Some perennials that come to mind are the hardy geraniums and astilbe and Turtlehead, Chelone, if the soil is moist enough. Hydrangea arborescens selections would work small shrub wise.

In a similar situation (with some parts getting a tad more sun than you and some parts a tad less) I have many daylilies, veronica, shasta daisies, asters, phlox, perennial foxgloves, helenium, geraniums, echinacea, penstemon, solidago, hellebores, coreopsis, rudbeckia triloba and (I think) Herbstonne, scabiosa, lupines, bleeding hearts, monkshood, astilbe, lilies, and liatris. I also let columbines, feverfew, campanula, and Queen Anne's Lace reseed (I know some think QAL is a weed but I love it!) All of the above do well although the helenium is new so not sure yet how that will do. I also have reseeding nigella, larkspur, and few other annuals that are left over from my market-selling days. I let these reseed and they seem to do well in the part-sun gardens.

For shrubs I have weigela, flowering almond, carolina allspice, hydrangeas, deutzia, boxwood, hollies, spirea, quince, and a couple of roses that are doing okay, not necessarily thriving, but that may be due more to my neglect than their situation. I did plant a Lyda Rose in a friend's garden in similar conditions that is spectacular! And I have a Darlow's Enigma in almost full shade that is doing well. Red or yellow twig dogwoods may work too.

One of my gardens used to be a shade garden till we lost a beautiful oak, and there are hostas in it. It still gets some shade, but the first two summers the hostas fried (I didn't move them because we had planned on getting a new tree but life got in the way!) This year I am determined to give them more water to help them along, and so far so good, including this last week of 85 degree weather and no rain for weeks. The hard part for hostas here, like for you, is the direct afternoon sun. If you have sections that get morning or later day sun hostas may work better there. If you go with astilbes they may need supplemental water as well.

I also have put in dahlias last year and this year. I did the flowers for my daughter's wedding and planted almost 100 tubers last year, and even with leaving some in the ground to die and losing some over the winter in storage, I still had about 85 tubers this spring. I don't have any "full sun" conditions at all, and in a weary attempt to get all those tubers planted this spring I had to put some in somewhat shady conditions so I'll see how they do. The ones last year in part sun did quite well (I converted my vegetable garden, the sunniest spot, for the dahlias last year. This year it's back to veggies so dahlias are roughing it lol) But many are in the same part-sun conditions as last year and they did quite well.

Depending on moisture levels in you garden, itea, clethra, cephalanthus, salix, and viburnum may do well. I take care of a friend's garden with similar sun conditions but it's practically a swamp, and these thrive there but I think they need the high water levels. She also has ligularia in here, another moisture lover. Surprisingly, peonies and hydrangeas do well, and I would think this soil waaayyy too heavy and wet, so maybe the peonies would work for you too. She has another plant here that I can't think of. I want to say sambucus but I'm not quite sure, and so not quite sure if this one needs lots of water as well.

I also like to supplement some bare spots with annuals. I never did many annuals till I started selling at market and now I love so many of them. I always have zinnias, and annual rudbeckias, and I also like cosmos and cleome.

Sorry, didn't expect this post to be so long but kept thinking of more stuff! Hope this helps!

:)
Dee

Monarda Raspberry Wine blooms well for me in part sun. It's tall (3 - 4') and spreads a lot though, so may not be what you're looking for.

Thanks Christopher! Good ideas- I have killed geranium Rozanne twice (either i have a very brown thumb or it doesn't like clay soil), but i have a geranium sylvaticum Amy doncaster in a shady spot and it is doing well, so I could move some there. I'm wary of astilbe because even in a fairly shady spot it gets crispy tips if i don't really remember to give very regular extra water. I will look up turtle heads and Chelone- thanks!

Thank you very much Diggerdee! I have a lot of things to look up now (the more the better so thank you very much!!). I do love Veronica, so that especially is something i want to try there. Regarding penstemon, do you happen to know if it can tolerate clay soil? I do love it, but am worried to try (I can't tell you how much money i've wasted over the past few years. . .)

I am very happy to hear about the dahlias tolerating part sun because I am trying some in a pot in this area for the first time this year. No blooms yet, but I'm hopeful! Btw- i have a nice swampy area of my yard, too, but it is shade (maybe 2-3 hours) would those plants/shrubs work in shade too- probably not the peonies, but the others? I hear zinnias can grow easily from seed, so maybe i'll try that next year!

Thanks very much again!!!

Thank you, Ruth! I just looked that beebalm up and i love it! I do need something tall there, too, and if it wants to spread I'm very happy about that! I can always divide if it really gets out of hand, but nothing much ever does for me. . . Anyway, thanks again!

Oh, Diggerdee, I also just looked up Darlow's Enigma and Lyda rose- both so beautiful!! Definitely things I'll be considering!

OK, thanks, Dee. I'll probably hold off on the penstemon and the darlow's enigma (i already have an eden climber, so probably would be too much), but the Lyda rose!- I might just have to find a place for that! thanks for the tip!

I'm so happy to hear those plants are doing well in the swampy/shady conditions. I do have 2 ruby spice clethras and an ivory halo dogwood- so far so good, but they're still small. I also have annabelle hydrangeas over there and they're doing pretty good, too (i don't mind their flopping as much!). One thing I just bought is a misty blue white baneberry for shade (also because I'm obsessed with finding plants with blue foliage:)). It's just barely beginning, so we shall see. I really wanted to try out blue shadow fothergilla, but I think they like a lot of sun, but maybe I'll try in the part sun area?

That's also good to know about the sambucus doing well in shade. I really like that shrub- might try one there next year.

I would love to try bleeding hearts, but am worried they might not like clay? I tried a blue corydalis and that was a fail:(

I forgot about Lobelia! That's a really good idea, too!

Anyway, thanks again- you've given me so many great ideas!!

Much appreciated!!

~Katie