Hi Shannon, don't know if you are interested but while searching the web for dry shade plants I ran across sarcococca hookeriana var. humilis. Its a lovely, little evergreen with shiny leaves. Not necessarily for dry areas but is drought tolerant when established. The hooker for me is that it blooms in February and the flowers are fragrant to boot. Lo and behold we had it at BB's and I now have two in my possession. I am thinking it will make a nice companion plant for hellebores or hosta. Adele

Here is a link that might be useful: sarcococca (sweetbox)

shannon, i've had 2 or 3 lungworts that ordered from bluestone going for probably 8 or 9 yrs now. they don't thive exactly, but they have't died, either. they ahve grow very slowly, and fizzle out each yr when it gets really hot. i love the blue and pick flowers. i know jcra grows several in the shade garden, so i think if you give them better soil than i have, they'd probably do ok for you. theirs certainly look better than mine. :) tam

D- I'm glad you posted about the sweetbox. I actually have that down on my "want" list for my trip to BB this spring. Boy, is that list growing.
T- perhaps you are right and if my soil had a little more attention then they might have down better. There is the slight possibility that it is still dormant and will make a showing later. My fingers are crossed. I know it was a good plant it came from PDN so I wasn't dealing with a neglected box store plant.

*snort* i'm sorry, but i have had the WORST luck with pdn's plants. i think he pushes the envelope a little too far. with as expensive as his plants are, you'd think they'd do better, but i swear the more i pay for a plant the faster it dies. lol. serioously, i am very choosy about what i buy there now. i know the big boxes don't do tlc, but at least they do have a money back guarantee.

i'm gonna ck out the sweet box next time i'm down to bb's- it sounds lovely, and looks really pretty. thanks for the heads up, adele!

Yes, I grow them just fine here just outside W-S, NC (z7 Piedmont). It is known for going dormant in Fall, but did not this year due to the high temps in the 50's until this week. Mine is in a very protected location under the Azaleas just outside my front picture window. Each morning I can gaze down at them from inside with a cup of coffee. What a pretty way to start the day. The soil is heavily amended with the free Forsyth Co. leaf compost.

I grow several in light shade. The soil is pretty good because it was quite woodsy until an icestorm forced us to clear a lot of it. All the leaf litter amended it. They grow well for me. Not fast and they don't like the heat much, but mostly they do seem healthy. I love them!
Tammy I've never lost a plant from PDN, but then I've not bought risky ones. I think he does push the envelope a bit but I kind of like that. I still can't afford to buy much from there, but I love the wide selection offered. Still I can understand your frustration. At those prices you can't AFFORD to lose a plant!

Hi Shannon from here in Statesville, about 1 hr north of Charlotte. I have Pulmonaria - 'Northern Lights', which is surviving. Either the slugs or rabbits do enjoy it and it will be down to the nubs at some point, and then it sends up new shoots and does OK.
I also planted 'Raspberry Splash' in 05 from Farm HOuse Gardeners here in Statesville and find that the varmints don't like that one, so it is doing much better. I did see buds coming recently. I wanted to take a picture for you, but IT'S SNOWING!
I do also have Sweetbox in the front of my brick on slab porch. It is doing OK, but quite slowly. It gets a lot of shade from the house. It would be on the NE side of the house. An article in the paper told how to divide them in early Spring after they finish blooming. I don't think mine are to that point yet. They are well behaved.
Have fun in the snow! Nancy

tony has refunded money for plants on occassion. it always helps me to talk with him/his staff about my planting conditions. his propagation seminar is a GREAT opportunity to ask lots of questions. he does push the envelope, but he will tell you when it is pushed.

i have had mixed luck with pulmonaria. tony sells salvia nipponica with buttery yellow flowers that is doing wonderfully well in the shade for me. carex (Beetlemania in particular), mayapples, solomon's seal, and indian paintbrush are all doing well in the shade (all from PDN).

My only complaint about Lungworts is that they only look good for a small portion of the year, the rest of the time they look like they've had it. I have seen them in other people's gardens and they looked just like the picture in the catalogs but never in mine. In fact mine have all withered away to nothing.

I have a Sweetbox also and I give it no special attention. They are very tough plants. But they are slow growing. Unfortuneately I planted mine far away from the foot path so I have to really hike to smell it while in bloom.

The lungworts tend to get a bad case of respiratory distress come the humid days of summer. One exception is pulmonaria 'Bertram Anderson', which has been long-lived in our garden. Not as showy a speckled leaf, but still respectable, and beautiful blue flowers early on in spring.

Another plant for dry shade conditions is Salvia koyame; nice lush shield shaped leaves, and butter yellow flowers in fall. This plant should be in every part shade garden.

AAnother plant to try, which deer and probably rabbits avoid, is hellebore and its various hybrids - they are blooming now, come in colors from greeny-fading-to-white to white to pink to purple to clear colors to spotted. The leaves are palmate, more dissected in one variety than the others, but I am too tired to remember which it is right now. They are evergreen, can get pretty big (18-28" H and eventually more across, need to be cut back in Dec. so the flowers can be seen. Most of them have nodding flowers, there are a few with up-facing flowers, and there are now doubles, which are pretty pricey yet. Mine are thriving in morning sun, but they will also do in all-day shade, as long as it's not too dark. They don't seem to mind the humidity. I do water mine reasonably well, but was given several from a friend who doesn't water hers at all....

If you want to add some color, you can try an acorus or carex that likes part sun/shade and similar soils to ferns and hosta. Mine are still evergreen even with the recent cold days, so they brighten up the winter garden. I tuck mine under shrubs for foliage interest.

Acorus gramineus variegatus (green/cream)
Acorus gramineus variegatus 'Ogon' (golden yellow)

sun part sun/shade
height 1.0 ft
width 1.0 ft
water average/wet
growth rate average
hardiness zones 5-10
soil well drained soils/wet soils
foliage Evergreen

Carex dolichostachya 'Kaga nishiki' (dark green/yellow margin)
Carex morrowii 'Silver Sceptre' (cream/green)

sun part sun/shade
height 1.0 ft
width 1.5 ft
water average
growth rate average
hardiness zones 5-9
soil well drained soils
foliage Evergreen

I would love some carex. I have some of the acorus, my problem with the ones I have is that they grow so slowly for me. I have had 3 "plants" which are just now making a showing/filling out. Its been 2-3 yrs. Admittedly, they have been moved twice. They do seem happy where they are now.

I would love to have a "grass statement" but I don't think I could afford enough to say "anything" even in my small yard. I did gather some carex seeds and I am wintersowing them. I have nothing to lose and plugs to gain if they germinate. But I appreciate the suggestions. I know that I will be swayed by the flowing beauty and my wallet will succumb - probably at that place which cannot be named. I am rethinking the lungworts. I don't know if I want to invest in something so temporary in bloom. Ahh, the grass is year round interest. It does seem the wiser investment. Shannon

Shannon, if I can't find a good deal on carex/grass plugs I'll sometimes buy a larger plant and cut it into four pieces before planting. They usually fill out relatively quickly. I chop up pots of black mondo grass the same way.

Lots of retail places charge far too much for grasses and sedges IMHO. Compared to the wholesale price, the retail mark-up is huge. I guess it's just that way in all retail businesses and that's why they have sales.

Another plant that came to mind is a bit large and unusual:

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureamaculata'

sun part sun/shade
height 2.0 ft
width 3.0 ft
water average
growth rate average/slow
hardiness zones 7b-10
soil well drained soils
flower yellow daisy-like flowers
seed n/a
foliage Evergreen
fall color green/yellow

Ruffled leaf edges and bold yellow splashes on the leaf surface create a bold dramatic clump for the shade garden. Golden yellow daisy-like flowers appear above the foliage in late summer. Formerly Ligularia tussilaginea. Glossy leaves 8-10" wide and speckled with yellow dots. Yellow fall flowers,
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Shannon, another possibility for shade is Indian Pink, Spigelia marilandica: {{gwi:555622}}

I'm also planning to wintersow some Carex this year, one of the brown ones, Carex flagellifera. The first time I tried it, the seeds didn't germinate so this time I'll "winter" sow the seeds in March to see if germination is better.

Would love to hear how your Carex do for you~

Dirtysc8- I sent you an email. Often/many times the email doesn't go through let me know if you didn't receive it. Shannon/Dirtrx