta in that space would balance nicely together!! Both are hearty love the shade and add color and leaf color variety as well. I've tried to get coleus to survivor our winters here but it's just too harsh for them. They certainly would look great for the summer in that spot!

Coleus are real easy to root...at the end of season just cut some and either put them in water or dip them in rooting hormone and put them in pots, you'll have them the next year and won't have to spend any $.

How about lily of the valley, trillium, bleeding heart
They are some of my faves and all shade lovers

there's a new white hosta (new to me anyway :) that looks pretty cool, it's called white feather hosta I think. It gets lavender flowers. If I ever get shade I'll get some of those.