It looks beautiful, though some reports online say the plant is brittle and easily damaged. Just something to keep in mind if any children or dogs are around.

Some other "thuggish" spreaders for woodland conditions are Podophyllum peltatum, Dicentra cucullaria, Aster divaricatus and Aster cordifolius. I am already finding a few self-sown seedlings of Aster cordifolius after a weak blooming from small plants put in last September. Corydalis solida, C. lutea and C. ochroleuca are also good about seeding around.

When happy, in partial shade on the moist side, Geranium maculatum and G. sylvaticum can be truly glorious weeds. G. maculatum is a special favorite of mine.

I am only trying my first specimens this year, but I have heard that Geranium phaeum will readily seed around in partial shade on the dryer side.

I also love Zizia aurea and Stylophorum diphyllum as reseeding, spreading woodlanders. The Zizia can become fairly aggressive where conditions suit it.

mmmm yes, looking forward to trying stylophorum (another one of those plants which has not really gained much traction in the UK)
G.phaem, aka mourning widow - for sure, a seeder. There is a lovely one around called rose madder I quite fancy but I find the usual deep claret phaem tends to vanish into obscurity in the hurly-burly of a busy garden. Not actually grown g.maculatum (have tended to the hardies which will do well in sun) and will deffo be giving it a go - sylvaticum, obviously along with a white macrrorhizum, 'Snow Sprite.
I had forgotten about podophyllum - never grown it and always thought it had the look of a delicate and difficult type. This whole woodland, shady gardening lark, especially given the less-than-perfect circumstances (limited water, overgrown and neglected poplar plantation, WEEDS everywhere) is likely to prove a long and tearful battle - just when I was getting quite comfortable, having cracked the allotment. Still, I have redefined 'weeds' into 'native wildflowers' although not even semantic games are going to mitigate the horrendous nettles and vicious brambles.
Cheers for suggestions, Isphan

I have heard the regular Geranium phaeum color is not a garden standout, but there are so many color variants available. I don't yet know how deep rooted this plant is, but maybe you could start with a mess of clones with different bloom and foliage colors and then rogue out any undesirable seedlings as they arise?

Geranium maculatum comes in a limited but beautiful color range from pure white to light pink to mauve to dark blue-pink. It is lovely and charming in all of its variants with colors that are never foo-foo or flat. The flowers always glow like beacons in the shade. It is even available with stunning bronze foliage that is surprisingly iridescent and stands out wonderfully, even in shadows. I much prefer 'Elizabeth Ann' over 'Espresso' for a dark-foliaged clone since it is taller, the flowers are larger and prettier, and because I think it is a generally superior clone. This species is very easy to transplant (or weed out, depending on your point of view) and handles heat and drought by simply going dormant for the rest of the season. If it gets enough moisture, however, the foliage will stay looking nice until it develops good autumn colors before dying down.

Also, for good spreading spring ephemerals don't overlook the smaller bulbs like Eranthis hyemalis, snowdrops, Siberian squill, Chionodoxa, Crocus tommasinianus, etc. And then Cyclamen hederifolium for autumn blooms.

cheers, Ispahan. Yep, bulbs are likely to be my first investment. The ground cover is negligible in the spring woods and poplars are late into leaf so am planning a major spring bulb show. The little blue bulbs are always good value and will probably go for 'in the green' planting for the snowdrops and bluebells.

Having ordered seeds for various large campanulas, including the dreaded rapunculoides, I have been amusing myself re-reading the various warnings about this evil beauty. Some garden writers really let their hair down when it comes to this bellflower. When it comes down to it though, I would rather have 5 acres of campanulas instead of 5 acres of nettles and hogweed.