Hi,

Hosta, ferns and caladiums do well in shady areas. Impatients will bloom and thrive in shady beds; they will sometimes reseed and come up the next year. Coleus adds color to shaded areas. You might also try some columbine, a perennial that also reseeds.

Wow, I can imagine that slope layered with a lot of topical foliage. Taller plants high, shorter plants lower. Use variegated varieties and grasses to break up color and texture. Different colors and leaf patterns make a beautiful bed alone and any splash of color here and there would make that a tropical paradise!

Colorful shade groundcovers:
Take a look at groundcover phlox. It comes in numerous colors and does well in semi-shade.
Also persicaria "Painter's Palette." Leaves are variegated, with cream and dark red over the green.

For sprng color with some height, if it were my garden, I'd want azaleas and rhododendrons. I don't know which kinds do well in zone 8-9, however. A little internet sleuthing should get you that information.

Your property looks gorgeous! Good luck.

I've had good luck with Cardinal Flower and Lamium (spotted nettle). They are both thriving here in zone 8.

some sites say full sun for phlox, yet you say shade. i just want to check before i buy!

thaks,

Newinva, phlox prefers full sun, but will nonetheless do surprisingly well with significantly less. I haven't tried the creeping phlox, but the standard stuff did well for me in partial shade. Not as well as if it had had full sun, but it flowered and was healthy.

Check out the suggestions in the Sunset Western Garden Guide, specific for your climate and situation. No one in the West should garden without it!

Woodland phlox - phlox divaricata - prefers shade. It comes in beautiful blue colors - Blue Moon is my favorite.