Tall, columnar plant/shrub in container in full shade

I'm trying to find a tall, columnar plant/shrub that will grow in containers in full shade, zone 6b. The containers are next to a new brick wall that has effectively blocked most direct sun. Last fall, I planted Sky Pencils (about 4-5 ft. high) in large containers. They seemed to do well initially, but we had a terrible winter here in the NE. They don't appear to have survived. I plan to do caladiums in summer, but want a tall, columnar shrub accent in the containers for year-round. I've looked at some of the new columnar euonymus (like Green Spire) but they don't seem suited for the full shade. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I would definitely be interested in any suggestions you get, kins. If they're kept in pots over winter, I think any shrub has to be rated for a couple of zones colder than your actual 6b. I can do hostas and shade grasses in pots but I haven't tried shrubs.

Ferns come in all sizes and do well in containers. In my shade garden there are tall (3+ feet), medium and Japanese painted fern. They die down in the fall/winter and are already growing.

Everything I think of that is columnar for a container is only part shade not full shade

How about a JM?
http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/45/index.htm

Or you def want an evergreen?

How about this one?
http://www.soonerplantfarm.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_id/423/index.htm

How about a bamboo?
http://www.forestfarm.com/product.php?id=1843

Great ideas that open the eyes! I did try a bamboo once in a pot but I think I was a little overly confident of it surviving our winters without protection (or maybe it was my ineptitude). I currently do Japanese painted ferns in a very low tufa thing and a hosta with Hakonechloa grass in a large pot but haven't felt confident enough to try shrubs.

Bamboo probably does well in a pot if kept wet enough. Out of a pot it tends to become invasive, difficult to control.

Japanese maples on the other hand can become anything you want. We have one in the front with red leaves, fairly bushy, no more than 10 feet high. We have one in the back yard about 25 feet high, 3 main, tall branches, where the leaves begin around 8 feet, probably about 25 feet high, also red, but with a different, less lacy leaf. There is another in our back yard with a green lacy leaf that is no more than 3 feet high and grows as a bush. It must be pruned professionally to get rid of dead wood.

Not my favorite, but we have a tall rhododendron that can probably be kept to any shape you want. We also have what is known as a weeping shortish tree that I thinks is norwegian spruce. Last is a large weeping cherry that I'm sure is many years old. We inherited a few plantings when we bought this little house 6 years ago.

How about Japanese Upright Plum Yew. I have a few at the back of the property.
Slow growers and deer resistant also.

So, kins, have you planted anything yet?