Eww one of my favs would have to be wintergreen, Gaultheria procumbens. It is an evergreen ground cover, that has winter interest. It produces red berries that the birds eat during the winter!!

If no one has any at the swap they are selling seeds of it at tradewindsfruitstore.com under herbs.

Gaultheria procumbens is a really beautiful native plant, but I wonder if it would do well under a maple, where the soil is probably going to be pretty dry.

Ya know I didn't even think about that.

I remember as a little girl having maples in our front yard. Wow mowing was a chore I was so scared to go over all of those roots cause I had done it before and I would always bend the blades of the mower, and man my daddy would be MAD. I eventually just stopped mowing that part, lol!!

About 10 years ago we finally cut down the maples and had to dig up all of the roots out of the yard, talk about a mess!!

Here is a website I just searched out cause that was a good question Brandon. From this link it states that it can grow in ranges of soil from sand to clay to loam to moist to poor drainage to dry. One thing that it needs though is acid in the soil!!

I found that info about half way down the page. It is a pretty lengthy article.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaultheria procumbens

It's actually fairly moist in this spot---it's really a drainage ditch, but a very shallow one. Has anyone grown Gaultheria from seed?

I never have and I would love to try but the only problem is that I do not have any seeds. If I was going to do it though I would winter sow it. LOL that plant has been on my want list for quite sometime and I never have purchased the seeds to it. One day I will probably break down and purchase some.

Since it is a native it should be fairly easy to start. I haven't really read up on the sowing instructions. Though that is one thing about natives, they are great candidates to winter sow.

I received wintergreen at an East TN Plant Swap and just loved it. I planted it under a dogwood tree but lost it during a dry season. It was a ways from my watering hose so I didn't water it. I would love to have some more. I will try the website suggested. Thanks

East TN Plant Swap, that is still in Knoxville, right? You guys really are way west from me :). If my teenager ends up in UTK (decision pending) I have to try and plan to attend.

Well Katya, at least we're in East Knoxville, so we're "on your side". (-:

If anyone's interested, this place has really good prices:

Here is a link that might be useful: Outside Pride

Msbatt, did you check their Garden Watchdog reviews? NOT GOOD AT ALL! Outsidepride.com appears to have multiple major problems including a lack of honesty! Those nuts even tried to post fake positive reviews of their own company. They are BAD NEWS!!!

My bad---I didn't check. I just Googled G. procumbens seeds and they came up.

The trouble is, I need a LOT of plants to fill in this area, and I figured seeds were the way to go---and everywhere else I looked, seeds were pretty pricy, too.

Ah well. Back to Google, and thanks for the heads-up!

Msbatt, I do not know if you checked trade winds or not, but I have ordered from them and the seeds I got I was extremely happy with!! It was more than the amount they said on the website. Plus they offer free shipping on all orders to the us of 7.50 or more!!

Here is the website again!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Gaultheria procumbens

Here are a few sources for plants (if you decide to go that way). PlantScout also has listings for suppliers, but I didn't bother to include them here, since they are easily reviewed from PlantScout. Some of the bigger-potted ones may be able to be easily divided.

Burnt Ridge (very good G.WD. rating) - 4" pot $5.00
http://burntridgenursery.com/

Fairweather Gardens (very good G.WD. rating) - 1 qt. $9.95
http://www.fairweathergardens.com/

Gardens of the Blue Ridge (very good G.WD. rating) - bareroot $6.75, 1 qt. $8.00
http://www.gardensoftheblueridge.com

Goodwin Creek Gardens (no G.WD. rating??) - 3" pot $4.95
http://www.goodwincreekgardens.com/

Munchkin Nursery & Gardens (excellent G.WD. rating) - 5 pint (that's big!) $10.00
http://www.munchkinnursery.com

Oikos Tree Crops (excellent G.WD. rating) - 25 or more for $3.20 ea
(I really like this place. The guy is definitely honest.)
http://oikostreecrops.com

Raintree Nursery (good G.WD. rating) - 4" pot $5.50
http://www.raintreenursery.com

Richters (so-so/OK G.WD. rating) - multiple price-points on plants and seeds
(Richters is in Canada)
http://www.richters.com

Sandy Mush Herb Nursery (excellent G.WD. rating) - unknown size $5.00
http://www.sandymushherbs.com

Tripple Brook Farm (very good G.WD. rating) - 10 or more $6.95 ea
http://www.tripplebrookfarm.com

I have an idea: golden corydalis! It grows in dry shade, really brightens it and is at least partially evergreen, depending on the climate. Its pretty-pretty leaves are visible now in my garden.

Msbatt, how about sweet woodruff (galium odoratum)? I had it under a red maple at my house in Maryland in what I considered my bog garden. Wasn't really, but the area never truly dried up in the spring until I put in a dry stream drainage system. It spreads, or fills in, fairly quickly and has a nice scent.