front door shade

Me again needing advise,new house ,front door facing north good light but almost no sun, what can i plant in large tubs to put some colour here at present there is three large (6foot) evergreens in large pots they are well passed there thingy date so they have to go,Kate wants something that looks good and if poss colourfull,we understant in shade and almost no sun is not easy ,i cant move the house for her,So help please perhaps a climber or a mix we really dont mind, come on greenfingers advise please

What about Skimmia 'Kew Green' - evergreen, glossy green leaves, pale scented flowers in late winter and bright red berries (there are lots of other varieties but this one is very nice).

Mahonias are happy in full shade - but you will need to check the variety as some grow huge. The leaves are quite architectural and evergreen and they have bright yellow scented flowers in winter.

Garrya Elliptica is an attractive wall shrub - not colourful but male plants has lovely long catkins which start off pale green and turn silver lasting for ages.

Or this wiegelia - link below is ok in full shade.

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/plantselector/plant?plantid=2039

Colourful is more difficult but Japanese Anemones grow happily in shade and they come in white, bright and pale pink.

Virginia Creeper or Boston Ivy are both climbers that grow in shade and have good autumn colour

Other plants that are happy in shade are hostas, bergenia cordifolia (can be very bright pink flowers), lilly of the valley, liriope muscari (bright blue flowers)

We had a shady woodland garden and the back of our house faced north and it does feel daunting at first as you hear so much negative about having deep shade.

But quite a lot of plants will survive but they may flower less than in a sunny spot  - I learnt the hard way not to be tempted by anything that says full sun.

Chrissie B many thanks for that were going to have a good look at them all the ivy sounds good, with maybe something else potted in front  nice one m,any of em

Alan4711

Hydrangea petiolaris (might be called something else now, H.anomola?) is another good climber for shade and some of the clematis do well, Nelly Moser fades less in the shade and there are bound to be others if you don't like that one. 

Ooh yes I forgot about Nelly Moser - my sister had that in a very shady spot and it always did very well with lots of gorgeous flowers

its now on the list

Nelly Moser on the net its a must just perfect for one of what we want its a stunner

well done dem girls

Fuchsias?

If you plant any of the lovely plants people have already mentioned and you would like to add some annuals for sheer colour around the edges then impatiens walleriana (Busy-Lizzie) grows in the shade in summer and violas can be planted in autumn for early spring colour in the shade.

would you think about getting some smaller pots aswell, starting them off round the sunny side of the house till they are large enough/ in flower and then bring them round to the shade, can be done with bulbs, pansies, primroses in the winter/spring, then have summer bedding started ready to takeover in may/june, the shade and cooler temperatures will slow down the flowering but it can be done really well if you have a larger number of pots and can rotate them every few weeks with ones in a sunnier position.

all good info many thanks for all this andall being noted 

good luck Alan4711