I'll play! Little Henry Sweetspire?

Here is a link that might be useful: Little Henry

perennials are not going to give you 4 seasons but a shrub will.you need a shrub.>>>rhododendron. laurel. pieris. mini variegated weigela.they're all tough but rhodo would break most easily of them.the 1st 3 are evergreen; not the weigela.

best,
mindy

All of those would look fantastic, but Rhododendron, Laurel and Pieris are all poisonous to some degree. Weigela - not sure, but I don't think it's toxic. Laurel is the most toxic of the above, from what I remember reading.

I also have a Lab who tends to eat non-food items, so I was especially tuned in to that criteria. :) I spent a lot of time researching toxic plants before I landscaped the backyard.

The list of completely non-toxic evergreen shrubs seems to be pretty short. Of course, there are all degrees of poisonous, with side effects ranging from nausea to death. I avoid anything poisonous in the backyard to be on the safe side.

Yew is the big one I would definitely never plant with a dog (or child) who might munch on plants/sticks. Azalea and Hydrangea are not good around plant munchers either.

What about partridgeberry/mitchella repens? A tough little vine that grows in my woods, is evergreen, has both a flower and a berry, is rated for your zone, not poisonous. I don't
think that it is fragrant though.

Plumbago, looks pretty for 3 seasons, is tough as can be. I have it on the north side of my house and don't even water it. Looks great except for winter. In fall gets red foliage and bright blue blooms.

How tall do you want it to be?

I can picture an Enkianthus shrub (not evergreen) but kinda narrow and upright for the spot. Have no idea of toxicity. You would have to research. I have 'Showy Lanterns' which has pretty pink bell flower clusters in spring.

You could also try to grow a clematis with it with the shrub acting as a trellis. If you go that route, you have to pair the right clematis with the right shrub carefully for the combo to work. So check on the clematis forum for more info on that. There should be just enough sun for blooms.

You could even add the false plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides) as a groundcover to the grouping if there's enough room. Over time it all may get crowded but that's what editing is for. Mine's in full sun. Not sure how it would do in that much shade.

There are not a lot of scented plants for shade. A long blooming tall groundcover that could be combined with something evergreen is Coydalis ochroleuca. It's almost evergreen here - it's green soon after the snow goes off and blooms from April into November. I looked for poisonous warnings but can't find anything that says yes or no. For an interesting low evergreen - if you can grow it - try wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). The leaves and berries are edible and have the distinctive wintergreen flavor. It was a favorite plant from my childhood :-) (chew the leaves for flavor and spit out the tough fiberous bits!)

The corydalis is the white flowers in this picture. It does seed around but the seedlings (and the mature plants) are easy to remove if they go where you don't want them.

{{gwi:195256}}

woodyoak ,
while i am inundated w the beloved corydalis lutea and cannot grow the blue, i have never seen the white. and the gaultheria sounds great. You obviously have a lot of great things to teach us about, but please add your location to your zone so we can relate to what you are saying about your garden plants.
best,
mindy
www.cottonarboretum.com/
a teaching website

Mindy - I don't like to add a lot of detail about location. I'm in Southern Ontario, Canada, not too far from the shore of Lake Ontario. We have 'Lake effect' conditions - late, cool springs and warm falls.

Tallness really doesn't matter too much, but I'd like it higher than the 2 foot concrete stairs next to it. I really enjoy the Little Henry Sweetspire, but my DW seems slow to warm to bottlebrush-type flowers.

Woodyoak: the Corydalis you mentioned looks like it's full sun to part shade; would it survive in full shade?

The bed that is in that picture gets no more sun than what you describe for your area because it is under the shade of a big ash tree. The corydalis also grows well under the denser shade of the red oak on the other side of the garden. I wouldn't hesitate to try it in the situation you describe - but it can be difficult to find.

Are you concerned about bees? Only three seasons, but a taller nepeta is heavenly on hot summer day.
For the time being, what about a big pot for planting things your child would enjoy growing, smelling, touching? A "sensory" planter that would be accessible and ok for her or him to touch and smell?
just a thought....

Bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorhizzum) would be great in that spot. Great ground cover, very attractive foliage, would thrive in the spot, flowers for a good spell in early summer, and the leaves are scented...sort of a fresh, pine-like smell especially when brushed against or crushed. And it is as tough as nails, and gets fantastic Fall colour.

i raised two children in the garden.. in a portable playpen.. and planted whatever in the world i wanted ...

but i killed a lot of nightshade and poisin ivy ... which they could ID by the time they could talk ....

ken

Idabean: No one in my family is allergic to bees, but I'd rather not have a huge bee magnet in a high-traffic place my family is going to brush by all summer. That's just asking for a sting. As for a sensory thing for my daughter, I'm heavy on vegetable gardening, and so have beds upon beds that are safe for her to get involved with. I just don't want anything that easily accessable to be so toxic that a glance away from her for a second could translate into a trip to the emergency room.

Simcan: How reliable is that for the border of part shade and full shade? Most of the accounts I'm reading on bigfoot/bigroot geraniums suggest they'd much rather be on the cusp of full sun and part shade.