This is the Japanese version of our native False Hellebore. Wonderful broad pleated leaves and when old enough, nice spikes of white starry flowers to 3' or more. This likes a rich moist soil, emerges early in spring and goes dormant by mid to late summer. Deer resistant and very hardy.  Young plants.

A white flowered variant of this familiar Geranium whose flowers are backed by a green calyx rather than pink which adds to its overall indispensable lightness of being. The paler than normal green leaves accentuate this and makes this valuable for brightening a somber corner or tempering hotter colors.  Takes dry shade - very tough.

Named by plant guru John Flintoff who found this as an interesting seedling growing in plantswoman Loie Benedict's garden. Light green leaves with a spreading habit and flowers of a soft muted lavender which happily goes with most everything. As long as the soil is reasonably moist, this will be good in sun to light shade and is resistant to deer and rabbits.

This Dog Tooth Violet can really gussy-up the shade. Perfectly formed light rose pink flowers touched with warm caramel in the throat add a lightness and sort of tasteful elegant extravagance to the shade garden. The mottled leaves extend the interest. Imagine this in Barbie's garden...

One gold leafed seedling among thousands from seed sown of our Blue Poppies. The leaves are most intense in spring and the flowers are a lovely amethyst. Like most, some are perennial and some are not.  Save seed! Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

This really would benefit from the heraldry of trumpets when it blooms since royalty does enjoy the pomp of lavish circumstance.  But the flowers are such a nice fuchsia purplish pink with a red throat that the trumpets and all the trappings are implied.  And with the same good mottled leaves.

Nice striped leaf version of the familiar Lily of the Valley.  This sometimes throws a reversion of solid green leaves but is mainly the cool gold striped foliage.  If the green reversion continues into the next year then a surgical excision with your Hori-Hori is indicated.  Easy and nice.

A comparatively graceful species of Veratrum with broadly narrow leaves, if that makes any sense and sadly, it does to us. The 4'-5' flower stem has numerous lateral branchlets clad in lots of red-maroon flowers. Excellent long-lived plant of outstanding hardiness best suited for the cool to cold zones.

A close relative to Gentiana acaulis and regarded as being in the acaulis group. This is one of the forms found in the nursery trade here in the PNW which means it is a good grower.  Maybe a little mongrel vigor from G. acaulis to pump up the volume on those big blue trumpet flowers above an evergreen spreading mat.

Blue Cohosh.  Quiet woodlander from east of the Rockies who plays supporting cast to the stars in the shade garden but its absence would cause these same stars to seem to not shine so brightly.  Herbaceous Barberry family member, glaucous leaves in spring with meh flowers but lovely, blue fruit in fall just when you need them.  Thanks to Charles Kelley for the seed.

Willow Gentian.  One of the truly excellent late summer/early fall blooming plants which jazzes up the shade garden with lots of stems in a circular arching vase shape with ranks of blue to lavender blue flowers ranked along the stems.  Just what you need when you are sick of Hostas.

Hardy as heck variegated currant, which has yellow foliage turning more lime-chartreuse as the season moves along.  This is a pretty compact little deciduous shrub making a tangle of twigs to eventually 3 feet tall and as wide.  We've seen references to it being hardy to zone 2 so assume it is as unaffected by cold as a chunk of basalt.  Little reddish fruit.

Choice rock garden species from rare wild collected seed from the Tien Shan Mts where they extend into NW China.  This makes nice dense clumps of close set sivery-green foliage and typical Potentilla golden yellow flowers.  Easy care and tolerant of our abuse.

A fine and vigorous form of Galanthus plicatus with inner segments bearing a distinct and delineated green mark.  This older selection was found in a garden in the village of Warham and has proved itself as a durable garden plant.  Thanks to galanthophile Carole Jennings for sharing her collection with us awhile back.

Merry Bells.  One of our favorite of the eastern woodland wildflowers.  Rich gold pendant flowers dangling like earrings on a woman of some serious substance.  Combines beautifully with upper crust plants such as Cardiocrinums and Arisaemas yet hangs comfortably with Hostas.

Pendant clusters of yellow bells makes this a refined and classy plant for the shade garden.  Makes nice clumps and effortlessly combines with so many shade-loving plants.  This Korean native is very hardy and a good doer.

Solomon's Seal.  Mighty fine selection and surely one of the very best variegated perennials for shade.  Good clean white variegation that illuminates where it is planted.  Stunning enough to stand alone with a simple groundcover at its feet or schmoozes easily  with other garden glitteratti.

One of the best of the Blue Poppies and certainly one of the most reliably perennial. This has large flowers of good medium blue. This appreciates a partly sunny to bright dappled shade position with loose organic soil that drains, yet doesn't dry out. A percentage dies after blooming so save seed to be safe! Cannot be grown anywhere it gets hot and/or humid in the summer.

Dog Tooth Violet.  The European representative of the genus which contains our native Avalanche Lily.  These have great mottled foliage and lovely flowers of an even violet purple highlighted by a throat touched in maroon and yellow.  Frans must have been a bit of a dandy.

Dog Tooth Violet.  There are no bad Erythroniums and this is near the top of the heap.  Dark pink flowers are infused with a blue tinge giving them a wonderful lilac color and creating an easy shortcut to naming this cultivar.  A star in the shade garden with nice mottled foliage.

I love white flowers in the shade garden.  The juxtaposition against the dark earth and the interplay and mediation with other colors makes white an excellent choice.  (Don't get me wrong, I'm voting for Obama)  These have pure white flowers with a light chartreuse throat touched faintly in red.

Double Blood Root. One of the great ephemeral spring flowers with double white waterlily flowers and bold gray-green rounded leaves. Beloved woodlander from the Midwest and the double form is especially covetous. These are flowering-sized freshly potted divisions and will settle right in your garden.

Here is a little Japanese bulbous plant that will add some late summer glitz to the rock garden or special foreground planting niche.  Not shy about blooming, this will strut its stuff with round purplish flowerheads on 10" stems which sends our friends the Butterflies and Bees into quiet delirium.

Oyster Leaf. The leaves are edible and taste - and feel - exactly like raw oysters. This likes ample nutrition. Perennial and dormant in winter.

This Campanula was collected in Russia at Karachayevo-Cherkessiya, Terbeda, Gonachkir Valley at 1800 meters so next time you are there, keep an eye peeled for it.  This potentially can reach 3'-5' tall in flower with nice heads of pale lavender to white flowers in midsummer.  Is it hardy, you ask?  Da!

Evergreen mat-former with very large cobalt blue trumpets spring to early summer.  This might ruin your other blue flowers for you as they will look embarassingly insipid in comparison.   A rich moist soil in full to mostly sun is best.  Despite popular opinion, these are pigs and thrive on a good manure mulch!

A choice Snowdrop with very large single flowers and one of the earliest to bloom. Increases moderately well and seems to be a survivor with a good constitution as it is going strong here while more effete selections have dwindled.

A subtle woodlander for most of spring and summer until late summer and fall when it suddenly busts a move and starts strutting its stuff.  Fern-like foliage backs small white puffs of flowers in May which become showy clusters of bright white fruit in late summer & fall.  The white version of our red fruited native.

Twisted Stalk.  One of our favorite natives (the list spans several pages of small print) of our woodlands is this Solomon's Seal relative.  These are seed-grown from a collection near Easton WA.  Branched stems bear dangling white flowers followed by showy red-orange fruit.

A robust selection of this good garden species.  Large white flowers with a prominent broad and full upside down horseshoe of green on the inners.  The bold gray-green leaves of the species and this is a good increaser on its own without you having to learn how to do bulb chipping.