Plants and flowers for full shade spots??

This is short but sweet. I guess you can say perfect timing. I am designing a shade flower bed for a client. Go to http://www.coolseeds.com/brian This will give you an idea of what you can plant. Pachasandra is something that is not on that page.

An herb that I love is called sweet woodriff and it has to be in shade. It has small white flowers and it is a very sweet plant!

We like to use Caladiums in our shady areas. They are large leafed and spread out to cover a foot span (each plant). There are sooo many pretty colors....the white with maroon veins, green with maroon veins, green with white veins, maroon with green veins....so pretty when a variety are planted! They love shade. In your zone you would likely have to dig up the bulbs and save them during the winter for early spring planting next year. You can buy the plants this time of year or the bulbs...depending upon how soon you want a good 'show!' Here is a link that shows the various kinds! http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=89588&scChannel=Top%20Ten%20Indoor%20Plants%20and%20Bulbs

I planted bottle brush bushes in an area that mostly shade. They are bushes that get really tall if your not careful but have fire red blooms in the shape of a brush. They are really nice, you might want to check them out. Good luck.

I have a perennial that grows in full shade to full sun. I started a discussion on it just a few min. ago cause I'm not sure if the name I was told is the correct name. I was told it was Seven Steps to Heaven but yet noone I know of in my area has heard of it. It grows to about 3' tall and blooms in the late summer till first frost. The blooms are purple in color and the bees actually open them in seven stages starting at the bottom. They attract bees, hummers, and butterflies. Only requires occasional watering and fertilizing. Actually, since I mulch heavily with grass clippings, I only water them once and never had to fertilize them since the clippings keep the moisture from evaporating and breaks down to feed them. They also spread out every year and does a good job of choking out weeds around it. The plant pictured was 1/4 that size 3 yrs ago when I first planted it there and that's only part of it.