In article , Suja
wrote:

Before I actually order these plants and put them in the ground, I need
a reality check from those who have actual experience with them. I am
putting in a shade bed in front of the house (North facing, with morning
sun in the summer), and this is my short list of the plants I'm planning
on getting. The soil is clay (but amended), zone 6b/7a, Northern VA.
If I have left out anything that is a MUST HAVE for a shade garden (no
hostas please, deer problem; much as I'd love to have Brunnera 'Jack
Frost', I can't afford it right now), please let me know.

Short
Epimedium Sulphureum

Always lovely, evergreen in zone 8 though scruffy by winter's end, I
suppose it would die back in zone 6. Photo of its leaves in one of the
prettiest moments on this page:
http://www.paghat.com/epimedium.html

Heuchera 'Persian Carpet'

Don't recognize the specific cultivar but heucheras tend to need more sun
than shade. But are adaptable & will tolerate shade, though may remain
mediocre plants the first two years taking longer to establish good root
system, but thereafter can have spectacular leaf traits seasonally
changing colors -- minor for bloom usually though some cultivars' tall
spray of teency blooms are bright pink so have a bit more presence.

Dicentra Exima 'Snowdrift'

Hardier than the dickens & easily spread themselves about. Ideal shade
plants but also do well in considerable light, so can be put anywhere.
Long bloom period right up to winter then brief period of die-back.
Doesn't die back in summer unless in a sunny dry location, where it can be
surprisingly drought hardy even so & will return with autumn rains. I've a
page for it he
http://www.paghat.com/dicentraeximia.html

Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum'

Easy to establish, extremely cold-hardy, unique blue-green leaves make it
a high fern choice, though the deeper the shade the less bluishness to the
color so it needs a bit of light to look unique. Of the many ferns in my
gardens, though, the hands-down favorite is Polystichum polyblepharum,
Japanese Tassel Fern. In my zone (8) it is fully evergreen; it thrives
down to zone 6 without even stretching the point, but I don't know whether
or not it would have the same sure winter presence. Even without the
strong evergreen quality, though, it is just a beautiful-beautiful fern,
deepest shiny green, & when it has the young leaf "tassels," oooo. Here's
my page for it:
http://www.paghat.com/tasselfern.html

Missing from your fuller list are any corydalises. Many of them do
spectacularly in your zone & are as lively as Dicentra exima with even
odder bright long-lasting blooms. But off the top of my head I can only
think of ones for my zone 8, but you should look up ones that do well for
your zone. I presently have four corydalis species plus cultivars within
species -- & won't hesitate to add others. For a shade guarden I put them
WAY ahead of heucheras, tiarellas, dicentras. One that does well in my
garden but is actually more appropriate for your zone is C. lutea shown
he
http://www.paghat.com/corydalisyellow.html

Two superb short evergreen shrubs for shade are wintergreen & lingonberry,
your zone would suit them excellently. Wintergreen flowers & berries are
best in considerable shade (I have a long patch that starts in deep shade,
ends in morning sun, & the morning sun end has remained comparatively
stunted while the stuff in shade has spread & grown a great deal).
Wintergreen is slow spread at first, especially if you start with 4" pots
of it, but once established, a lush little groundcover with great seasonal
leaf colorations, small white bell-flowers, & large bright edible berries.
My page for it is he
http://www.paghat.com/wintergreen.html
By comparison Lingonberry establishes very quickly & spreads considerably,
except the ultra-dwarf kind that stays an inch or two tall, that one seems
to spread awfully slowly, but the foot-tall ones spread fast. They flower
twice a year; they don't berry as well in deep shade so need light shade.
Both of these shade evergreens are ultra cold hardy with year-round
presence, so when the majority of things you've listed have died back,
there's still these little berry-bright evergreens going gung ho. Page for
it he
http://www.paghat.com/lingonberry.html

Shade gardening is just the most fun. I do a lot of sun-gardening at the
fringe of the property, but the interior gardens & walk-throughs are under
trees & tall shrubs & just so comfortable to wander amidst. Spring through
autumn it is massively densely green & flowery, but I've enough
winter-oriented things that it is even great right now -- the Cyclamen
coums are blooming right this minute (other cyclamens bloomed earlier in
winter or late autumn), & hellebores are at the beginning of full bloom
(these blooms last & last & last), the final snowberries are still on the
branches though most have fallen to the ground by now, the wintergreen is
ultra-colorful, & Corydalis flexusa which died back late in summer grew
back gorgeously in autumn & is still a vibrant ferny-leafed presence for
the height of winter. So though the dicentras & some other corydalis
species & some few of the ferns & suchlike died to the ground, there's
still enough lively plant presence that it is by no means moribund in
winter. Plus the larger deciduous vines & shrubs pretty much across the
board have excellent shapes & barks for winter. I worry a bit about my
partner insisting we move to zone 5/6 where I wouldn't be able to garden
year-round, but even there choices can be made that provide winter beauty
rather than complete die-back of everything in the shade -- & if I lived
in a place with a long period of snow, there are a few things I'd plant
all over the place that don't live in zone 8, such as terrestrial orchids,
most of which want a three our four month dormancy under snow, which my
zone just cannot naturally provide (though I'm going to try Yellow Lady
Slipper anyway, the most adaptable in a purely temperate area).

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/