I have jacobs ladder growing in full shade both white and purple.

There are lots of small hostas and I agree with CL about Jacob's Ladder. Also you may want to try some of that Creeping Charlie I have growing all over my yard! :) It loves the shade and grows really well. Lol!

Ginny

I have some cute small hostas: So Sweet and H. lancifolia are very tiny, and I have two H. undulata mediovariegata which are very pretty and don't seem to be getting very big.

Variegated goutweed looks nice in a small space too.

What about some primulas? I grow P. bulleyana and P. cortusoides and hope to find others that thrive around here.

nutsaboutflowers, can you post a photo of the area in question please?

How do you like lamium? Some of them (esp. the ones with the chartreuse, variegated leaves) really brighten up a shaded area!

Ha! Ha! Gillian !

I have goutweed just around the corner from this area. All I'd need to do is remove one of those small rectangle concrete blocks and say "Come On In ! " I love my goutweed, but I think it might create trouble =:)

I guess it's another trip to the garden centre. My favourite place. They won't be surprised to see me, again!
I'll take them by surprise looking for shade plants though.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone =:)

Jacob's Ladder is pretty but only blooms in spring, but maybe you could alternate it with hostas. Astilbe is another thing that likes the shade, though i saw one that was planted in pretty much full sun and it was gorgeous!

I have a hosta called "mouse ears", it's quite small and I really like it! Also, have creeping jenny that is lime coloured and grows well for me.

Hi Please no creeping charlie -it is a weed from h...here and very difficult to get rid of.There are lamiums that are varigated white /green, chartreuse/dk green , trollius that bloom yellow,orange or pale yellow cream,epimediums, fern leaf bleeding heart,coral bells,foam flowers, pulmonaria etc that you can grow based on foliage alone let alone flowers Enjoy Lois

How about Lily of the Valley . But it is invasive.Mouse ear hostas are tiny and kind of cute.I too have a gazillion creeping charlies to get rid of but for some reason no one wants it.

Well, so far I've put in two primroses that weren't doing very well elsewhere in the yard, six begonias from Botanus, and a grab bag hosta with small leaves that I'm hoping won't get very big.

I'll pop into a garden centre this week to look for things suggested here. That is, if it stops raining =:(

Thanks!

There are a ton of mini-hostas that would work! Maybe a bunch of them with different characteristics, mix some blues with greens and yellows and streakers, etc. How about adding a few columbines to the mix? Those would be really pretty too! Otherwise, you've already had a number of my favorites suggested. NOT creeping charlie, though! It is definitely not a favorite of mine!