| Most of the shade loving herbaceous perennials are good for this as they die back in the autumn just as the leaves are falling and then re-emerge in the spring after the leaves have had all winter to settle and rot. A few ideas that come to mind are hostas, ferns, or bleeding heart (dicentra). I also have a groundcover called either mandrake or May Apple (Podophyllum peltatum), that grows in shade. It emerges in spring from the understory of my trees and shrubs, where i dont often blow out the leaves, and looks lovely for about three months, then in late July it quickly dies away before the leaves fall. It leaves a bare spot when it is gone, but I love the shape of its umbrella like leaves. Ferns are also good for understory. They, too, will die away over the winter and are pretty well designed for then working their way up through the rotted leaves of the previous season to emerge in the spring. Hostas, too, should make it up through the leaves. I have never grown any of these from seed, so i am not sure how easy it is. Understory shrubs like azaleas would also be used to the leaf fall, though they might look a bit messy through the winter. Azaleas and pieris like the natural mulch created by oak leaves. Hope this helps. |
