I am no expert, however, I had a great deal of difficulty growing plants on the north side of my home for years...yews tolerate almost everything and survived there as did some of my holly and euonymus.

Since it gets some sun, I assume it is not true north, but at an angle to it. Any plant hardy in your zone should be fine in winter when it is dormant. Go by the conditions during the growing season.

Ziggy

Mulberryin, thanks for the suggestions. I like the dwarf hollies.

Ziggy, I think it is pretty much true north, within a couple of degrees of magnetic north. The midsummer sun goes directly over the house and shines on the north side for a several hours.

The hosta and amsonia are showing growth now :-)

Why not hydrangeas or viburnums?

Good idea! I like them both. Thank you for the suggestion.

I have the majority of my plants on the N side of the house and all do well. In fact, they have really taken off and I had to remove the old globe abrovitae I planted years ago. Since it gets some sun in the growing season, the below plants will thrive. Like you, we have wet soil all year on that side and since these are mostly woodland plants, they perform well. There is a walkway about 5-8 feet from the side of the house that connects our driveway to the backyard deck. On the side it is planted with the following, (the side closest to the house).

I have a Jap. Maple, a staghorn sumac, several hostas and ferns, Solomon's Seal, hydrangeas, Jap. toad lillies, digitalis (foxglove) and yews. There is also a magnolia planted on the NW corner of the lot and it gets sun most of the day since the house and the shed bordering it are not true N-S orientation.

On the sunnier side of the walkway, a narrow strip of rocky, hot soil, I have a climbing rose (Ballerena) and a clematis (underplanted with mini roses), as well as drought-tolerant plants, like lavender and sedums since the walkway gets very hot in the summer and the heat reflected from it seems to much for the shade-loving plants.

Even though we are only talking about 4 feet, sun-loving plants do well on the N side of the walkway and shade-loving plants do well on the S side of the walkway, along the house. It took a while for me to realize that only a few feet offers a completely different growing area. My advise is to observe how the plants do and plant accordingly. You be surprised how well plants can grow in eth conditions you describe.

bradarmi,

Thank you for the ideas! How interesting how much difference the 4 feet makes. I have a clump of toad lilies that I've been wanting to move and couldn't decide where. They are under a spicewood and I can't see them unless I bend down. I'll put them on this north side in the spring.