Astilbe comes to mind. Will tolerate partial sun and fairly dry conditions. Different types will grow to various heights, but generally about 2-3 feet, and colors in the red, white and pink families.

black eyed susans came to mind. They are pretty tough. I had moved some of mine (Goldsturm) from full sun to part-shade because they got so enormous in full sun. They do fine in part shade. They do bloom a long time, but may not start til well into the season.

Do you get road salt to contend with? BES's won't mind.

AJuga choc chip blooms early and it can take tough roadside conditions too. And will keep weeds down.

THey are both really strong growers and spreaders and will probably be compatible with each other.

Hosta too

Do you have to worry about the plow shoving icy snow over this area as well as the salt Wendy asked about? Does the town come through with machinery and redig the ditch every few years? If either of those is the case, you might want to consider whiskey barrels or another large pot that you can move out of the way with one of those 2 wheeled hand carts every fall. You probably want to at least consider annuals regardless since you want long bloom or else colorful foliage with various textures to carry the time between bloom.

I have a couple of large pots by my mailbox in part shade. I have ribbon grass (green & white variegated running grass) in one, so it is contained and won't spread. In the other I put annuals that will look good with the ribbon grass, varying from year to year: pansies in early spring, followed by impatiens, begonias, fuschias, coleus over the last few years.

Perennial plants that have variegated or colorful foliage and like part shade include variegated Solomon's seal, hosta, the maroon foliaged Cimicifugas (AKA actea), Japanese painted fern and most of these will look nice with Bill's astilbe suggestion. You might consider bulbs like daffodils or species crocus that if they will be in mostly sun before the trees' leaves emerge should grow fine. If you plant bulbs or perennials in the pots, they should be hardy to about 2 zones colder than where you are to ensure survival.

With regard to watering: if you mulch around your plants and then when you haven't had rain for a while take a couple of capped gallon jugs of water with you (either walk them down or in the back of the car as you are on your way out) most plants except swamp plants should be fine with the moisture levels.

Some good ideas here, I live on a main road where we get a lot of salt and some chemicals and I've always wondered what I could put near the road in this REALLY ugly spot. However my road is very shady, gets very little dappled sun once the trees leaf out, so do you think ajuga would still work? My snowplow guy uses this particular spot to pile up snow (and therefore salt/chemicals) during the winter, so whatever I put there would have to be tough as nails to come back. Since we moved in 10 years ago, this spot has become a graveyard for leaves and looks like hell ... the dead leaf detritus is huge and would have to be cleared out, so I want to be pretty sure what I'm planting before I go to all that trouble!

I don't have to worry about salt my town doesn't use any. There will be lots of snow on top of it though. That's for sure.

Oh good idea about making it movable I didn't think of that.

Great info!

I have some ajuga in such a spot and the plow guy does sometimes dig into it, but in the spring, I just stick it back in the soil. No problem. THat happened more frequently while it was newer and getting established.

My mailbox is "up" about 6" on a hump with other MBs next to the road, but there's still the salt/sand issue. Morning Glories have not really thrived, but I'll try them again this year.

On the "can't water it here" remark...I have a long driveway, too, and I've found that if I discipline myself, I can keep a gallon jug of water in my car daily, and use it to water my barrel on my way "out" in the morning...just pick it up on my way back in the evening.

I'm considering putting some sort of container at the base of my MB...maybe cut a barrel in half to put around each side of it, or some other such setup due to the salt thing. Has to be a big one, though, cuz they're lower maintenance than a "smaller patio" style.

The hard part about watering it there is that I have
other plants along the way down the driveway
that are in the sun and they need to be watered more
than these. So I'd rather not water them.

All great suggestions above. I can really see going with a bunch of the variegated solomon's seal, astilbes, plus maybe a shade tolerant clematis on the post itself. Good luck!

crabgrass_central said "Since we moved in 10 years ago, this spot has become a graveyard for leaves and looks like hell ... the dead leaf detritus is huge and would have to be cleared out . . ."

Don't clear the leaves out; they are a great source of organic matter, the one thing most likely to make a gar den succeed! Either turn them into the soil or plant right through them and then cover with a layer of mulch just thick enough to hide them, renewing the mulch each spring as needed to give the tidy appearance you want. Worms and soil microorganisms will break them down and enrich your soil. Ideally you will plant so that little or no mulch will show between plants.

Another pl ant thought - there's a reason the old-fashioned orange daylilies are called ditch lillies. It's pretty common to find them along the road in this type of situation as they are salt tolerant and will take quite a bit of plow abuse and will bloom in part shade. Paired with variagated hosta and astilebe you would have long season of bloom and foliage contrast. Siberian iris has leaf shape similar to the daylilies and a shorter, earlier bloom season, but would add to the overall interest.

Thanks for the ideas -- boy it would be nice not to remove that leaf stuff. I could just turn it, maybe cover with compost or this new organic garden soil that Miracle Gro is selling cheap right now, that would probably work.

Think I'll try it, with some astilbe and hosta as you suggest! I tried daylilies nearby in the past, but they never bloom (they're all over this town except for my shady road!) so I think it's too dark there.