A Shady Corner With a Silver Lining
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In a shady corner, leaf shape can carry the whole picture. Pair the broad, silver-marked leaves of a suitable brunnera with the fine, repeated lines of a hardy fern. A pale wall catches what light is available; a dark bench recedes behind the planting. Blue spring flowers are a bonus, rather than the only reason to look.
First distinguish cool, moist shade from dry shade under thirsty tree roots. This particular combination suits the former. Brunnera prefers a cool site, and ferns vary considerably: choose a named species whose moisture and winter requirements match your garden. Neither a north-facing label nor the word shade tells you everything about the soil.
Lay out the plants while they are still in their nursery pots. Give one broad-leaved clump room to develop beside a fern, then repeat that partnership further along the bed if space allows. Check mature dimensions rather than filling every bare inch. Keep a little visible soil or mulch around the plants so the contrasting outlines remain readable.
Use a plain edging to hold the composition together. In a very small space, the line of a path can be as valuable as another plant. Watch the bed through a season: a sunny patch in March may become deep shade after trees leaf out. The garden becomes richer when you respond to those changes instead of treating shade as a problem to disguise.