These plants do very well in light or dappled shade, two of my favorites are shown here, both have lovely foliage, with spikes of pretty blooms that attract bees and butterflies.

Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum Brise d’Anjou™)


Jacob's Ladder (Polemonium caeruleum 'Album')

Yes I agree; Jacobs Ladder is another great plant for the shady garden. Glad to see such a lovely specimen of Brise D'Anjou; I tried and failed with that variety several times. The white is very pretty Margaret; I'll have to add that to my wish list! I have Stairway to Heaven which is a more prostrate form, and Bressingham Purple which has darker foliage in the spring that changes to green.

Debbie, sorry you couldn't get Brise D'Anjou to grow for you, but I think the varieties you have are lovely, I especially like Bressingham Purple, I will be looking for that one at the garden centers this spring.

I am very fortunate to have gardening friends that I met via DG ( @greenthumb99 and @ecnalg) live about 5 miles away who also garden in wooded conditions like I do. Over the years we have visited each others gardens throughout the seasons and have shared many pass along plants. On one visit, they brought a few seedlings of polemonium reptans. I stuck them in the urn container on the front steps landing before we started our walk about. As things go, I kept meaning to get them planted out in the garden but never got around to it. The next spring, I started noticing some unknown seedlings that had pretty foliage out in the front steps beds. Even I knew that they weren't weeds, but it was weeks before it finally occurred to me that they were seedlings from the polemonium reptans that were still alive and thriving in that urn container! I like them so much, I'm trying to get hundreds of them to grow in the circle driveway area. An easy little plant that seems to happily seed about - absolutely great for naturalizing in woodland conditions.

Terry, they look like lovely plants, I'm sure it will look awesome when you get the circle filled with them.

Thanks Margaret. I think the native form is going to do great in the large woodland area that I'm trying to get them established in. In the garden beds closer to the house, I started adding nursery grown size plants of cultivars that I found in the last year or two. 'Touch of Class' has variegated foliage and is doing very well. Newly purchased in the fall is 'Apricot Delight' and 'Purple Rain'. Can't wait to see what they look like when they bloom this spring. I'm going to be adding volumes of 'Bressingham Purple' and maybe more 'Purple Rain' along with pulmonaria at some point next season to replace the hostas in the border bed along the front walkway. I'm finally tired of fighting the voracious deer for those hostas.

Terri, I sure understand about the deer, I don't grow any plants out front, I planted dwarf evergreens in the one large bed. I put dracena, marigolds, alyssum and lobelia in my summer planters and they usually leave that alone. I really like purple rain and would love to grow it but it is zone 4a so I don't think it would survive our very cold winters here. Apricot Delight is pretty, it is zone 3 so that one would do ok.

Wonderful in a cottage garden

Polemonium reptans is becoming my favorite variety - a lovely mounded and profusely blooming variety. I have Stairway to Heaven and polemonium caeruleum as well. I had Apricot Delight but lost it in the difficult winter of two years ago. The foliage is beautiful even when the plant is not blooming and they are easy care.