ark@alice.UucP (Andrew Koenig) (05/02/86)
The ones that come to mind first are Hosta (plantain lily), Dicentra (bleeding heart), Impatiens, Tradescantia (spiderwort). If you have some sun, you can also grow azalea, rhododendron, mountain laurel, lilies, day lilies (hemerocallis), and daffodils. I think Hostas are interesting, though some find them boring. They are true perennials with very attractive foliage. The leaves all grow directly from the crown. A single leaf may be a foot long, and a plant gets dozens. In late summer, they grow 2-3 foot flower stalks with small lily-like flowers, usually purple or white, sometimes fragrant. Tradescantia is an underrated plant (almost no one I know seems to have heard of it). It seems to thrive in almost any conditions, from bright sunlight to deep shade, from dry to wet. The grass-like plants get clusters of buds at the top. The buds open by twos and threes, each bud open only for a single day. They open at sunrise and close in mid-afternoon on hot days, later on cooler ones. The flowers are an inch or less in diameter, usually purple (though recent varieties range from almost red to white).
mangoe@umcp-cs.UUCP (Charley Wingate) (05/05/86)
Lily-of-the-Valley is something which hasn't been mentioned yet. It will grow in sun or fairly deep shade. Personally, hostas are right up there on my "pink flamingo" list. If you really insist on getting them, get a good grower's catalog (Park's for instance) or go to a big nursery. Mountain laurel grows into really funky shapes in shade. This may or may not be to your taste. Alyssum (the annual kind) is supposed to tolerate shade; I've never really bothered to find out. If you have a shady and somewhat damp spot, ferns are great. Better still, there are native fancy kinds (like maidenhair) which are very hardy. C. Wingate