Depending on how much shade and soil condition, a Jackmani clematis may work.

Here is a link that might be useful: Jackmani

Consider cimicifuga.

Smilacina racemosa var.amplexicaulis, Kirengeshoma palmata, Kirengeshoma koreana.

Clematis 'Rosemoor'...blooms until frost. The other Clematis I've grown bloom mainly once but this one is constantly putting up new blooms.

Thalictrum (Meadow rue) is an uncommon choice.

Monkshood gets great height and colour.

I researched the clematis Rosemoor...I may have to get one myself.

Angelica gigas is lovely, tall and does well in part shade. Agree with the suggestions for Cimicifuga (now properly called actaea), thalictrum & aconitum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Angelica gigas

clematis sounds good but requires staking or support. It can be grown on the fence, but it's the neighbor's fence and they're not exactly good neighbors. They already have some Clemantis.

Run the Angelica Giga idea and the in-laws didn't like the flower for some reason. They are also not not so big on Smilacina racemosa.

They liked Monkhood,but it appears to be highly poisonous. The neighbor's dog has a bad habit of consuming stuff and attacking skunks. I was worry that the plant will grow past the fence and get eaten by the dog.

Thalictrum works too but no one seems to sell it.

Current choice appears to be cimicifuga

Paul

How many shade can a thalictrum such as "Splendide" tolerate i.e. and still bloom beautifully ;)?

Aruncus dioicus is another good one for height in shade.

Here is a link that might be useful: Aruncus

On second thought, they decided that cimicifuga look too weedy, so we're back on the clematis Rosemoor idea. How much light does it need, the area will be sitting below the shadow of a tree (branches 50 feet up).

What do you use for support? The fence would work well, but that belongs to the neighbor's.

Paul

Japanese anemones - Honorine Jobart is still the best white.
Hellebore , Veratrum - good foliage too.

My Clematis Rosemoor gets morning light only. It seems to like that.

In your area Heavenly Bamboo I believe would survive without becoming invasive. Nice little border plant but no bloom. I love ours and just trim it once or twice during the summer. Hope this helps.

Kate

aconite flower spikes are tall, but the rest of the plant isn't

what about ferns?

I thought of Astilbe, but don't see to many Astible that are more than 2 feet tall.

'Superba' and 'Mighty Pip' both can grow to over 4 feet in height. (Although I am not sure how readily available they are)

I grow joe pye weed in part sun and it is tall.

Are you sure you want such a tall plant for such a narrow space? Anything 3 feet or more tall (other than a vine) is going to spill outside the 1 foot wide border. In fact, something like an aruncus or cimicifuga could easily grow to 4 feet wide. Same with some of the other suggestions.

I guess I'm just thinking of proportions - plant vs. growing space. A big plant could look very odd unless there's something I'm missing.

Kevin

Tell to your in-laws that Smilacina racemosa amplexicaulis has a strong heavenly scent and is one of the extremely rare plants with absolutely NO FLAWS throughout the WHOLE SEASON.

As for the others: Monkshood can get very mildewed if dry, clematis dislikes drafts, all thalictrums will lean towards sun(except aquilegifolium , but it can flop, attract aphids and mildew if dry), cimicifuga will not thrive in dry position.

"clematis dislikes drafts" . . . the only things I've found clematis to dislike is voles eating their roots and getting too dry. ;>) Occasionally a few clematis stems will break with really strong winds (like a hail-bearing thunderstorm) but I don't find them fussy. If you give it an obelisk to grow on that has some structure narrow enough for the leaf stems (petioles) to wrap around (about half an inch or less), either part of the obelisk or netting or wire added to the surface, it will happily grow up the obelisk. Just use a narrow obelisk to keep the clematis narrow.

Aruncus is like jumbo astilbe. Also, look at Acanthus mollis (bear's breeches) which tolerates shade.

If considering a clematis another is "Fair Rosamund" does better in part shade and bonus, it's slightly scented (scent of violets).

Annette

Here is a link that might be useful: Fair Rosamund

Just reemphasising that this bed is only about a foot wide. Some of the suggestions would be much wider than that.

Is a foot the absolute limit? It's very narrow for a flower bed. No chance of making it wider?

If it is only a foot wide, you will probably have to stake whatever is going to grow there. I could envision tall wildflowers like lobelia cardinalis or lobelia siphilitica but you will probably have to stake them.

How about a Silver Sword Azalea.

I brought 2 last year. I did not have a chance to plant and they survived the winter in their pots with no protection so they are very hardy.

Check here someone has a good pic of it in their garden.

Here is a link that might be useful: Silver Sword Azalea

A foot seems too little for any of those plants.

Here's some picture of the area It's the area behind the BBQ. Notice it's full of weeds right now.

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Planted in this area so far:

Bee Balm
New England Aster
Helenium
Siberian Iris
Allium
A small rose bush

Thinking of vines so that there's no need for staking. The area is right next to the hose, so it should be easy to keep wet.

Paul

Seeing the situation I'd really suggest making the bed much wider. There's too little room to grow anything much other than tiny edging plants if you don't want them to spill out onto the grass. Even the things you have listed as being in there already need more room unless you are happy to keep hacking them back to an artificially small size and unnatural shape. As a rule of thumb it's really best to make beds as generous as you can or they risk looking parsimonious and prissy. Your plants will have space to develop their true natures and you will not have them going through the fence to the neighbour's side. A wider bed will also be easier to keep the grass out of, which I see is already creeping in. Plus you would get a far greater sense of privacy from the neighbours. However, if you are wedded to the foot width, clematis would be perfectly happy on that fence. BTW anything behind the barbecue is at risk from the heat.

How about bluestar amsonia.