Here's what I've seen work up in Marten River. I'm assuming they are minimal care...

Echinacea purupurea (Purple Coneflower)
Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed Susan)
Rudbeckia 'Goldsturm'
Leucanthemum (Shasta Daisy)
Hemerocallis (Daylily)
Eupatorium (Joe-Pye Weed)
Sedum

I've seen some amazing gardens up there.

I think you have two main hurdles. Soil and critters.
Is there enough topsoil to grow ordinary garden plants? How do you protect your plants from deer, etc. if you are not there?
I'd look around at what other gardeners are doing and ask a lot of questions. I'd join a local hort society and ask a lot of questions. And I'd check out the locally owned garden centres and ask a lot of questions.
Most of all, I'd look at the fascinating array of unusual native plants that thrive in the deep north and almost nowhere else and consider creating a garden based on those.

Another good one is Oenothera fruticosa.