Dry Shade Perennials

Growing dry shade perennials is a genuine challenge, and overcoming it can become a great source of pride for you. Success in this endeavor should earn you a metaphorical medal to pin upon your green thumb. Concentrate first on the shade part of the challenge, as dryness can always be combated with watering. Of course, you'll want plants that are tolerant of low-water conditions, because once their roots are established, you want them to be relatively low-maintenance; you don't want your garden hose to be attached at your hip just to keep those plants going.

English ivy (Hedera helix) grows well in shade,but it can be invasive. Still, it may be your only choice in deep shade, especially if trees or large evergreens with a lot of surface roots are already growing there. Ivy, with it's aerial roots, will still do well growing over a competing plant's woody, surface-root system, as will the tough-growing evergreen spurge. Pachysandra is another good choice for ground cover in a shaded area, but it is a bit fussier than English ivy, as it spreads below ground and can't readily compete with the other plants' surface roots.

Springhill Nurseries, Henry Field's, and Gurney's Seed & Nursery Co. offer the following shade-tolerant perennials:

• Hosta
• Foxglove
• Liriope, a grasslike plant with late-season lavender flowers
• English ivy
• Pachsandra
• Purple wintercreeper
• Vinca minor

Bulbs are a wonderful choice for interspersing among ground cover plants, not only for an early spring show but for the feelings of hope and optimism that they inspire at the end of a long winter. Snowdrops and squill provide color (white and blue, respectively) when you need it most--they may even pop forth from under a layer of snow. Try Blooming Bulb for a multitude of bulbs as well as complementary grasses and spurge.

Daffodils cement the promise of spring as they push out their thicker green leaves followed by yellow or white flowers on tall and confident stems. Lily-of-the-valley is another beautiful early-flowering ground cover that is mostly known for its unparalleled fragrance. The show with any of these won't last beyond mid-spring, though as the leaves soon yellow and wither as the bulbs go dormant; you'll want something on their heels to adorn your dry, shady spot for the rest of the season.

Other good plants for dry shade areas include:

• Bishop's hat (epimedium)
• Euonymus
• Cushion spurge
• Ferns: Japanese painted, Christmas, holly, lady, and Ostrich plume varieties

Two elements that are hard to come by among dry shade perennials--height and color--are provided by foxglove, which grows to 4 feet tall and puts on a wonderful show with its deeply-colored flowers that resemble tiny gloves. Be aware, though, that foxglove is toxic and should be avoided if pets or small children will be in your garden. A safer way of adding height to your shade garden is with ornamental grasses, such as diamond grass, which grows up to 4 feet.

No matter what you choose to plant, be sure to add compost. Rake it into the surface soil if possible; otherwise, sprinkle it generously around the newly-planted perennials. The organic matter will help to retain moisture around the plants' roots rather than letting all of the water soak away to any competing plants' roots below.

Enjoy your feelings of accomplishment if you can get some of the above plants to come up year after year in such seemingly adverse conditions. Mother Naure has a plant for every situation (think about cacti, mosses, and swamp grass), and it's just a matter of finding the right perennials for that dry and dark enclave of your garden.