I'd probably look at the hydrangea arborescens selections. Hardy, reliable blooms in pink or white and quite shade tolerant.

Before you get too far into this, find some hydrangeas to look at *now*. Some people don't mind the look of dormant hydrangeas. I'm not one of them. I do not think they are attractive plants during the winter, and that is something that should be taken into account on the front of the house.

The most bloom reliable hydrangeas in 6B are hydrangeas arborescens (Annabelle, Invincibelle, etc. which produce mophead or lacecap blooms) and paniculatas (Limelight, Little Lime, Bobo, Little Quick Fire, Vanilla Strawberry, etc. which produce panicle shaped blooms; choose compact ones if space is limited). All of those are winter hardy to z3 and develop blooms on new wood so winter is not usually a problem for the flower buds.

Twist and Shout is a reblooming hydrangea macrophylla but, be aware that some of those rebloomers may have blooming reliability problems in areas where old wood gets killed by winter and where new growth/stems cannot grow old and tall enough to develop flower buds in a few months. But, I did not say your location was a problem; just be aware of this. Feel free to try with one and see how it does. Provide several hours of morning sun, no later than 11am. Then add more plants if all goes well.

Another possibility would be to use reblooming hydrangea serratas like the ones from the Tuff Series (Tiny Tuff Stuff, Tuff Stuff, Tuff Stuff Red, Tuff Stuff Ah Ha), the Let's Dance Can Do, etc. Serratas are smaller looking hydrangea macrophyllas that bloom later than macrophyllas. Some produce mophead blooms and other produce lacecap blooms. I would pick rebloomer versions of serratas. Or try an oakleaf hydrangea, hardy to z5. Its flower buds can get zapped by winter as they bloom on old wood but there are fewer blooming problems reported. They also have very nice Fall foliage. They are more drought tolerant too. There are tall and compact versions.

All of them are deciduous.

This is so helpful. Thanks to you all. There is so much information out there, it is dizzying! It's great to be given some direction.

NHBabs. THANK YOU! I appreciate your willingness to share your expertise with a total novice like me. One of my next questions was going to be, what else should I plant around hydrangeas. I appreciate so much that you went ahead and gave me some suggestions. Oh, and my window sills are pretty high up. We have a few steps up from our front yard to our house, so my windows are a bit higher. Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing some blooms out my window. We are on a fairly busy street, so having a bit of screening from the foot traffic on the sidewalk would be welcome. Thank you!

Tiarella is pretty, native and should do fine without a lot of sun. Would be pretty under hydrangeas. I have some geraniums (cranesbill, not pelargoniums) under one of my paniculatas.

Check out Mahoney’s for plants and shrubs. They have several locations in the Boston area. And join your town’s FB gardening group for a wealth of information (and free plants!). I’m in the area too and have leaned so mutton the hyper local FB groups.

"Plus, I wouldn't mind seeing some blooms out my window."

The bloom period is fairly short- what about all the other months of the year? Hydrangeas would not be my choice as a front yard focal point for that reason alone- I want the front of my home to be attractive 12 months a year, not just one.

To that end I'd really use some conifers and broadleaved evergreens to do the main work and use several seasonal interest things to provide the punch. In a smaller yard I'd use dwarf conifers and evergreens and likely use a lot of pots for my seasonal color- pots that can easily be switched out as their period of interest wanes and another pot is starting up.

I am 6b and the front of my home also faces east. The majority of my filler plants are dwarf conifers and boxwood. A Japanese Maple as a focal point and lots of ferns and hostas to fill space. Then in pools on either side of the entry I have colorful seasonal perennials and pots of annuals. I find this approach works well- there is always something interesting going on.

I truly think what you need to do is measure your space and get it down on graph paper. Mark your sun/shade and how the light moves. Then you can see what size plants you have room for and can start looking for what you like. I suggest that you spend some time in your nearest botanical garden to see what the possibilities are for your area. You have several near you- GO. Wear your walking shoes and take photos. Driving parks and high end neighborhoods is also helpful- if you see something you like snap a photo and the ID the plants and duplicate that look.

Or show us a photo of the front of the home. You are designing here and now is the time to make your mistakes- not after putting something in the ground, growing it for a year only to find out conditions don't suit it. You have a blank slate so take that to the Landscape Design forum and ask for help.

I think hydrangeas are a mistake- they're just not that interesting when not in bloom. They can be part of a group but not a main focus other than their blooming period. I have lots of hydrangeas- paniculatas, arborescens, serratas- I ditched my macrophyllas due to frustration at lack of blooms caused by my unwillingness to do winter protection. None of those I have would suit the front of a home as a featured plant to build a design around.

Spend more time choosing and planning. Summer's a bad time to plant anyway, so you're looking at fall planting at the earliest, so you have time to research and get it right.

Oakleaf Hydrangea

I agree with what cearbhaill said about having other plants for interest, but not about Hydrangeas being a mistake. Here my arborescens hydrangeas bloom for a couple of months and some of the reblooming serrata do as well. But a mix of different plants is my usual preference for a long season of interest. Sometimes in a small garden having a limited number of types of plants makes it look less cluttered, however, so having plants that provide a couple of seasons of interest can be helpful such as spring flowers and fall colors or evergreen flowering plants are useful. Jen’s suggestion of Oak leaf hydrangeas is an example with flowers along with dramatic large leaves and nice fall color, but they can be space hogs, so without a better idea of your space they might or might not work for you.

The advice to visit similar neighborhoods and botanic gardens or arboretums is good, and do it across the seasons so you have ideas for plants of interest all 12 months. Take along a camera so if a plant isn’t labeled you can post a few photos of it (whole plant, branch with leaves, and any flowers or seed and fruit) to get an ID On the Name that Plant forum here.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/name-that-plant

You have a few other good suggestions for groundcovers that like shade and have more than one season of interest, and two of my suggestions, pachysandra and myrtle aka vinca can be somewhat boring. Places to visit in the Boston area include Arnold Arboretum, and the Native Plant Trust’s Garden in the Woods in Framingham. Tower Hill Botanic Garden is in Wooster County if you want a bit of a drive, and there are a lot of neighborhoods in Boston with nicely planted gardens, including ones with small shaded yards like yours.

And as cearbhaill suggested, measuring the garden and then showing it on graph paper for planning purposes as well as posting photos of the space here (including location of walks, doors and windows) will help get suggestions that may make the space really appealing.

Thanks to you all, SO MUCH! You are giving me a lot to think about. And I did take a walk around my neighborhood and took a look at some hydrangeas (after you all suggested it), and I can see what you mean about how they look when not blooming. My mom and I just completely tore up my front yard this morning and we are headed off to the garden center soon to look around. I will look at some dwarf conifers, for example. Not sure whether or not I will go ahead with the hydrangeas--if so, I will be sure to mix in with some evergreens.