'woody' wrote:

...and replace it with something gold-green. Another hosta would be easiest although I'd prefer a small shrub of some sort. I'm drawing a blank on possibilities so if anyone has another brilliant suggestion I'd be happy to hear it!

I have two suggestions and either would be (almost?) perfect. I have already mentioned to you about "Aralia Sunking". It positively glows in the shade; looks very healthy is pest free and doesn't spread...promise.
It is an herbaceous plant but it looks like it will reach about 4 foot by 4 foot for me.

Here it is as of this morning:

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The other possibility is one of my favourite perennials. It is Persicaria "Golden Arrow". And unlike some other Persicarias it does not spread. Beautiful bright green foliage with the added bonus of beautiful long last red bottle brush like spires of flowers in late summer. Here is mine from last year.

The picture shows 2 plants and they are in what would be called dappled shade/sun i.e. very little direct sunlight.

Both ASK and GA like rich soil.

How can you resist either or maybe both of them ;) ?

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rouge - I just looked for info on both of those. I like the color, but what I found made me nervous about both! There seems to be a lot of uncertainty about the ultimate size of the aralia, with a lot of people believing it'll get much bigger than the 3'x3' it is often listed as. Plus birds are reputed to like the fruit and that makes me wonder if that might end up causing invasiness problems - I battle bucktorn seedlings (and ash tree seedlings!) enough not to want to unwittingly add to the problem :-) It seems to be a relatively new introduction so I think I'll wait to see how it performs over time before I decide if it would be worth adding to the garden.

The Missouri Botanical Garden info on the Persicaria included this statement: 'this plant can spread in the garden by both rhizomes and self-seeding. Best sited in a location where it has room to spread.' - big red light went off on reading that!

The aralia, in particular, was a great color suggestion but I think I'll keep that on the back burner for now.

'woody', I had corresponded with the "plant man" responsible for bringing ASK to NAmerica and he is convinced that it will not get larger than 4 by 4 in a zone 5 climate (as it is herbaceous). As well he let me know that it is completely well behaved with insignificant "fruit" (and no rhizome spread).

As someone who has experience with several "Persicarias" I can tell you that I have never seen Golden Arrow appear anywhere else in my garden that it wasnt originally planted. It clumps and grows very predictably. I am embarrassed to say that I have 6 of these plants on and off my property and they stay where they are planted!

I went out and checked and when one gathers together in one's hands all the stems for a single plant they all lead back to the base clump i.e. no rhizome growth.

Several sites mention it as being "not invasive".

"Missouri Botanical Garden" is wrong.

(As you can tell I am really pushing for you to choose one of these plants!)

I also have Persicaria 'Golden Arrow' and it's been very well-behaved for me. In fact, i wish it would get a little more aggressive in my garden! I've had it for 4 - 5 years.

I got that message rouge....:-)

I've always found the Missouri Botanical Garden to be a reliable source - even when they differ from many other sources (e.g. when saying 'Paul Farges' clematis - classified as group 3 - blooms best on 'old wood'. That's consistent with my experience with it. ) Besides, I don't like the combination of the pinkish flowers and gold foliage on the Persicaria...

The aralia, as I said, is a possible once it's had more time in North America for the information to be reliable. I'm quite happy with 'old reliables'. I'm thinking maybe one of the gold euonymus might work there if I - or you folk - don't come up with a better idea...

Woodyoak - Look into Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Gold Angel' which has nice gold foliage, likes shade and is hardy for me. It's supposed to get to 3' x 3', though mine is new enough that it hasn't gotten that large yet.

Woody, you are FAST! (g) I think that really does look like it has the potential to screen out that shed. It really doesn't have to grow more than double the size it is now before it would be effective. And ime, the dogwoods I've had, have grown fast. You must feel pretty satisfied having made a decision and executed it so quickly. I usually take way too long to do either.

I hope it works out just the way you want it to. :-)

ooh - the mint family scares the dickens out of me! I really want something for that spots that stays put and doesn't spread too much.

Geez I'm hard to please aren't I?! But I appreciate all ideas and have fun educating myself looking them up.

pm2 - the shed has bugged me since 1999 when we moved here - so I'm actually rather slow to deal with it:-) I tried rhododenrons initially - one of those plants I love but don't love me! My next-door-neighbour to the north grows them easily so she rescued the poor things after a few years and gave me some Japanese maple seedlings in exchange. One of them is growing well there but it'll be years before it gets big. It should look good with the dogwoods.

I think those dogwoods are going to be perfect there if they survive but one of the rodgersias now doesn't look right there - one change leads to another... so the hunt is on again!

What about that 'Little Honey' Hydrangea? Micllino posted photos of it, on that 1st Combinations thread that is back on page 2. And she is in zone 5.

Here's a link...it's not that far down on the page.

Here is a link that might be useful: Combination pics

pm2 - hmm.... I'll have to look into gold-leafed hydrangea options. Oakleaf has usually not done very well for me but other types do. I will do some searching about for what the options are and figure out just how big a plant could fit in there. It can't be too big because there is actually a small path running past that rodgersia to a compost heap behind the shed.

I am not a gardener who is tolerant of thuggish plants, either rampant rooting or profligate seeding. Leucosceptrum japonicum 'Gold Angel' blooms too late (if at all) for seed to ripen this far north and it doesn't spread at all through runners. The mint family is huge, and Leucosceptrum doesn't behave like traditional mints, beebalms or any of the problem plants in this family. You'll have more difficulty with volunteer seedlings from the dogwoods than with Leucosceptrum.

Sorry to disappoint but miclino is a "he" :)

I've had hydrangea little honey for 3 years now. Has not really gotten bigger than 3x3 really. Some seem to have trouble with the plant, but my experience has been good. Its not widely available here so I had to mail order it.

'woody' FWIW I see "Little Honey" is shown on the Lost Horizons website. Give them a call to see it they still have stock.

(But FWIW, from reports I have read, it may have difficulty overwintering in our area.)

Miclino, not disappointed at all! We have lots of women around here and not enough men. :-) Sorry, I didn't figure that out.

I did just a little bit of web searching 'woody' and I only see "Gold Angel" offered by mail order "Phoenix Perennials" out of BC.

(However there is a similar Leucosceptrum japonicum called "Mountain Madness" which is more readily available in Ontario ie. Lost Horizons. Have any GW members had experience with "Mountain Madness...gotta love that name)

We took a jaunt down to Vineland Nurseries today to see what Simone had to suggest. We came back with a 'Golden Dream' boxwood and a 'Verdoni' Golden Hinoki False Cypress! I really like the boxwood and hope it will survive there. The boxwood is zone 6 - we are close enough to the lake to get away with zone 6 plants, especially since the pines provide shelter for it. We may have killed the rodgersia by moving it today - just before the temperatures are supposed to be 30+C for the next week or so! Hopefully we can keep everything alive through the heat....

Pictures with the new additions:

Looking towards the new plantings from under the pines:
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Looking into the golden area from the lawn/shed end of the path - new plantings at the corner/turn of the path:
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I think that's the last of the plantings there for this year. I'll wait and see how things do over this coming winter and consider what, if anything, needs adding next spring.

Here is a link that might be useful: Golden dream boxwood

Very exciting 'woody'!

It is always fun buying and planting new stuff.

That dappled sunlit area "under the pines" is beautiful.

Yes, rouge, it's always fun to plant-shop and find new 'stuff' that fits the spot :-)

'under the pines' sounds a bit grander that it actually is - there is not a pine forest on our little 1/4 acre! There are just 2 white pines in our backyard, one each on the neighbour to the north's property and one of the two neighbours' properties that back onto our lot. The other neighbour behind us (the one with the metal shed and the two little dogs you can see in one of the earlier pictures) has several rather ratty old spruces. Together all that creates the 'under the pines' environment. The pines have thinned out quite a bit in the last two years - there were a lot of dead pines around this sping! Summer droughts and a couple of almost-snowless winters have taken a big toll on them. Looking out from the living room window just now, this is 'the pines':
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The path with the golden planting is the left side of the short loop that runs from the silver area a bit to the right of the shed to the center path that comes out at the north edge of the lawn. You can see both the begining and end of the path in this picture:
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Using our green shed to orient yourself, you can see all our garden's backyard paths and beds in this drawing and should be able to figure out where the golden one is:
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So, while I'd love to have a real forest to play with, I have to make do with our miniature 'woodland' and try to make it look much more than it is! :-)