[jaws8]

Morning all,

Can anyone help and advise as to what flowers grow in a completely shaded area. Basically it is a shaded bed that was once inhabited by a trifid like plant that i've just dug up! The area gets no sun at all and it looks awfull. I don't want to concrete it over and want to grow something that will brighten the area up a bit.

Thanks.

[Celtic Eagle]

Immediate thoughts

Hostas
Epimediums
Hardy ferns

Must be some more but at work not with my books

[jaws8]

Cheers for that. I will have a look through my seed brochures to find some matches.

[Stripey_cat]

Is it wet or dry soil?  Wet shade gives you more options (a lot of nice woodland plants).

[JulesJ]

Pulmonaria does well in our shaded bit. The ferns did so brilliantly that DH pinched them for his woodland bed. Comfrey thrives there as well.

[jaws8]

It's in a wet soil area and sheltered from all sides.

[Stripey_cat]

Mint likes damp shade (not actually waterlogged, for the most part), and smells wonderful.  Ditto balm, woodruff and feverfew.  (The last two have pretty flowers, and all but feverfew tend to take over if they like the situation.)

Hemerocallis do OK in partial shade; I've never tried them in total shade.  Night scented stock like damp soil, and are OK in pretty deep shade in my garden.  They self-seed too.

[milan]

i just did up a shaded bed (but im not exactly an experienced gardener!)

i put in some lily of the valley  also did a hosta and have some woodruff seeds which will go out soon plus a few other bits

i just went onto a plant ordering website and narrowed the criteria to search for plants which liked shade in most soil conditions

[Teen76]

Ferns, Hellebores, Geraniums, Japanese Anenomes, Foxgloves.  Basically think what will grow on a woodland floor and this will grow in your shaded garden.

Go to BBC Gardening Website and then to something called Plant Finder, there you can enter in one of the categories Shade and get lots of plants that grow in shade, or partial shade if you get a bit of sun.  Its actually really useful for just about any plant in any situation.  Here's the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plants/plant_finder/index.shtml

Hope this helps!

[jaws8]

Thanks for all the advice

[She'sinthegarden]

Busy Lizzies do well and bring a splash of colour. Try light colours like whites and pinks as they really glow near evening time. Nicotiana do ok and smell good. Nicotiana sylvestris is very tall. They are very easy to grow from seed. Hesperis matronalis is good and is a short lived perennial.

A good trick is to put flowering plants in pots. You can then rotate them into a sunnier part of the garden for a fix of light before putting them back into shade for a week. This way, you can get some colour in summer. Also try 'sculpture' to bring interest in winter.

[yorky]

Has anyone mentioned Begonias? Along with Busy Lizzies they brighten up any shady spot.

[carrotboo]

We have a empty flower/weed bed  which is really shady so thank you for helping me out too.

[SnooziSuzi]

i put in some lily of the valley 

I put LOTV in along my path where it's heavilly shaded by a privet hedge and I was eagerly waiting for it to come up but nothing happened; then I realised my cat had been pooping on it and has probably killed it

[mumofstig]

Fuchias do pretty well in the shade as well, aquilegias, bleeding hearts, foxgloves, honesty, perennial geraniums i also have nicotiana sanderae which usually lives through a mild winter. Had to sow more this year tho The creeping campanulas seem to be ok as well and will take over...prettily tho