Hi there--I have a small townhouse in Washington DC (Zone 7B) with a tiny front yard that is about 7 feet wide from the house to the sidewalk. The deck in front is about 3 feet high.

The house faces north. I planned a north facing garden this spring which I assumed would be mostly shady (I moved here recently). To my unpleasant surprise, as we moved into summer the sun got high overhead and most of the garden ended up in full sun from about late May to early August. A lot of the shade plants didn't make it or had to be moved. The sun in the front of the garden was merciless; the plants against the foundation got a bit more shade but not by much.

The rest of the time the yard goes mostly into part to full shade as the days get shorter.

I'm having a really hard time picking plants that will do well with both extremes, especially evergreen shrubs for the foundation.

Anyone have experience with this challenge? I would love some suggestions. Plants should be max 3 feet tall in the back and preferably drought tolerant.

Thanks for the help! Pic attached. Not shown is a short cast iron fence I installed along the front.

PS: there is a small ginko tree in the tree strip between the sidewalk and street that will eventually provide more shade, but that is a number of years away.