Hi Anthony, can you tell me how much sun there is in this area? If it is dappled shade with a high tree canopy then there are some sunny perennials that will do well there that I can recommend as well as some of the shade loving varieties.

What zone are you in?

From the searches I've done, I believe we are in zone 8, but because of our elevation (1500 feet) plants seem to grow differently here than just down the road. For example, our Rhododendrons don't start blooming until a week or two AFTER the same plants downtown (5 miles away) have already bloomed and died off.

As for the sun exposure, it really varies along the length of the wall. A few spots get a couple of hours of sunshine each day, but the majority is completely shaded from our fir trees. The native ferns and wild bleeding hearts seem to do well up there if that helps any.

We really haven't had much luck with flowering plants here. I planted several Rhodies about 10+ years ago (don't know the variety), but they rarely get more than a few blooms each year. I started fertilizing them a couple of times a year and it has helped, but they still aren't real productive. Most of the azaleas I've planted have died off in a year or two also. My wife planted hundreds of flower bulbs her mom gave her (again, don't know the varieties), and while they shoot up lots of leaves every year, they almost never flower. I planted 200 daffodil bulbs a few years ago, in what I thought was a sunny spot. Only 20 or so bloomed the following year, and I think we're down to less than 5 flowers each year now.

I planted some Astilbe's last year that came up this spring and are actually blooming at the moment, but they're a little more sparse and delicate than I was hoping for.

Otherwise, based on our experiences with flowers, I have started to steer more towards plants with interesting leaves. For example, I planted some "Gold Dust" Aucuba's last year and they've already grown over two feet tall this year. They're doing quite well, despite being directly under a clump of fir trees in full shade. I also planted a couple of golden euonymous (sp?) out front that are doing well. I planted some Hostas out front last year also and they actually came up and are doing quite well. But, they die off during the winter, and the deer would eat them to the ground if I put them out away from the house.

I'd really like to get some flowering plants around here, preferably something that stayed green during the fall and winter.

I don't have the time or dedication to deal with annuals. If I can't stick it in the ground and have years of reward, it's too much work. :)

Thanks for the responses!

Anthony

My concern would be Plants planted toward the outside of the wall could freeze if its a free standing wall and not built into a hill.

As my original post stated, this is a "retaining" wall, that will hold back the soil on one side of the wall. It's not free standing.

Still looking for plant ideas. Thanks!

Anthony

The link below might give you a few ideas. Camellias may work well for you -- but you'd need to look for a dwarf variety unless you have the room for what will eventually be very large shrubs. They need little to no sunlight, stay evergreen and have lovely flowers in spring.

When you plant whatever it is you choose, dig up those bulbs and replant in a sunny area. They need sunlight to photosynthesize the leaves to feed the bulbs for the following years blooming. It may take a year for them to flower well again but they will come back given a sunny location.

Hope that helps Anthony.

Here is a link that might be useful: Evergreen Shade Plants

Hey, Anthony!
That sounds really nice. I think that you could use heuchera. There are many varieties, beautifully veined plum colored leaves, complementary to woodland settings. Also spurge. Allegheny spurge is a kind of blue-ish pachysandra. There are also flowering native gingers that don't care much for sun. All of these are non-invasive, evergreen perennials with beautiful foliage and subtle bloom.

You know, you might want to call your local county extension office. You might want to get a soil test & learn the Ph of your soil. Around masonry, it's usually a high Ph, so acid lovers won't thrive. (Like rhododendron.) The firs, I would imagine acidify, on the other hand.

Another few thoughts..hellebore. I think there is a hellebore forum on gardenweb. It's a shade loving, colonizing evergreen perenial that blooms from Jan- April. Very glossy tough foliage. Elegant and understated.

I wish I could think of a prostrate, matt forming, draping shade lover..well, sweet woodruff. Don't know if it likes zone 8, but it's a very beautiful, moist shade lover. A famous Long Island gardener used woodruff as a foundation groundcover with colombine, Robert Dash at Madoo.

Thanks for the post.
Patty

Holly,

Thanks for the recommendations and the link. I hadn't really looked at Camellias, but I know people in my area grow them.

> dig up those bulbs and replant in a sunny area.

We don't really have a "sunny" area, as our property has lots of tall fir trees. I had planted 100 daffodils in the sunniest area we have and very few are still surviving today.

Patty,

I've been looking closely at Hellebore's, they seem perfect for the location. But, I haven't seen any locally and the online stores seem rather expensive.

I will look into the other varieties you mentioned. Thanks!

Can anyone recommend an online mail order company with decent prices (and good quality) for plants?

Thanks,

Anthony

Check out the hellebore forum. I don't know why nurseries get so much $$ for hellebore but they do. People who have hellebore have plenty. You ought to trade something like your daff bulbs or cuttings from your firs, rhodies, etc. Or baseball cards.

I have hellebore planted with sedum, a native orchid (spiranthes), heuchera and painted fern. There are so many nice things that you could grow..

I also have herbaceous potentilla, var. Miss Willmot & Melton Fire in the shade with a common pale yarrow.
It's sprawling semi-evergreen, looks like strawberry foliage & bloom, but larger & more colorful. One plant goes a long way.

Also, you could grow setcreasea. It's might be evergreen in zone 8. What a plant. It looks great in shade. (It's purple) You should just google image setcreasea. Buy one plant. From then on you just break off stems and put into grow mix. Water til you get some roots. This is the most easily propagated plant in the world. Put it everywhere. It makes everything look beautiful & rich.

You could also use ajuga and begonias. You lucky duck.

Look at cordylines. Oh what amazingly beautiful plants. Easy to grow, year round interest. Shade lovers with awesome foliage.

You may have to think about the mortar - I've had it turn the soil so alkaline that hardly anything would grow. There are some sedums that are shade tolerant but what really came to mind was epimediums. I also grow cotoneaster in shade - you could try one of the trailing ones. pulmonarias, saxifrage, carex species