I am intrested in the Corkscrew vine + pink pampas grass plant. I have some shade loving perennials. Persian Shield plants in 1.22 pint sized pots. Coleus plants in 1.22 pint sized pots. A dogwood tree in a 2 quart sized pot. A native azalia bush in a 1.22 pint sized pot. Hope you will like to trade! Dustin Morgan

well ... hmmmm .... you are on the right track ... but working on the wrong variables ... i am going to come at it from another angle ... hosta are VERY HEAVY WATER USERS ... and they use the most water.. in the most heat .. which is why they struggle in the deep south ... they simply cant pump enough water to offset the loss ... and part of that is ... night temps.. they can cope better up here in MI because at night it cools considerably ... hosta actually sweat ... transpire ... in england.. which is above the 60th parallel.. or 2/3 of the way to the north pole.. they are ALL FULL SUN ... partly because the sun barely shines.. lol .. but also because of the declination of the sun.. the British are a pasty peeps.. because the sun is not as strong.. so the hosta can cope ... compare that to LA.. and you can see a stark difference. .. so.. hosta can grow in full sun .. hosta are only shade tolerant.. but the sun .. or conversely.. the shade is not really the issue.... its all about how effectively they can pump.. enough water. and if they have a recovery period to cope ... the fact that a hosta looks ratty in late summer.. is more a function of not enough water.. rather than too much light ... ken ps: zone.. which is.. in its simplest form.. MINIMUM WINTER TEMP ... has nothing to do with it .... pps: i have tons of wood hyacinths.. i dont know why you failed with those.. unless there are multiple plants under that common name ... ppps: hosta also have a requisite dormancy period.. and if you go too far south.. they dont get it ...

Do you let your children eat plants from the garden? The vast majority of common garden plants are toxic to some degree so having that as a restriction is unnecessarily limiting. In most cases, you have to consume a great deal of the plant to cause any sort of negative reaction and IME, most kids are pretty adverse to eating any sort of vegetation :-) I'd just avoid any that are notablyy toxic - castor bean, monkshood, oleander, etc. or any with enticing berries. FWIW, child poisonings from eating ornamental garden plants is pretty rare and folks have been gardening with small children for centuries. Never was any issue with my three :-) Cimicifuga (Acteae) is a great choice and with fragrant flowers. Ligularia can get quite tall as well and the yellow flowers brighten a shady spot. I'd suggest foxgloves too but since you want to avoid any toxicity, maybe skip that. Many meadowrue (Thalictrum species) are very shade tolerant and can get quite tall.

Thanks! Is there a tall upright shade-tolerant, slow-growing grass or plant that I can plant at the back of this bed for vertical interest? The Japanese forest grasses I looked at appear to be short. I am a little afraid of the climbing hydrangea, it might be hard to control...? For ferns, I originally had my heart set on Tennessee ostrich fern since it is more upright than the other varieties I looked at, but then I read that it spreads rapidly and so dropped the idea. Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’ looks very nice, but not sure if I want an orange shade in there. I will keep looking. I want to have Dicentra 'king of hearts' in that bed. Not really finding a source, but there are seeds available. Can they be grown from seed easily? I planted some astilbe from home depot in a different location, and I think maybe it is too much sun, though only morning sun .. they are dying. I am hesitant to try again here, considering in this location they get 11am-1pm hot sun. So, on the whole, now I am thinking some bright colored hostas, ferns, king of hearts dicentra. I will go to the nursery this weekend, I hope they have some nice varieties that were discussed here. Otherwise I will have to order online. I am wasting way too much time on this.. :) Thanks so much.