Beginner Gardening: Can you recommend some shade perennials?, 1 by KaylyRed

KaylyRed wrote:
You already got some great suggestions, but I'll add a couple thoughts.

Right now, I'm very pleased with my polemonium 'Purple Rain' and 'Snow and Sapphires.' (In fact, I wish I'd bought more of the 'Purple Rain' because it's so pretty. Next year!) I also love old-fashioned bleeding hearts (although they do go dormant in the summer; I cut mine down to the basal foliage at that time and they get a flush of new foliage that looks attractive enough).

Here's a shot of my small shade garden. I'm no garden designer, so I mistakenly used way to many plants with similar (ferny) leaf shapes, but at least you'll get the idea of what the polemonium look like with the bleeding heart and hostas thrown in for some contrast. There's also a cimicifuga (actaea) in the bunch. It's growing vigorously, but since this is its first year I can't really comment much beyond that. All these plants are thriving in this location, though, with slightly amended rocky clay soil. I'd say they're easy keepers. :)