I had some outdated large bushes in the front of my house, under the big window in the living room. I removed those and want to plant some new plants there. What would you recommend?

Some background:
This is in NYC suburbs. Snowline is 12 inches I believe with moderate winters. Zone is 6b
The house faces north, so this are will be shaded/partially shaded most of the time. Will be the only plants in the front of the house viewable by onlookers.
I want it to be 4-5 small plants that are easy to maintain.
The area is about 20 ft lon by 5 ft wide.
1 of the plants I have picked already is Blue Hydrangea since we like them and they do well in partial shade.
I want to spend relatively little and get it from my local landscaping stores or home depot

This post was edited by sddiy on Fri, Jun 6, 14 at 8:42