Oh I almost forgot, if you go for orchids, you may also want to find tillandsias.

Cheryl I just want to clarify something - the plant Tarev suggested earlier in this post, it is a geranium, the ones called "zonal geraniums" so that would be the red blooms that you would get. I have a sense that they'd require more water than what you would want to use!

What about Mahonia? I was going to say Ruscus, but it's not so tall.

Here are two plants that I have successfully grown in very dry shade:



This variety of euphorbia is extremely tolerant of dry shade. In the spring it sends up bright lime-yellow flowers; it's evergreen so not dull in winter.

and


Beautifully marbled leaves, interesting spathes and bright red berries. The Arum Italicum was a little slow to take off, but once it did it became ground covering. I've now transplanted it to other areas of the garden (at the foot of hedges and the base of trees) because I like it so much.

A third plant that we have in dry shade is vinca minor - it grows well at the base of trees, is evergreen and not as invasive as vinca major.

I think for any plant in dry shade they would need watering until they had established roots in their new home, but after that they should be fine. We certainly ignore ours and they seem not to care!
Has anyone tried these?

I love all these suggestions and following. My BFF has asked for similar ground cover that will take foot traffic but she also wants color or scent. That'sa tough shoe to fill! For those who posted ones with flowers, are they foot traffic-hearty? They look very delicate!

I would say that the suggestions I made are definitely not for foot traffic. We have them in wooded areas but not directly on the paths. Sorry!

Mika those are great plants! I have the euphorbia, and it is in full sun in winter due to the deciduous bushes they are under - it is so lovely in spring with that bright yellow! It takes the winter sun (which was stronger this year) and it takes our Seattle wetness!

Cheryl - that does seem like a tall order! I like vinca minor and it can take some traffic once established but not heavy traffic

I'm in California in an Oak tree forest and I grow gopher purge (euphorbia lathyris, will self sow in shade), Feverfew (will self sow also), Foxglove (won't ss in shade but will bloom), and lycnis coronaria (might ss with water). These all take little water well, especially the feverfew, it's naturalized in some spots with no water.
If you decide to do pots let me know and I'll send you some Bletilla orchid bulbils, I grow mine in part shade and they always bloom. Definately try geraniums in the shade, some have great variegated leaves and are alright on the dry side.
Dee

Nice suggestions. One geranium we grow in dry shade is Geranium x oxonianum 'Wargrave Pink'. It has charming, pearly pink flowers and a long flowering season. It seems willing to grow almost anywhere!

Great ideas! My shade spot has mostly disappeared, neighbors cut down their huge tree (sadly) and then trimmed way back the other tree that shaded my area. So this area went from full deep shade, to bright dappled shade overnight...need to get used to that, hoping everything will be okay with this drastic change. I know I have to transplant the couple of primrose that I have in there, now getting direct sun for several hours.

Your plants have been there long enough so they will probably be ok.

Hi- I garden in Seattle, so this might be way off base. But... We have severe drought here every summer, and the cedar trees get huge. Hardly anything can survive under them. So, I do have a few suggestions, I have been playing around trying things under a cedar and a big pine tree:

Short:
Epimedium pinnatum ssp colchicum super tough, bright yellow flowers in spring
Epimedium x Warleyense has little orange flowers
Vinca minor 'Ralph Shugert' which has variegated leaves.

Medium:
Hemerocallis fulva 'Flore pleno' recommended in Graham Rice's book about dry shade. It survives and blooms, might be TOO good!
Alstroemeria 'The Third Harmonic' recommended by Annie's Annuals for dry shade in California, it works here although took a few years.

Taller:
Choisya ternata 'Sundance' a Mexican shrub which I stupidly put under a cedar tree where it never receives even one beam of light. Absolutely fabulous!

Looks great! Thanks for the ideas!

For drought tolerant and shady... I recommend the very hardy variegated COMFREY PLANT. Extremely low maintenance and not invasive. It will light up those shady spots.

I love it @springgreenthumb Most that I have read about comfrey suggests sun. But will adapt? Good in the intense heat of Zone 9a you think?

ShadyGreenThumb said:I love it @springgreenthumb Most that I have read about comfrey suggests sun. But will adapt? Good in the intense heat of Zone 9a you think?

The green comfrey grows in sun and the solid green will also tolerate shade. It just won't grow as thick and dark green in the shade.

The variegated comfrey prefers shade and does not do very well in full sun.

All comfrey is drought tolerant and cold hardy. I think it can grow in zone 9. Comfrey is a tough plant.

I had comfrey roots in a plastic bag and forgot to plant them. They went rotten and smelly after sitting there in the hot garage in the sack for 4 months without water. So I threw them out into a hole and now I have pretty comfrey leaves growing up. 😄

Great idea I like comfrey! This variegated one looks lovely!

Just came upon this thread and if it hasn't already been mentioned, Barren strawberry (Waldsteinia ternata) http://www.hortmag.com/plants/...
grows well in just such a spot in my garden. It was under a tree and next to my driveway and always very dry. It now gets more sun since we had to removed an ash tree to the west, but is still doing well. This photo was last May. It does better than the Doronicum behind it.