Are you looking for suggestions for the shrubs or things to plant with them? For shrubs, one I particularly like that grows quite well for me in a shady, north facing area is highbush cranberries. I have the European type (Viburnum opulus) but, if I was planting them again, I'd plant the American ones (Viburnum trilobum) particularly 'Wentworth' which is supposed to have good fall color and lots and lots of berries. I get lots of berries but no particular fall color. My Europeans are in flower now and look magnificient. The berries that form after the flowers fade turn bright red and stay on the branches all winter, making a very showy winter effect against snow. The berries are edible but not particularly good raw - very acid apparently - I've never tried eating mine...:-) but you wouldn't need to worry about your kids poisoning themselves on the fruit.

For an old fashioned evergreen hedge you could use Ilex glabra, inkberry. It's a native, which looks similar to boxwood, but can handle some shade. There are several dwarf varieties that would max at about 3 - 4'. The tiny white flowers just finished blooming here (zone 6 -7), and they get dark blue/black berries. Although the berries are toxic to people, the birds like them.

Arbovitae is evergreen, resistant to wind damage and does well in shade.

Thanks for the suggestions! Arbovitae has always been a favorite, but the inkberry I think is dead-on! I was just looking at some boxwood, but I like the 'native' idea of the inkberry. I don't know size but wouldn't the inkberry be a smaller shrub than the viburnum?
Thanks!
Doug

If you want a smaller shrub, go with one of the smaller cultivars of inkberry: Ilex glabra is the latin name, and the small versions are 'Shamrock', 'Nigra', 'Densa' and 'Compacta'. I believe they all max at about 3-4' high. Some are narrower or wider, some hold their foliage at the base better. Do a search on google to get more info on each one. I have 'Nigra' and I love it.

Since it sounds like you enjoy natives and do not have a formal garden, please consider doing an irregular bedding using clumps of various shrubs. (An English gardening mentor of mine many eons ago said, "Any idiot can put in a straight line of privettes.")
One of the major positives about such an arrangement is that if a disease strikes one species, it will not wipe out your entire planting! (When a blight ran through red-tip photinias a few years ago, large dead areas blighted the landscapes.)
I have enjoyed nandina (heavenly bamboo) in nice clumps here and there to break up the monotony of burfordi hollies(dark, glossy leaves) and viburnum. They provide blooms and berries at varied times and varieties of color,too. Mahonia is also a good shade/sun plant.

I bought a couple inkberry shrubs yesterday it is the "densa" cultivar. Today I've been reading posts about them being not the best shrubs for a west foundation planting because of the winter sun. Will it really suffer burns in the winter. We have ours planted in part shade from a large oak tree but it will lose it's leaves in winter and there will be much more sun. Should we put up a shield this winter to protect them. Thanks for any suggestions.

I have 5 Ilex glabra (inkberry) planted along the front of my house which faces west. They receive high shade/filtered shade from several trees near the house to late afternoon sun. They are planted in clay soil mixed with topsoil.They are planted beyond the eves of the house so they get rainfall -through the tree branches. They have only been in the ground since June 2nd and three out of the five are turning black from the inside of the plant. They are also dropping fresh green leaves. Any suggestions from anyone about what's happening?

i think the idea of using different species of shrubs is a good one. all the same species in a row is pretty common.

another suggestion for a native shrub is a hydrangea; h. arborescens is native to illinois - i just learned that from garden web. i've always like hydrangea - didnt realize they were native.