[Trillium]

Hi Tetley, I've got a shady spot much like yours and have been gathering plant variety names that I can eventually use in my spot. Some of the following can be raised from seeds, cuttings, divisions, etc and some only from purchased stock, but it's a list you can keep and worth through slowly. Neighbours might even have plants they can divide for you.
Actinotus, hollyhock, aquilegias, campanula carpatica, cimicifuga racemosa (snakeroot), dierama, foxglove, ligularia, some poppies, primulas, viola & violets, kierengshoma, azara microophylla, veratrum lily, winter jasmine, climbing hydrangeas, euonymous fortunei, pieris japonica, hucheras, tiarellas, rhododendrons, hostas, lungwort (pulmonaria), lily of the valley. There are more but I can't think of them at the moment. A book on shade gardening would give you loads of tips. Local library perhaps?  

[tetley]

thanks Trillium, I am going to take a look on amazon in a bit...hadn't thought about a book specifically for shady gardens...sometimes things are too obvious d'oh  :oops:  ,  I saw rhododendrons in the supermarket for about 4 euros....but I didn't bother with it because I thought they only liked certain soils and were a bit fussy....but am off there in a minute (had permission from husband to buy some more plants...he's a good boy   ) I just hope there are some left.
Thanks for all the recommendations, I will do as suggested and write them down.  Thanks again

[Trillium]

Woke in the middle of the night (when else?) finally remembering a few more that are shade lovers: astilbe, astrantia, toadflax, ferns and bluebells. Rhodos are a tad fussy in that they prefer protection from hard winds (which dries out the foliage) and need acid soil. Mix in lots of powdered sulphur into a rhodo planting hole, along with any evergreen needles, manure, bone meal, water well.  But don't plant the rhodo deep, in fact, it prefers to grow in a small mound above ground. Mulch and water if things get dry. Several yearly handfuls of sulphur scratched into the soil surface will keep things humming - rhodos are very shallow rooted so don't cultivate the area. They set their flower buds in fall so careful around them, and in the spring - wow! Almost nothing bothers them. Astilbe can be grown from seeds, dead easy, same with astrantia. Ferns - well, check your local woods for nice ones.  

[Trillium]

Knew I'd think of the rest the moment I hit the send button: lady's mantle, sweet cicely, vinca (groundcover) cow parsley, hellebore, and one rose that especially prefers shade, Souvenir du Docteur Jamain. I have a Zepherine in part shade but it doesn't do as well as the one in sun. But it's thornless so it doesn't attack people from it's corner spot by the back door.

[ihusker]

Hortensia is what the French call Hydrangia, and the azalia japonica is the Japanese azalea. I have a place up in the poor part of France in the Creuse and am going there next Wednesday for 5 weeks-heaven. I've
already got a van load of plants and stuff from Wilkos to take with me.
Roses £1 each, Camellias £2.50 and Magnolias £2.99 - bet that beats your
supermarket promo. I've always found the garden centres and plants in general in France to be outrageously expensive. We don't realise how lucky we are in some respects in the UK.

[tetley]

 yep, my magnolia was 16 euros, the other plants were all about 3/4 euros.  I think they are generally expensive too, but don't get back to England much.
I planted some fruit trees last year, and am wondering about 'importing' some cooking apple trees as you just don't see them anywhere here..........do you think they would grow well?  I have in the back of my mind, something I am sure I read once, about cooker apples not developing properly as it is too hot or something...have you heard anything like that?
   poor part of france, the creuse is a very beautiful part of france..lucky you!!  We are only just in Dordogne, the border is right outside our house, we consider ourselves to be more in the charente.  The style of our house is charentaise.....we are honorary charantaines!
You should be bringing the sun over with you then!! Been mild, but showery here...but as from next weekend, looks like it is going to be dry...hooray.
I have been reading on here about you guys going to wilkos and nettos and buying all your cheap plants, and have been deeply envious.
Lidl did have a sale of seeds, for 29 cents...not bad.  But certainly no roses for a pound.
Thanks Trillium, I will add these to my list. I bought a rhododendron, and a couple of azalias.  All the hydrangeas had gone.  It is quite exciting breathing a bit of life back into this area.  It looks so sad and neglected, but if I keep adding a few plants here and there, it will look lovely in a couple of years.  Thanks again

[ihusker]

In my part of the Creuse (near Aubusson) there are apple trees everywhere. My house was built in part of a huge orchard and, although I have got rid of many of them, I probably still have about 20 left, including cookers which my near neighbour who used to be a pastry chef at the Park Lane Hotel in London says are superb. My area is probably a bit cooler and wetter than yours in winter but we still reach the high 30s in summer. The Correze has huge areas of commercial fruit growing-mainly apples, so I wouldn't think you would have too much of a problem. I would go for it if I were you.

[Trillium]

As long as you have a good cold spell, long enough to knock the leaves off the trees and chill the roots (the most important factor), you should do fine with apples. Without the root chilling, apples can't properly set fruiting buds.