All of the plants you mentioned would work in a woodland setting. Most of them do better in part shade/sun vs full shade environment. The ferns might be the only exception as some like full shade. Most of the plants would do better in soil that does not get overly dry. Be sure to water them well this first year so they become well established. If you can give them morning sun vs afternoon sun that would be good but isn't necessary.

I have many of the plants you've listed growing in a spots that get 2-3 hours of afternoon sun then they are in bright indirect light the rest of the day. I have not added or amended my soil, rather I've added compost and mulched well over the years.

The plants you've selected will give you good flowering coverage throughout the season with epimediums/irises blooming first, in spring. The astilbes/wood lily and lobelia will bloom throughout the summertime and the cimicifuga will bloom in the later part of summer to fall.

Other woodland plants to consider: hepaticas, mountain laurels, rhododendrons, dogwoods, jacobsladder, alumroot, va bluebells, wild ginger, jack in the pulpits, trilliums -I could go on... Not sure if I helped you or not. ~Shari

Hi Shari,

Thanks for the input. Glad to know I am on the right track. Yes, I am planning on installing a soaker hose. I have a few places that get that 2-3hrs of sun. I have a few hesitations. First of all, I keep reading that the Cimicifuga is ideal for very shady sites. It is the atropurpurea and wondering if more sun might bleach out the leaves and not have the dark color.

The second concern is with my lobelias. I ordered them mail order, and they were supposed to hold them for me to pick up, and they mistakenly sent them to me during that crazy May weather and I had to hold them in the house for 10 days. Since taking them outside, they have been sitting in shade and every time I try to introduce a little more sun, they wilt. I am not sure if it is just an adjustment they have to make or if they have some wilt disease from the lack of sun in the house for so long. There seems to be a rosette of leaves at the bottom that are okay, but there are a few stems that come up out of it and they are bending over and looking wilted. I am even considering cutting off the stems to see if new ones will resprout from the basal leaves. Any ideas?

As for the lilies, is 2-3hrs of sun enough for them? What about red lily beetle? I have had just one Casa Blanca lily for the past three years and have not seen them till last week! Yikes, they are at least really bright red and easy to see as adults. I picked off 5 of them and some egg casings. DONT want to be battling them every year. I am organic and would rather leave them out of the yard then use chemicals. One lily is not bad to hand pick, but I just bought two of the Canada Lilies. Have you had problems with those?

I don't have any personal experience with wood lilies - yet! I just planted several roots though. As a general rule lilies will do better in more sun.

I have an appalachian bugbane and a few other bugbane varieties. I find they do better bloomwise with a bit more sun however I don't have to worry about the color fading. Why don't you do a search of GW and/or post your questions about the cimicifuga and lily and see what others have to say?

I have a great blue lobelia that is finally growing this year, after sulking for two years in my garden. I planted a trade two years ago and it literally sat there with a two green stems for two years. This year it has several stems that are about a foot and half tall. I think it just needed to develope a healthy root system first.

As for beetles. I have a good size lily bed and I haven't seen one beetle in 5 years. I don't spray them either so I can't speak for how to avoid them or deal with them if they show up.

Good luck ~ Shari

Shari,

Thanks so much. I think you are right about a new post with a more appropriate subject heading.

Wow, about the lobelia. OK, well that certainly explains what I have been seeing.."sulks" ...lol. OK well, now I know what to expect and will just let it do it's own thing.[g]

OH, how lucky with the red beetle. I am going to just try to be vigilant with picking off the bugs and eggs this year and hope I don't get any more.

You have been very helpful and generous with your time..
:-)
Thanks,
Adam

Adam, I have a small woodland (largely sugarmaple with the odd Black Cherry and American Beech) garden and let me tell ya, it's trial and error on a lot of stuff so keeping a little log book of what does "well" and "where" will really help you.

We've found that our Osterich Ferns will grow anywhere but to grow to 5' tall they do like a bit of dappled light. The Osmunda ferns like Cinnamon and Royal like even more light but not "direct" so they are right on the edge of the garden. The more delicate ferns obviously like the deep shade best and after the first winter you will find out what is the hardiest.

Lobelia and Lilies for woodlands like the very edge of the woods as do violets, grasses, viburnums and dogwoods (although dogwoods and viburnums will also trive and fruit inside the woods as well, for the best fruiting they like the edge).

Other forest plants I have are:

Bloodroot (full to dappled shade)
Blue Cohosh (full to dappled shade)
May Apple (full to dappled shade)
Trout Lily (full to dappled shade)
Bunch Berry (full to dappled shade)
violets purple, yellow and white natives (forest edge)
round lobed hepatica (forest edge)
native columbine (will bloom in shade but will do better the more sun it gets)
Pale Corydallis (forest edge)
Jack-in-the-pulpit
False Solomon's Seal (flowers at the tip of the stem)
Smooth Solomon's Seal (flowers along the underedge of the stem)
Red Trilliums
White Trilliums
Canadian Ginger

Flag Iris (full sun to part shade and lots of water)
Man Fern (full to dappled shade and lots of water)
Lady Ferns (full to dappled shade and lots of water)
Hart's Tongue Fern (full shade and lots of water)
Maiden Fern (full shade and lots of water from underneath)
Cinnamon Fern (full/part/dappled/north facing forest edge and water)
Royal Fern (same as cinnamon fern)
Christmas Fern (hardy, not sure if it tolerates sun at all as we have it in the deep shade)
Wood Fern (same as Christmas)
Sensitive Fern (likes very wet conditions)
Osterich Fern (versatile and if very wet(swamp/pond) can even tolerate sun)

For shrubs we have:

Redbud (1)
Serviceberry (2)
Nannyberry (1)
Highbush Cranberry (1)
American Hazelnut (1)
Red Osier Dogwood (1)
Pin Cherry (many)
Spicebush (4)
Elderberry (2)

Other plants we are currently searching for are:

Squirrel Corn (difficult to find)
Dutchman's Breeches (difficult to find)
Shooting star (difficult to find)
Painted Trillium (difficult to find)
Blue False Indigo (easy to find)

Hope that helps.

Barb
Southern Ontario, CANADA Zone 6a

about the lobelia.... i do not know about your specific variety, but i do know that the lobelia cardinalis likes it wet (they often grow by streams) so the wilting you are seeing may be that typical indication of not enough water.

Lobelia is a genus--which species do you have? L. cardinalis--cardinal flower, bright red flowers--wants to grow almost in the water in acid soil and in full sun (you see them in nature at pond edges). Not a long-lived garden plant. L. syphilitica, with blue flowers, does very nicely in normal garden soil, as long as it doesn't get too dry, and a couple of hours of sun. For me, this is one of those workhorse plants that I move, divide, and redivide, and it reacts by blooming its gorgeous blue head off. There are lots of other lobelias, too, both native species and hybrids from all over the place. So which do you have?

Hi,

The Lobelia I have is a gerardii. It is a cross between a cardinalis and the syphilitica. I haven't seen one in person. Since I have never had either one, I guess I don't know what to expect from the cross. Are the requirements for the cardnalis and the syphilitica similar?

Adam

Adam, I think the requirements of the two lobelias are similar. L. syphilitica grows naturally along my streambank, often right down to the edge of the water so I'd say it doesn't mind the moisture. Don't know whether it actually requires it or not.

Cardinalis requires wet feet and acid conditions. Siphilitica is much more forgiving in a garden setting. What color would the flowers of a hybrid be? And will the plants be sterile? my L. siphiliticas also self-seed nicely.

It depends on how yosu define a woodland garden. Is it a woodland "garden" in which you plant any shade tolerant plant or is it a "woodland" garden in which you have native woodland plants.

Hi again,

So it sounds like the lobelia wants moisture. I have the 6.4 ph, so that should do it. I am just wondering how much sun. Should I put it in the location that gets 4 hrs of sun or more shade? Elaine I believe the flowers will be blue, but not sure if they are sterile.

Barb in Ontario...wow, I think I missed that post. thanks SO much for listing so many plants that you are able to grow in your woodland garden. It helps a lot and your suggestion to keep a journal is a nice idea! It sounds like you have a GREAT garden. Do you have any photos?

Hi Waplummer, I suppose you are referring to the epimedium and the astilbes that are not native? Yes, I have some in my yard from my early days of gardening when I never heard of native. [g] I find them to be very accomodating plants, that are not only easy to grow, and stay put where I plant them but are disease and pest resistant as well. I have had the same clumps without dividing with no reseeding for about 10 years. So I feel confident that they are not invasive and needing to be taken out.

I am happily exploring natives for the first time and enjoying it. Looking forward to adding more and more of them to the yard.

Thanks everyone..Adam