I will admit up front that yours was one of the pages I used as
inspiration. I kept getting hit after hit when I was researching
plants, so I stayed a bit.

paghat wrote:

Heuchera 'Persian Carpet'

It's between that and 'Cathedral Windows'. Both can be found at
bluestoneperennials.

Don't recognize the specific cultivar but heucheras tend to need more sun
than shade. But are adaptable & will tolerate shade,

I am hoping that there is enough morning sun to pull them through. They
should get a good 4 hours.

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

That's good to know. I can be extremely impatient with my plants.

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.

Good. I love the way it looks. I have lots of woodland gardening to do
(about 4 acres worth), so the babies can be put to good use.

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

That looks yummy. I'll look into it.

Missing from your fuller list are any corydalises.

Thanks. I wrestled with that decision a great deal. I'll revisit it.

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

I really wanted that particular Corydalis. My biggest problem has been
finding a source for it. I know that none of the local nurseries carry
it, and neither do the ones I am planning on ordering from (Bluestone,
Munchkins, Crownsville, Plant Delights). The only one I know that
carries it is Nicholls, but if I spread my order around too much, I'll
end up paying more in shipping than in plant material. I'll see if I
can shuffle my plants around a bit to get this one in.

Most of the shrubs I was planning on using are taller, although I'll
look into the ones you mentioned. I was thinking more along the lines
of leucothoe, Azaleas, Hydrangeas, etc., but haven't finalized the list
yet.

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.

I really enjoy gardening in the sun, because it doesn't require a whole
lot of thinking/planning on my part. I am much more of a flower person
than a foliage person, and that is so much easier to do in the sun than
shade. My first shade bed that I started 2 years ago is still very much
a work in progress (I've made some huge mistakes there, misjudging
requirements, heights, etc.), and I am hoping that I've learned enough
to make this one be less painful. I must admit that I'm putting a lot
more thought into this than anything I've done previously.

Thanks so much,
Suja