re: deep shade

	Amy asks about perennials for deep shade.  There are actually
kind a few, provided that the area has nice loose humusy soil with leaf
mold and reasonable drainage and gets a little bit of high dappled light
in early spring or in the early morning. Of course, a great deal depends
on your situation.  If you are in a warm zone, lots of "full sun"
perennials enjoy shade. My examples are zone 5b.
	Consider the gingers (Asarum), both the big-leafed matte green
Canadian kind and the small glossy leafed European ginger. Sweet
woodruff (Asperula odorata, also called Gallium) is a nice ground cover
in full shade areas, along with Lamium (try the pretty 'White Nancy' or
yellow flowered Lamiastrum).  Ferns, of course, are wonderful in that
situation, including the colorful Japanese painted fern. I've had
Brunnera macrophylla (big leaves, tiny blue forget-me-not flowers in
spring) next to hostas under an oak, along with dwarf rhododendrons,
white bleeding heart (dicentra), woodland phlox (divaricata), and lovely
yellow wood poppies (stylophorum dyphlla) and helleborus.  You may need
to use annual impatiens to insert bright colors, but there are plenty of
lovely foliage plants, including the lungworts (pulmonaria) with silvery
leaves and heucheras (like 'Pewter Veil') with beautifully veined
leaves.

Enjoy!

Susan Campanini
in east central Illinois
zone 5b, min temp -15F×
e-mail:  campanin@ntx1.cso.uiuc.edu
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