Pachysandra is my workhorse for deep shade here in the mid-Atlantic. It spreads great, it's evergreen, it doesn't mind having NO irrigation, it's self-limiting (as it fries in too much sun), and it doesn't try to climb and strangle everything. The neighbors have vinca minor in deep shade. It's doing fine but isn't the same thick mat as the pachysandra. Ajuga does well with no irrigation. Hardy ferns are fine, but they don't spread all that well for me. Hostas will grow that densely, too. So will hardy geranium--the native type is what I grew in NM without any irrigation in a natural low spot. It won't take super-deep shade. In New Mexico, my go-to ground cover was English Ivy. It fried like an egg on a hot plate in the sun, and the near-desert conditions meant I could keep it in bounds. Not in your zone, though. It'd eat everything. (In NM, I'd go after anything that was invasive in other states but not where I lived. That meant it'd likely be a survivor but not dangerously aggressive!) I had some invasive wild rose that would grow in shade there, too, and some perennial sweet pea there. Give up on the wildflowers. They won't do in deep shade.

Rye needs sun. Make a layered compost heap there: Newspaper for weed smothering and then layers of dead leaves, grass clippings and any compost you can find. Leave that to overwinter and plant in the spring. How about Lily of the valley? It needs one cleanup in the spring when you rake the dead stuff out, smells great Columbine, ferns, ... there's a long list of shade-loving plants you can use.

Some good suggestions given! I really like the Sarcococca for a situation like this but is spreads rather slowly. Great winter scent as well. Vinca is not so much the problem in the PNW as it may be elsewhere but I would avoid planting it near natural areas. In a garden setting, especially a mostly shady one, I find it to be an excellent and manageable groundcover and quite good at weed suppression. The pachy is great as well. One of my favorites for this situation is Euphorbia robbiae. Evergreen, loves shade, tolerates dry conditions and spreads well. Sometimes too well :-) But easy to remove if it starts to get out of bounds. And I second the mulching after initial planting to help to keep the weeds down. Once the plants root in and start spreading, there is less need to mulch routinely but mulching that first planting will give you a head start on keeping the weeds under control. I might add that NO groundcover is 100% effective at weed control......the weeds are too clever to be smothered out entirely! But some do work better than others at keeping weeds down, typically those that layer foliage and stems on top of itself - like the vinca - or spread quickly, like the euphorbia.

Why different Daucus carota might look different? Growing conditions. Variations due to genetics. The cultivated carrot is a subspecies of Daucus carota and look at all the variation in that. I see a lot of variation in the Daucus carota growing where I live. Some with petite flowers and others have huge umbrellas. Some with only 1-3 flowers and others with a dozen. You did grow Daucus carota, right? Please share a link to a photo of your plant! We can maybe confirm that for you. FataMorgana