Background plantings for Shade -Reply

Goats beard would be great.  It looks like a big white astilbe.  Does well
in shade and can get over 6 feet tall.  I grew mine from seed.  It is now 2
years old and about 4 feet tall it gets no direct sunlight.  My favorite large
ferns are the ostrich and cinnamon.  There is a house in town that has
about 40 feet of ostrich ferns as a border and they are probably 3-4 feet
tall --looks great.  I  love the Japanese painted fern, but it is rather small
and you would want it in the front of the border.  Astilbes would be
another great choice for the middle of the border.  I would plant
rhodendrons rather than the azaleas.  They are larger and more shade
loving.
--Mary Lou
zone 5

>>> "sheila_craig@qmail.newbridge.com" 01/09/98 09:41am >>>
I have a long shaded border, part of which is backed by a chain-link
fence.  I
may put up a board fence in front of the chain link, but I'm also looking for
vines, tall small trees, shrubs and perennials that would act as good
background plantings.  This area gets only 1-3 hours direct sunlight a
day + a
couple hours of filtered light. (Lady's Mantle thrives, daylilies grow but
don't bloom well here).

Some ideas I've had:

-Virginia Creeper (planted last summer, appears to be thriving)
-Azaleas (is it too dark here?)
-Holly (how tall does it get?)
-Tall Hostas (any favourites?)
-Ferns (any favourites?)
-Yews

Any ideas - especially for shrubs and understory / ornamental trees
would be
greatly appreciated. 

There may be a great deal _less_ shade here next summer if the ice
doesn't
melt off our poor trees soon :-(

-Sheila
Zone 4/5
Ottawa, Canada

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