I have the Little Princess Spirea under a maple tree and it does fine. I also have a dogwood, a false spirea and a mockorange under the same maple tree. The dogwood has the variegated green and white leaves. The mockorange has not flowered for a few years but it is doing just fine otherwise.

Perennials that would reach 3 - 5 feet that would do okay in the same bed would be the heliopsis (false sunflower), bleeding heart, martagon lilies and the monkshood. I have them under trees and they bloom just fine. A new perennial to me, that I received from Laurie this year, that loves the north side and grows huge leaves is the Petasites Japanicus (Giant Japanese Butterbur).

Brenda

European Cranberry (Viburnum opulus) work well, they stay nice and compact but rarely produce flowers. Actually, I think any of the Viburnums do fine in shade, someone please correct me if I'm wrong! :) Cotoneaster are fine in shade, but you'll need to prune. As Brenda said, Spirea work well too.
I actually have a Dwarf Colorado Blue Spruce growing in the shade, similar conditions to yours and it is doing quite nicely! Let us know what you decide on.

Brenda, gotta get me one of those Petasites when I get settled in to the new place. They look great! How do they handle wind?

Along with the other above suggestions,how about some of the hardy hydrangeas, azaleas and dwarf cedars? They should all do well with a little bit of late day sun.

Also, Russian Cypress, Snowberry and Snowball shrubs will do well in shade according to Lois Hole's trees and shrubs book.

GC, I've got my petasites in a somewhat sheltered corner that's protected from the south and west winds. But, we've had a few windy storms go through already this year, and it's held up well, so far.........

Laurie