What to plant under pine trees?

I need help! I do not know what will grow under the pine trees in my yard. Part sun part shade.
Something that likes the pine needles under these huge trees. The grass sure dont!

There are several shade-loving plants to choose from that will grow under trees especially in your zone, down to zone 4.

fern species
hostas species
coral bells (Heucherella species)
bleeding heart (Dicentra)
Bergenia
Lily-of -the-Valley

There are many others to choose from. Borrow a garden book from your local library to learn what will grow. You will have many to choose from for your zone.
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I think part of the problem is the pine needles causing the soil to be acidic?

That's a given, pine needles are going to make the ground acidic, so go for plants that are acid lovers :)

Will Rhododendrens survive in your area? Any form of Azalea will do well around pines.
The more cold hardy Hydrangeas will also do well. I'm a transplanted Hoosier but I've lived here 27 years, and I am probably suggesting plants that won't do well. Wish you well. Hostas will do well, but they may need a bit of water, competing with the pine trees.

OH YES, I didnt think of those, But they will all work, and do fine here. Im zone 6b.
I just started some hostas from seed for the first time ever, I have baby hostas and dont really know what they are going to look like but I will try them under the pines when they get bigger. Thanks for the ideas!!

Another problem, besides the acidic soil, is that rain doesn't reach the soil under the trees.

You might want to talk to your local extension office for more suggestions of plants that are native to your area and maybe have that soil tested so you have a better idea of how acidic it is.

Im not sure of what you mean by local extension office>>>?

You can look in the phone book for your county extension office. There are people trained to help gardeners and farmers. The land grant college would be Purdue University. If you can't find anything local go to there agricultural website and contact them for a point of contact for your problems. You pay for these services with your taxes. It is part of their charter to provide education on agriculture to the public, and that certainly includes gardeners. I happen to have just graduated from the VA Master Gardener program. So I'm doing volunteer work to get my certification. :)

Hey, doccat, Are you logging time for the valuable info you just posted? Wish you well. It's a great organization if you truly do your volunteer time.

Oh, That is excellent! Thank you so much, I did not know about this,.... So helpful!!!
And congradulations on your graduation!!!! good luck with the certification. That is very exciting!!

Thank you so much, I have wanted to do it for a long time, but just couldn't get the time constraints to work. I retired last Jan and jumped at the chance. I have an appt with our county ext agent tomorrow to get a tour of the office and an overall view of the projects and meet some more of the personal that work in the office. It should be interesting and I'm looking forward to it. I'm signed up for a seminar on pruning Barlett pears Feb 10. That should be fun, plus I've volunteered to do the squirm worm presentation for a couple of the elementary schools, these are 1st and 2nd graders. That should be a hoot. The office supplies all the materials including a worm farm, so that will be fun.