Asiatic day lilies do well. I have a bleeding heart that works, although that only blooms in the spring and dies back in summer. A Pieris japonica (Mountain Fire) bush does well. Coral bells bloom in summer and are happy there. Astilbe likes it.

As to annuals, I have found that coleus and begonias grow well in the shadier areas.

But I have to ask---how do you intend to get rid of the mint and lamiastrum? I have lots of lamiastrum that I have no problem with (yet) although it is growing in all the wrong places. But mint has overtaken a whole area of garden and I have dug and dug and it keeps coming back stronger than ever. I would love to know a way to get rid of it.

Dig out the bulk of it, and then hit the stragglers with glyphosate.

Yes, sorry, I'm one of those people, I do use Roundup. Because it works.

you spray it with Roundup? I don't use chemicals, usually, but this might be an occasion where it is needed. From my understanding of it, Roundup breaks down quickly and does not stay in the environment. Although I worry that I would have to use a lot of it...seems that if you leave a millimeter of root, a new plant pops up. If you say it works, I will consider it. I have a mess that I have just given up on after years of digging, layering newspaper, dumping mulch and leaves on it....and it comes back healthier all the time. Ugh.

Generally, it only takes one or two applications to kill it.

Part of my "makeover" will be putting down landscape fabric and/or black plastic and then a mulch layer on top, so I don't anticipate that much mint making a comeback, mainly around the edges and against the foundation where it can push through past the edge of the barrier layer.

The alkalinity will kill the mint.

On the foilage, on soaked into the ground? If into the ground, would it do damage to things with roots that grow out like shrubs?

so that dew and the vinegar get soaked up into the stem. Maybe even twilight. Try not to soak things you love.

The mint has taken total control over the garden (along with creeping myrtle and honeysuckle). Everything else has been choked out years ago, even with my attempts to protect and save them....except for the bushes.

Spray, spray, spray. You can get one of those gallon sprayers for less than $10 or so.

cuz you grow so many so well, is that they bloom such a short time.

Black-eyed Susan (rudbeckia? sp? ) will sometimes do okay in partial shade but gets tall, so does beebalm (monarda) and they have to be deadheaded to keep giving color.

Scabiosa (pincushion flower) can take a little shade, and most lobelias love the shade but they want to stay pretty wet. Echinacea and blanketflower also will sometimes flower for a long period but get leggy.

There are some new Drift roses - groundcover -for small spaces but they would probably want more sun.

That's all I can think of besides annuals - or gardenias, which don't add a lot of color. Or some of the reblooming hydrangeas. Or some canna, but that's another tall one.

There are some really interesting variations now on good old St. John's Wort! One in particular had variegated leaves and was stunning!