Kristy, I am also in dry shade to part shade, on clay nw of the metro. I've had good luck with wild ginger, Merry bells, all types of ferns. Ditch lilies (the orange ones) bloom everywhere it seems, except in the most dense shade. I've also had luck with barberry, though you'd be best to go with a plain green variety. Gooseberry and currants attract the birds, while weigelia, forsythia and lilacs reach high for the sun and bloom well, in spite of what the catalogs tell. For borders I am using mass plantings of ditch lilies, hosta, wintergreen boxwood, autumn joy sedum and berengia. I particularly like anything with a berry or seed to attract birds. Hazelnut is supposed to grow here, but my DH weed-wacked it down before it had a chance LOL! It would be best on sand, anyway. Good luck!

Oops sorry my intent was not to confuse or to incite "wonton lust" it was just pure ignorance. Mindy its good that you brought this up because I think I added the same frustration and confusion to the plant swap. Think I am going to move on to Mid Atlantic.just a square peg. Katy Mindy, Answering this one is like choosing which one of my three daughters is my favorite, which like every good parent I say is impossible. Then again if I had to chose right now as of this moment it is my oldest who is coming home next weekend for a non stop marathon in Excell instruction in the hopes that I will be able to combine records from junk drawers, sweat shirt pockets, ect. and put together a concise record and maintenance plan for the yard that extends beyond the present "Oh you mean the big bush in the front yard." Oops once again I digress here is my list of favorite shrubs as of November 6 at 10:00am. 1. Myrica pensylvanica I have fallen for the quiet elegance of this plant Zone (2) 3 to 6 suspect to 8 2. Ilex glabra compacta & shamrock I love how these shrubs work well in both full sun formal situations as well as shady woodland. Zone 4 to 9 3. Ilex koehne Wirt L Winn beautiful large leaf and great berries Zone 7 to 9 4. Ilex pendunculosa Zone 5 5. Ilex meserveae all blues??, and Nellie R Steven- Zone 6-9 6. Ilex Rock Garden Zone 6 - 9 7. Spirea pink flowering - what a color work horse Zone 4-7 (8) 8. Hydrangea macrophylia Altona great depth of color vivid blue/purple, good fall color, nice leaf, consistent bloomer. *** 9. Hydrangrea macrophylia Niedersachen great color and delicate petals. *** 10. Hydrangea Lilacina nice lacecap lavender petal blue center with added interest of great fall leaf color *** 11. Hydrangea quercifolia both Queen and Snowflake Zone 5-9 12. Vaccinium corymbosum Blue Ray Zone 3 to 7 (8) 13. Vaccinium angustifolium Zone 2 to 5 (6) 14. Clerodendrum trichotomum Zone 6 (7) to 9 15. Callicarpa japonica Luxurians just when I think all of the excitement has left the garden. Zone 5 to 8 16. Viburnum nudum Wintethur great fall color 17. Viburnum burkwoodii really formal shrub and the flower scent in spring is intoxicating Zone 4 to 8 18. Viburnum setigerum Aurantiacum wow the orange peach berries in the fall next to the burgundy leaves of Hydrangea Quercifolia. Zone 5 to 7 19. Chamaecyparis obtuse Nana Zone 4 to 8 20. azeala Polly Hills Yuka 0 to minus 10 degrees 21. Rhododendron Cunninghams White re-blooms in the fall - ? Check with your local nursery This is a great thread I have already added too many selections to my spring wish list. I am particularly lusting after the swamp azalea. Katy *** I grow more varieties of hydrangea macrophylia than I want to admit to either my DH or you and considered to the best of my ability what I thought was a special macrophylia that to date has been under used in New England.

I hope you can control lily-of-the-valley, it goes a little out of hand when ignored... As for the flowers, try gardenias. I have them in full shade here too. The blooms are VERY fragrant (sometimes overwhelming when close). They do quite nicely, with no problems. It even fills the requirement of "growing year round." BUT, they don't bloom year round D: Ignore that huge topic about gardenias. The trick is to just leave them alone, or mix in a little slow-release acid fertilizer. A little note: There are actually quite a number of shrubs that do well in shade, even flowering ones! Just look up some azaleas, camellias, or hydrangeas (I've got all three!) They're just not scented much. Here is a link that might be useful: So you want to grow a gardenia, huh?

My experience with hostas has been they grow much bigger if they get a fair amount of sun. I have had for about 6 years, a walmart hosta albo marginata (or something like that) that gets about 2 feet tall and about 3' wide and it gets about 2 hours of pretty direct afternoon sun and dappled sun for another 2 hours or so. The key is it is by my dripping birdbath so it gets constant moisture. It does suffer in August, but it sure looks good until then. The slugs seemed not to be too bad on that one - maybe because of the sun. All the others that I have tried to grow in more shade did get ravaged by the slugs and seemed to get smaller every year. That one hosta is the only one I have now.