Wow, I would think that you could grow all sorts of plants in an area like that. You didn't mention how much moisture you get but since you are growning a buffalo grass lawn, I will assume you water sparingly (which is good here in the arid west.) And you didn't mention critter issues like deer. Here are some plants that I grow in dry shade under scrub oak : meadow rue, various perennial geraniums (do a little investigation with perennial gernaiums - some do quite well with just bright shade,) brunnera, lamium, anenome Honerine Jobert, aureum feverfew and white bleeding heart. Also Jacob's ladder and foxglove. If you have deer problems, some of these would be considered yummy snacks. And sorry, but I don't have any experience with hellebores.

Thanks, Nancy! You gave me some great ideas. I think I will definitely try several of your suggestions and see what happens.

If you're planning to water the area on a pretty regular basis, I'll add ferns and hosta. There are several hardy ferns that you could use and most hosta are hardy to z3. And another favorite of mine it Trollius (globeflower) which has a truly unique flower and definitely does better in shade. And Bergenia is another one--it's considered drought tolerant, but will look better and bloom better if kept pretty wet--even in winter.

Have fun planning your new bed,
Skybird

Skybird, you recommend some plants I have not heard of, so I am off to do some research! Thank you so much!

If you decide you're interested in the Trollius, many of the ones you'll find are yellow, but there are a few varieties that are a wonderful golden orange. 'Golden Queen' is one of them and I found a pretty good picture of it--but in real life I think it's a little bit orangier than this. Mine are just starting to bud now, and I can't wait to see them again! The flowers on Trollius are on thin stems that stand well above the foliage, but need no support.

And here's a (cut/paste) link to a pretty good page of Bergenia pictures too. It has large, leathery leaves that are evergreen to semi-evergreen and often (depending on weather) turn a beautiful dark red in fall. Some people on GW seem to have trouble with them, but I kept mine wet all winter and they looked great all winter and are just finishing blooming. I do cut off any ratty (older) leaves every now and then to keep them looking their best.

http://images.google.com/images?q=bergenia&svnum=10&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=20&sa=N

I thought of a couple more too! Anemone sylvestris has 2" white anemone flowers that are also well above the foliage. It does well in sun or shade---mine are in shade. They will reseed all over, but they're easy to pull out or move if you want to. And they're great, long-lasting cut flowers. If deadheaded promptly (which helps prevent reseeding) they will usually re-bloom.

And saxifrage (Saxifraga) is another good shade perennial and it will give you a thick mat of small (usually pink--comes in white to red) spring flowers. It's also evergreen.

Also, the dark-leaved Heuchera's need to be in shade. They come in an amazing variety of leaf colors, but most of them have very small to insignificant flowers, so if that matters to you, be sure you check out what the flowers will be like before you decide on any of them. Heuchera sanguinea (regular green leaves and "real" coral bells flowers!) will also do well in quite a bit of shade. I have 'Firefly' which is one of the reddest ones and it's in sun now, but our Colorado sun is too hot and it's burning the leaves so I have to move it.

If I think of any more, I'll be back!

Skybird

Here is a link that might be useful: Trollius 'Golden Queen'

I second the Heucheras! I have several in my shade garden, both bright and dark-leaved, two with great flowers and others mainly for the foliage. But if you shop around there are some that have both.

I also grew the "Lenten Rose" Hellebore in the same shade garden for a few years and it was thriving after the first year, but my garden is at ground level and the flowers nodded downward so much that I could hardly see them. It took up quite a bit of space the rest of the time, so I took it out. But with a raised bed it would have worked much better. I should mention that mine got pretty beat up looking over the winters. You need to water in the winter during warm spells when the soil thaws and dries out. Also my shade garden has some wind protection. Maybe if you plant an Alberta spruce or something in there, you could put a hellebore on the downwind side of it.

Here are a couple of more plants that do well in a north bed but prefer damp soil. If this isn't a problem then consider the following three. The first is Astilbe, they thrive in the shade but they don't like to dry out. Another is Lamium, it too likes to be kept damp. Lamium will spread but it is not invasive and can be controlled quite easily. I have it in two spots, one deep shade and one semi-shade. I found it flowered more with a bit of sun. Last fall I planted 3 Monkshood and they survived the winter nicely in spite of not being winter watered (I was very new to the region). They were looking great until my husband gave them a bit of a bashing recently putting up a new fence . They are still hanging on and coming back nicey!

Enjoy the challenge of CO gardening!

Update on this new garden,

It is doing quite nicely. I buried a milk jug in one end among the astilbe's so I could keep them moister. At first they all looked like they died, and I was ready to start pulling them out, but lo and behold, they have a bunch of new growth at the bottoms! Hopefully, they will survive the winter and be lovely next year.

The lamiums, cranesbill, and jacob's ladder are happy, happy and have tripled in size, so obviously they were good choices, too. My patriot hostas were also happy until the deer munched them, but they are coming back and insisted on blooming anyway.

Thanks all for your help!

Pam T
wishccr