I know that currants do well mixed with Pines. They are natural neighbors in the wild, don't compete for water and share nutrients more readily.... I have them mixed together in our work gardens so it looks like a native setting....

conifers are conifers.. because .. they have cones ... and conifers are trees ... so name the tree .. then add 'cone' ... so.. as noted.. your spruce has spruce cones ... go figure on that logic.. lol ... anyway.. enough on that ... there are 3 basic things plants need PROPERLY ... to be PROPERLY planted ... to be in PROPER light ... [you arent going to grow sunflowers under there, eh .. being rather literal] .... and PROPER watering ... and i will focus on water like a laser ... new transplants need more water than an 'established plant' ... until they can grow the roots needed to support the plant ... or get those there.. working again after you disturb them thru planting ... for the first month or so ... most perennials should NEVER dry ... no matter if it is a plant that can TOLERATE dry shade ... but once they get going ... then their true characteristics come out.. and tolerance to dryness will surface ... make sense??? anyway .. perennials can take years to grow into large plants.. so what you do .. next season.. is put in BOTH perennials for the long run .. and some annuals for instant impact ... but be aware .. there are very few annuals that are dry tolerant.. other than weeds.. lol ... once again.. you have not.. or i missed it .. the actual sun on the space.. i might consider ringing the rocks with impatiens if shade.. and maybe allysum or petunia if sun ... covering about the first foot in .. then some other annuals .. interspersing them with perennials for the following year ... it looks like you have a struggling heuchera or coral bell there ... so that indicates that with a little more TLC.. those will grow there ... below is a pic of maple roots ... to show you the 'potential' of what you are dealing with under the soil .... a spruce is NOT going to be that extreme ... but i hope it makes you appreciate what i meant when i said trees are super competitors ... i really have no clue what the grass is growing in .... that is the neighbors septic rebuild.. it took me two years to convince him to get rid of that maple or face another rebuild in the future ... he finally did last summer [4 years???] ... i gave up long ago.. trying to grow much of anything under maple.. but i digress .... good luck ken

Good Day, I too have a shade garden under pine trees, two actually. I have Korean Spice bush, hosta, lots of early spring bloomers but by mid summer the only thing that is still looking good is the bush and hostas. It is too dry to keep impatiens alive unless I water daily, I've even tried sinking pots to help hold the moisture, just won't grow. Any suggestions for something that will give me some color during the hot summer and won't require that I have to mortgage my house to pay the water bill? Thank You,Elphinstone

In the Puget Trough Pinus contorta is basically a wetland indicator. I've stood in a stand east of Everett, WA where the winter high water mark on the trunks was well above my head. Associated species included Sitka spruce and red-twig dogwood. The same species can have marked differences in functioning within different parts of its range. For instance, Sambucus canadensis in the northern part of its range requires cold exposure for germination and in the southern part does not. Garry oak has no particular apparent soil or precipitation requirement, one of the largest WA examples I have been on hand to see measured was in one or two feet of mud - in some locations it can be seen mixed with Oregon ash in swamps. Annual rainfall totals throughout its range go from 13 in. to 103 in. What it does need is lack of competition and shading from other trees. Soil flora and fauna in all these different habitats must vary considerably. And of course ubiquitous local species such as Douglas fir must be growing under a very wide range of combinations, including which mycorrhizal fungi are present. So maybe Ponderosa pine is somehow able to function where the fungi that would be present in dry-lands are not represented.