plants, flowers, shrubs, small trees - what are your favorites for shady areas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You may want to watch how much sun the area actually gets before you fully commit to plants. Light levels change as the year progresses. I have areas that are in fairly deep shade in the middle of summer bc of deciduous trees that are quite bright in winter. On the other hand, the full sun (in summer) south side of my house is in part shade in winter bc of the angle of the sun a fence, and the house next door.

DP but yeah I have this issue and haven't quite figured out how to manage. We have south facing, slope-y areas that get a lot of sun right now but as soon as the oaks leaf out, not so much. Definitely cannot plant full-sun stuff but can be a bit dry for the shady species. So far white wood aster seems to like it but like all asters that gets pretty tall and scraggly looking.

I had put together a list of NoVA natives in a spreadsheet so I can see this kind of information readily, and here's what it says:

Chrysogonum virginianum (Green and Gold)
Coreopsis verticillata (Whorled or Threadleaf Coreopsis)
Heuchera americana (American Alumroot)
Iris cristata
Various Liatris
Mitchella repens (Partridge Berry)
Packera aurea (Golden Ragwort)
Phlox divaricata (Woodland Phlox)
Penstemon hirsutus (Hairy Beard-tongue)
Ruellia caroliniensis (Carolina Wild petunia)
Sedum ternatum (Wild Stonecrop)
Solidago spp. (Goldenrods)
Sisyrinchium angustifolium (Narrow leaved Blue eyed grass)
Danthonia spicata (Poverty Oatgrass)
Eluus hystrix (Bottlebrush Grass)
Muhlenbergia capillaris (Hair-awn Muhly)
Schizahyrium scoparium (Little Bluestem)
Dryopteris intermedia (Evergreen Wood Fern)
Dryopteris marginalis (Marginal Wood Fern)
Polystichum acrostichoides (Christmas Fern)

For shrubs, if you have room, you can try the following:

Hypericum prolificum (Shrubby St. Johnswort)
Itea virginica (Virginia Sweetspire)
Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)
viburnum pronifolium (Blackhaw viburnum)
viburnum dentatum (Arrow-wood viburnum)

PP here- thank you! I was just wondering if Packera aurea or Chrysogonum virginianum might fit the bill since they should spread some, right? And come to think of it I have some Christmas ferns that are doing fine too, they just get overshadowed by the asters.