I have a bed 4' x 18' along the North wall of the house. the wall is pretty high and during Winter the bed is pretty much in shade all day except for morning sun on the East end. In Summer the sun is high enough that the bed gets sun. right now it has a 6-7 foot high 15 year old Juniper hedge growing in it. I want to rip it out and plant something new. The bed is at ground level but has a 4 brick high retaining wall around it right now, so I have to options: fill and raise the bed or plant at ground level. this bed has a 3 foot wide walk in front of it and a large area of synthetic lawn in front of that.

I am looking for some plant ideas that will have some bulk, some character, look neat, possible some flowering; and can handle the conditions as described above. Any ideas folks?