I have it in my hosta garden it is so happy it makes babies like crazy so I started planting it on the hillside that is covered with the dark emerald green ground cover Winter Creeper (Euonymus fortunei).

I use it as a shade foliage garden plant and a accent plant .

Mine are also growing in my full shade hosta garden on the north side of the house. It's a foundation bed with a curved edge so a few things along the cement walkway get a bit of sun but for the most part it's shaded by the house & a nearby tree. For companion plants, I have it growing with Heuchera/coral bells, Athyrium nipponicum/Japanese painted fern, Alchemilla mollis/Lady's mantle, Cimicifuga racemosa/black snakeroot, Tricyrtis hirta/toad lily, Aquilegia/columbine, Dicentra spectabilis/bleeding heart & Hellebore/Lenten rose. All are thriving but according to my notes, some have good years and bad years.

You need to combine this type of foliage plant with plain 'ol green foliage - the contrast is what really sets off the combo.

I have my "Jack Frost" between an ostrich fern and a hydrangea and fronted by green bergenia, planting is in bright shade and really pops.

mx

Thanks to all. I've also got it with various Heuchera Lamiastrum 'Herman's Pride' and was thinking about something out of the box. Using green sounds interesting. I'm trying a hydrangea 'Annabelle' in dappled shade, so that sounds like an option. Throw in some bright Coleus for accent points - hmm.

MX is right thing green.

This is it with the Winter Creeper (Euonymus fortunei) and behind it you see the fern
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I tend to put a lot of other colors with mine. I've got a lot of other silvers/blues, golds, greens, and some dark purples here and there.

Wish this showed more of the Brunnera to give you a better idea, but there is a sliver of it to be seen in the upper left corner:

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CMK

That's the thing - they're such great looking plants. I've tried them as a border and they overpower everything behind them. You would think that they would be a blowout with something that was striking. I'm thinking Coleus might be the only option.

I'm with mxk3, that the contrast with other foliage wants to be largely shape, size, and texture rather than colors that are competing or a similar silver. I grew it (before the voles ate it) with cranberry, a Siberian Iris, a cream and green hosta, a couple of hydrangeas, a couple of clematis, a green and white sedge, and a couple of rhododendrons. It looked nice most of the year, with the flowers being the icing on top rather than the main event.

Here's one with heuchera 'Silver Lode,' I like how they have different colors but share the silvery overtones and have similar leaf patterns. On the other side is hosta 'El Nino' which has different patterns but similar colors.

I think it's a really fun plant to design with - so many ways to show it off!

Goes well with conifers, hosta, astilbes, just about anything.

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tj

Oh wow. You have a way with plants and design. Those are exceptional photos - the compositions are so alive! Thank you for sharing those!

Thank you Karin. Glad you like the pix.

JF is a standout plant that needs either solid green plants with it or other standout plants to help subdue it.

tj

JF is a standout plant that needs either solid green plants with it or other standout plants to help subdue it.
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Okay, that is where I'm running into problems with it. When I mass it into groups or rows I run into the overpowering effect. It's like using a secondary color for a border mat.

If you want to use them as a border you could, you just need beefier plants behind. For instance, in my second pic, I could have three to five JFs going down the slope instead of the low growers there now given the heft of the plants behind them.

tj

tsuga, those are gorgeous plantings. I'm just really getting into shade gardening so those photos are very helpful to me.

tsugajunkie - that garden is amazing! I looks at my yard and gardens and think "I really don't know what to do with evergreens and conifers" (which is stupid, I know) but those pictures are inspiring. Now, don't mind me as I try to completely replicate it lol

Thanks for the kind words folks. When you garden in the same spot for 27 years you can blindly hit things right eventually.

For the record, the first pic area gets little direct sun, the second pic area gets about 4 hours of morning sun.

tj

TJ-- amazing garden there. I am keeping these shots to remind me to add more dwarf conifers into the garden when possible.