gonative

Some other suggestions: Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) & Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana). Again, you may not get much in the way of bloom only foliage depending on the shade. Both need at least a couple hours of filtered to sun to achieve this.

I have the C. americana, the species as opposed to cultivar, and am still waiting patiently for it to produce nuts. Granted, it started out as a very small specimen (maybe a two stick stand of 2 feet at most) and more dead then alive. My old boss used to sell native shrubs and this one was a throw away. That's how I acquired some of my native specimens, as stuff we couldn't sell to a client because of damage or tiny size. It has been in good quality soil in light shade and heavily mulched with Silver Maple leaves for about 7 years but only in the last r two seasons has it really put on tremendous growth including the suckering that it is known for. It has a beautiful leaf and a lovely fall color. Now I just have to wait for it to fruit! I am also patiently waiting for my Clove Currant to fruit as well.

I second Janet's suggestions of the native False Solomon's Seal & non-native solomon's seal. Also, P. biflorum the native version of Solomon's Seal grows in very deep shade. I have seen it in groves of yucky Buckthorn where the shade was so dense little else was growing. I think another good one for heavy dry shade is Pennsylvania Sedge, Carex pennsylvanica. You can start it as small plugs and just tuck in where you have an inch or two of soil. Most sedges prefer moist soil but this one prefers it on the dry side. Tellima grandiflora, I have that one too although I have never seen it for sale on the retail side. I don't think it has a common name. But I just love this plant. I did some research once and discovered it was native to the Northwest. It is in the same family as Foamflower and Mitella which strangely enough even though they are native to the midwest are a little more touchy with regard to conditions; they definately don't like dry shade or really high pH. The Tellima I got at a plant swap. The gal that gave it to me started a whole flat from seed she had started. Mine started as a little 1 inch plug. Other folks that received some also had good luck including my friend that I later gave a division to from my original clump which was full size the second season after I planted it is a plug.

I had to think about this one. Although a little more time consuming I would just keep cutting back any foliage as the boxwood resprouts. Eventually, it will run out of reserves in it's roots maybe in a season or so. I would avoid spraying or painting stumps with products like Roundup or Trimec. I think there is too much risk off it getting absorbed by the beech's shallow roots.

An idea - would the original poster consider a substitute? I love growing our native Wild Senna, Senna hebecarpa. It is hardy to up to zone 3 and long lived. The foliage is a bit finer and it can be rangy (up to six feet or so) but the flowers are very showy with that same beautiful yellow color. Sometimes to control height I prune it a couple times during the season as well as deadhead the extra seedpods. It also tolerates a wide range of soils including clay and dry conditions.