I have a hard time getting rid of any plants. I have ambitious plans this fall to redo and expand my main sunny garden bed, so I have been thinking about potential SP candidates though. Red Hot Poker lily. Started from seed. Very short bloom period and the rest of the year has long, floppy, unattractive leaves. I might just move to a less visible spot though. Kind of my solution for every under performing plant. Sweet Intoxication Roses (two!). Boy , these things are just pitiful. But even their piddly, disease ridden, japanese beetle infested flowers smell great. I am going to give them one more year. Considering NOT growing annual snapdragon, cleome or nasturtiums anymore. I love these flowers, but they all have problems here. Snapdragons are apparently favored by four lined plant bug which does horrendous foliar damage in the spring. Cleomes and flea beetles, ugh! And my nasturtiums...I think my soil is just too high in clay for them. I have a tradescantia with bright pink flowers that gets red spider mites every year. Tradscantia Sweet kate doesn't have this same problem. I already SP one clump of the pink flowering one and the second clump will probably go soon too. A clump of orange/marooon asiatic lilies. These are prolific multipliers, but they fade quickly and aren't all that attractive. My biggest SP candidate is a crab apple tree planted by the previous owners far too close to the foundation. Beautiful spring display...but has to be cut back every year to avoid scraping our roof plus this year is has started to grow in front of our living room window. With all the cutting back needed on it, a painful to look at contorted silhouette has developed. Also the japanese beeltes love it. The front yard needs a big redo IMO anyways as it relies heavily on spirea which are currently covered in crispy brown flower heads. But, I probably won't actually tackle this project until spring or next fall.

Did you try to contain it with any kind of barrier? I have a corner in my yard that I thought I would put down that plastic 4" barrier and just plant it by itself. Would that contain it or would the roots run under it and into the lawn? Does it need deadheading too, to prevent spreading? Also, everything I read said it was gorgeous--did you find it that way or should I just pitch it and chalk it up to experience and "try" to remember to research a plant before purchasing!! Thanks for any help and recommendations you can give me!

Posted by Andree McEwen - 4: I have a 1 acre property just north of Toronto, Canada in zone 4. I would like to plant a woodland type garden under a grouping of five maple trees. Most of the area is dry and shaded except for the outer edges which receive some mid-day sun. Any suggestions for perennials or low growing shrubs? Follow-Up Postings: MRDan - 5: Maples are hard to grow under because their surface roots rob nutrients of everything else. I would try removing some lower limbs for a little more light, and watching for signs of needed fertilizer. Try hosta, lily-of-the valley, dicentra, aquilegia, hellebores. Deb Lux - 6: I would try a ground cover such as Epimedium. Bruce - NH 5: How about trying Dodecatheon amethystemum --amethyst shooting star. It is a native of the northeast and likes a shady spot in woods that dry out in the summer. The lavender flowers closely resemble those of the florist's cyclamen, but much, much smaller. Check nurseries that specialize in prairie species. Lise Beausour - 3: I have good success with Lysimachia clethroides in such a site. This plant in invasive in moist soil but has a good habit in drier. Susan-NC/Z7a: Try Phlox stolonifera. I have had excellent success with the latter grown near tree roots. Jeremy/MA/Zone 5: Here's a list of dry shade perennials for zone 5. You'd have to look up whether they can take a 4. Anaphalis/ Antennaria/ Artemisia ludoviciana/ Aster divaricatus/ Bergenia/ Brunnera/ Campanula carpatica, portenschlagiana, poscharskyana, punctata, lactiflora, persicifolia/ Corydalis lutea/ Eupatorium rugosum/ Galium/ Geranium maccrorhizum/Helleborus foetidus/ Hemerocallis/ Heuchera/ Iberis/ Lamiastrum/ Mertensia/ Polygonatum/ Pulmonaria/ Thalictrum/ Vinca minor/ Viola. That should keep you busy looking at catalogs!

First let me thank you for responding. I had so little faith that I would get a response that I have not looked in here for 8 days. Of the few pond plants I do have, it is aquatic iris. At the moment, I think I have enough of those, but I am very interested in your fragrant banana-yellow reblooming daylily ('happy returns'). I would love those. The big question is where do you live and where would you want to meet? I live near the Brooklyn Museum of Art. I have two trumpet vines. Would you want those? How many lilies can you give me? How many Acontium Napellus would you want in return if you don't take the trumpet vines? I can not use the spotted jewelweed around my above the ground pond, but I would take a few lychnis coronaria (rose campion) for contrast. Even though they are blue flowers, I have been tearing out for 30 years the tradescantia virginia that I found growing in my garden and I still can not get rid of them. I don't know why I dislike them so, but I would not take any more of those. Anything else you might have? I also have pink bleeding hearts which I did not list before. Let me know ASAP.