Shady Stumpery

[Palustris]

From this.

To this

The area is in shade and gets less rain than it should because of the huge Beech tree next to it.  The fence in the back ground faces West. The soil is an acid clay, but the bed itself was filled with probably the best soil in the garden, full of leaf mould.
The rest of the area is to be filled with Snowdrops, aconites, primroses, crocus, cyclamen etc.
So suggestions for plants in the raised area would be most welcome.

[Maggi Young]

A few  suggestions .....  any  number  of  small bulbs  will be  lovely  in or  around the  bed.

Beesia calthifolia

Cardamine  pentaphylla  etc.

woodland Corydalis for earlier colour   - solida cultivars,  C. bracteata, C.  malkensis.  Corydalis solida  cultivars have the earliest pinks. The east Asian blues are later  like  C. flexuosa and  the  many  named varieties, Kingfisher, Craigton Blue for  example.  There  are  later  purple  varieties  too, like  Korn's  Purple, Craigton Purple.

Erythroniums

Ferns of  course, but  nothing  too big.

Hepatica

Pulmonaria sp.


Ramonda nathaliae

Tiarella sp.


Suggestions from Alasdair Sutherland of  Ardfearn for  a  shady  trough - but  could  be  nice  for your  raised  bed too...

Hepatica nobilis
Soldanella cyanaster
Celmisia sessiliflora compacta (its in the brightest spot)
Gentiana prolata
Dianthus erinaceus (also in a brighter spot)
Silene acaulis 'Frances'
Gentiana hexaphylla
Androsace carnea Andorra (brighter spot)
Ourisia caespitosa
Olcynium narcissiflorum
Thalictrum kiusianum
Epimedium grandiflorum  nanum
Soldanella 'Spring Symphony'
Anemonella thalictriodes Schoaf's double

[Palustris]

Lovely, thanks.
Not used to shade in a garden. Our first place was a long narrow town garden with not a tree in sight. Our second was a south facing sand dune, again no shade. Our third garden was the one which everyone has seen the images from, some shade, but mostly sunny. This garden is tree lined  and some of them are BIG. Beech, Birch, Oak, Yew, Sycamore and Holly, all with TPO's on them so cannot be touched officially. There are roots all over the place and the canopy limits the amount of rain which reaches the ground. A whole new learning experience.

[Gail]

Some peonies will do well - P. emodi and hybrids of eg. Early/Late Windflower and I had P. mascula in the shade of a big hawthorn in Suffolk;

[Leena]

That is an interesting project and I'm also always looking out for plants to dry shade, so there are many good suggestions in Maggi's lis also for me.
Gail's P.mascula plants are lovely!

[Carolyn]

Hakonechloa is a brilliant grass for shade and looks good from when it starts to grow in spring until you cut it right down at the end of winter.