Feeling overwhelmed by new border..ideas please

[MotherOfDragonflies]

I'm quite into gardening but I'm feeling completely overwhelmed by the new beds each side of our front door. They are large 6m x 2m (two beds). The house faces North West and so it gets a bit of evening sun but most of the day is in shade unless it's the height of summer.

I'm thinking I would probably like to restrict to whites and purples but I'm struggling to decide what to plant and its obviously going to cost a fair bit to fill them so I don't want to get it wrong.

So far I'm thinking maybe evergreen azaleas and hydrangeas with some ferns. I also have a cornus kousa I'd like to put there in one corner (currently in a pot and not very happy) but I'm not sure whether it would be too shady. Maybe some white foxgloves? Hellebores? Verbena Bonariensis?

Soil is acidic and fairly sandy. There was a driveway here previously so the ground isn't the best but the beds will have 6-8 inches of new topsoil mixed with compost added.

Help would be very much appreciated! Ideally I'd have greenery all year round and at least something flowering most of the time.

I am just planning a shady border in a really awkward spot. Smaller than yours but I am planning the following:

Evergreen shrubs:
Rhodedendron (already there)
Vibernum Tinus Eve Price

Deciduous shrubs:
Vanilla Fraise hydrangea (you might not like the pink on this, but a Limelight or alternative paniculata variety might work)

Deutzia (might not be enough sun, but I got a bare root Scabra for £2.50 from Tesco so not much to lose)

Perennials (in groups):
Jacobs Ladder (a white one, but I have Stairway to Heaven elsewhere, which is smaller, a light purple and variegated leaves)

Aqualegia (you could have these in white or purple or both)

Phlox (possibly Rembrant)

Geranium Album

I had some white campanula that did well there last year and ended up being one of my favourite flowers in the garden, so probably more of those. They were cheap from Asda but I think they were probably just Campanula Medium.

Biennials:
Foxgloves (white)
Honesty (purple and possibly white)

I am still very much a beginner so happy for anyone to correct me if I'm making any silly mistakes.

Given that it's next to your front door, what about Daphne Eternal Fragrance?

Sounds like you have the shrubs covered. I'd add some of:
Hellebores (can't have too many)
Japanese anemones
Epimedium (beautiful foliage, magical flowers)
Foxgloves
Ferns
Pulmonaria
Hakonechloa macra (beautiful en masse)
Hardy geraniums (phaeum/nodosum are happy in shade, white herb robert is lovely in shade)
if you like umbels: sweet cicely (spring), selinum wallichianum (late summer) etc
Euphorbia amygdaloides var robbiae (this does spread but good groundcover and looks good most of the year)
Wild garlic (also spreads but edible, might prefer more moisture though)
Sweet woodruff (groundcover)

Thank you both, this is helpful. keep the thoughts coming. I'm googling the various suggestions.

I have some shady borders - in them I have:
Bay
Ferns (larks tongue is my favourite)
Foxgloves
Pulmonaria
Brunnera
Hardy geraniums
Night scented phlox
Verbena Bonariensis
Armeria
Dead nettles (white & pink)
Wild garlic
Irises
Wallflowers
Garlic chives
Erigeron
Eryngos (sea Holly)

I have an open basket on various plant websites now. This might get expensive..

Farmer Gracy sell a lot of bare root plants and are doing a 14% discount and have free delivery over £50, can work out quite a bit cheaper.

I also have an open basket with Parkers as that's the only place I can find the white Jacobs ladder but I keep adding as I've found a few bargains (and it's £100 for free delivery). I think I also found a discount code for 10% off. I can't vouch for quality from there though as I've never used them before.