Eastern Michigan shade.... help!

I'm planning on re-landscaping our front yard, which faces north. We took out the evergreen-type bushes, and I need suggestions for short trees that like part shade, and plants- from ground cover to flowering- that will thrive with only about 2 hours of sun in the evening! The dirt is kind of sandy, but we are going to add about 4 or 5 inches of topsoil to the entire bed (which is about 50 feet by 5).
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated! I'm tired of web-browsing!

How about rododrendums, azaleas, pieris, and Chamaecyparis pisifera ( Golden Mop) , boxwood, alberta spruce for evergreen. For decidious shrubs, I have spirea limemound in a similar situation and I love the bright foliage in the shaded spot. Also has bright pink flowers. The sambucuses have some lovely color for shade--madonna and black beauty (tried black lace and it was much fussier and died) and sutherland gold for something a little taller with lots of foliage color. Then there's weigela for lots of varieties with lots of color. I find the darker shades don't color up so well in the shade, though. Nancy

Also, under the heading above" Guides and Information", scroll down to articles. Enter shubs for shade in search and a good article by Toni Leland comes up with more info and ideas.

Thanks for the suggestions! I will look them up and see what will work!!

Japanese lace leaf are gorgeous to...