My sister has a small patio area that is in complete shade. She wants to do planting over some dirt areas. Any suggestions??
Suggestions for very deep shade.
Hellebores, toad lilies, ferns, lorapetalum, spiderwort, tiarellas. Hostas if you can find some that do well in that area. There are hardy begonias available now for shade. Others that are a little larger that do well for me are firespike, beauty berry, turks cap, Japanese aralia, and hydrangea.
Caraboof- She also may want to look at things like Taros (Black Magic and Mickey Mouse do well in shade), Ground Orchids, or Caladiums (those come in many vibrant color patterns).
How about peacock gingers. There are several varieties with different leaf patterns.
I've had zero luck with toadlilies in Bellaire. The fern Microlepsia stigosa (Lace Fern) is really beautiful, but does eventually reach about 3 feet in height. Don't let anybody give/sell her Wood fern (which runs and looks awful most of the year here). I know it's recommended by some, but trust me, it isn't pretty. Before she plants, she needs to know about the drainage in the planting area. Louisiana iris doesn't care about drainage. If her soil tends to neutral or, better yet, alkaline, southern maidenhair fern could be pretty. If drainage is okay, Jacobinia (or Justicia) carnea (especially, Thelma's Pink) is a sub-shrub that blooms virtually year-round in this area and can be kept low or allowed to grow to 4 feet. For winter color in shade, nothing beats Primula obconica (German primrose) which gives color from Nov to Mar/Apr.
Leslie