"Vacutone" wrote in message
s.com...
I have an important area in the garden near the back door, that is
north-facing, shaded from the south by a fence and tends to be damp. It
contains some shrub roses, a chinese virginia creeper, hellebores and
lesser
periwinkles. I have had to remove one hellebore as it showed distorted
leaves
strongly suggesting virus infection. The same thing is happening to the
periwinkles and I will remove them too. The roses and virginia creeper
seem
unaffected.

Given this information, can anyone suggest some ground cover planting to
replace the periwinkles (they were purple and I was looking forward to
them
dammit) that would be ideally all of the following- evergreen, suited to
damper shadier areas but not minding drying out too much, and with pink or
purple flowers?

I could try one or two small euonymus there maybe- I'd settle for foliage
only if I had to. I suppose Icould even have nothing but bark chips around
the roses if all else fails.

[I have had geraniums picking up viruses here too, though not in this
exact
location, so I want to avoid them for this area. Belatedly, it is obvious
I
should only be gardening the virus-free areas with my usual gardening
tools,
and being very careful with potential contamination of tools, soil, etc,
anywhere else- maybe the bark chips idea would save me trouble in the long
run...]

--
Vacutone



Since you had two layers before (with the periwinkles and hellebores), I
suggest you do something similar with a combination of the following
..........

For the ground layer: Chiastophyllum oppositifolium (Lamb's Tails)Late
spring flowers
Persicaria cv (a ground-hugging form) Late
summer flowers
Lamium, in variety (there are some good
forms) Spring flowers
Pachysandra, the plain or variegated form.
Late Spring flowers
Ajuga, in variety, bronze-purple/variegated
lvs., Late Spr. flowers

For the taller layer: Bergenia Spring/Late Spring flowers
Heuchera Summer flowers (repeats when
deadheaded)
Epimedium Late Winter flowers
Brunnera Late Spring flowers

With the exception of the Pachysandra, I grow all of these in my shady
woodland garden, and they all do well *and* they don't seem to be troubled
by slugs and snails - an important consideration in a damp, shady site.

As you say, Euonymous is a good option, but the flowers are insignificant.
If you've got room for another small/medium shrub, then Fuchsia 'Mrs Popple'
would give you some lovely carmine and purple flowers throughout summer.

Spider