Need ideas for a mostly shady spot

Hi everyone! I have a shady spot in my garden next to my front porch that I would like to fill in with some perennials. I'm in zone 5, near Lake Michigan, and the area is tucked into a northwest corner of my house. It gets shade all morning, with some filtered sun in the afternoon and evening. I have alkaline, clay soil and I'm looking for something to fill in as a groundcover as well as something that grows to about 24" to fill in a spot behind a pagoda dogwood. The area is currently being taken over by thistles (ouch) and celandine (wartflower - ick!) and I would like something that can crowd those nasty guys out.

I have planted some lily of the valley which is doing ok, but after 3 years it isn't really filling in as I had hoped. Hostas grow well here, but they don't suppress weeds as well as I would like.

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Lamium, Ajuga, Golden Moneywort(Creeping Jenny), Vinca, Violas would all work as groundcovers

Painted Fern, Astilbe, Dicentra for your taller needs

Astilbe is one of my favorites for shade. Epimedium is another good shade ground cover.

Bleeding Hearts can get a couple feet tall, but disappear late in the summer. Wild Geraniums and Virginia Bluebells are happy in a shady spot also. I have wild ginger in the front of my northside bed. They are very low growing, and stay nice all summer. Lots of different ferns too. Astilbe are great. They will wilt in the heat if your shady spot is too dry. There is also good old pachysandra that likes shade, but the plants can be expensive. They're easy to propagate from cuttings once you get a patch started. Again, they're low growing also.

Ajuga is very nice for shade, and it seems to crowd out weeds easily as it spreads quickly.
Ella

You can choose from these: Ferns can grow in almost all types of climate depending on the type, Bleeding Heart (dicentra), Astilbe looks similar with ferns, comes with variety in color, Day lily are very effective to cover out weeds and I think you just need to manage them right, or you can have the monarch that grows up to 24 inch tall.

with regards to thistles, you can bring in some bugs that feeds on weeds and thistle and let them do the work for you. or you can get a weed killing spray at the nearest nursery. If it still wont work, burn them out.

there you go, let me know if you have further questions.

Enjoy!

Veepster, I have a lot of shady areas in my yard and agree with all of the previous suggestions. I live about 1-1/2 hours south of you.

Lamiums have beautiful Silvery Variegated foliage plus the bonus of flowers. I really like 'Silver Beacon' & 'Purple Dragon' (look them up on " DG Plant Files" for lots of pictures). It does spread well, but may not spread as fast as you want if you're trying to make this happen in one season.

Ajugas spread extremely fast & have lots of varieties available - 'Chocolate Chip' is a popular one. Most people really like them but some find them too aggressive as they can quickly take over a bed. If you do find you like them, you can divide them frequently.

I love Astilbes & Heucheras and have quite a few, as well as some Hostas.

Don't forget you can find pretty much any of these plants on "Plant Files" & get pics as well as feedback from other gardeners.

Two other things you could consider . . .The first is using Weed Blocking landscape fabric with mulch over it to have a nice neat look with plants, but without a solid ground cover. The second is filling in with pretty shade annuals like 'Impatiens' until some of the perennials spread more.

You can also get some great ideas by going to "Bluestone Perennials" website where they have a link that allows you to put in special conditions . . . like shade, soil conditions, type of plant, etc., to get ideas with no obligation to buy anything. They may also still have their Spring clearance sale on perennials happening.

Good luck & enjoy!!

I would suggest going to several different flowers shops and asking the florists what they think.

This message was edited Jun 15, 2011 12:23 PM

Florists? I thought they are trained in floral arrangements

Impatiens!

Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I think I'm going to take a bunch of cutting of some Pachysandra from my in-laws' yard to fill in the hole. I put some ferns in along the ugly concrete foundation and they are doing well so far. I may still think about adding an Astilbe in there. I will post some pics if I ever get the camera away from my husband...