"Ted Byers" wrote in message
.. .
My brother-on-law asked me about what perrenials would be suitable for a
northern exposure. We are in zone 5 (although he is a bit further north,
right on the edge of the great Canadian shield). Just to the north of his
property, the "soil" is just a few inches thick, when it is present at
all.
Most of his property is covered with sand, and that to a significant
depth.
There is an underground stream that runs through his property and a swamp
a
few hundred metres south of his property. On the west side of the house,
he
has lots of lilies which generally do very well.


I have a similar situation, but my soil is heavy clay. I have:
Lily-of-the-Valley -- Convallaria majalis
tons of hosta of all sizes and colors
lots of daylilies
bee balm -- monarda
lung worth -- pulmonaria
ferns
astilbe
coral bells -- heuchera
foam flower -- tiarella
heucherella,
several varieties of spirea
Japanese Maple
lamb's ear --Stachys byzantina
perennial geraniums (clerege Druce is almost invasive on my slope)
spider wort -- Tradescantia
Catmint --Nepeta x faassenii
evening primrose --Oenothera macrocarpa
several types of sedum
bleeding heart -- dicentra
hyssop
torch lily -- knifofia
Sweet woodruff -- gallium
bergenia
lilacs
stoke's asters -- Stokesia laevis
and others. Mine also only get the late afternoon and evening sun as the
house block the mooring sun and there are woods to north and east.