hey will

i know you know.. but for others.. you understand.. that a plant MUST GET ESTABLISHED .. before it becomes drought resistant ... so no matter what you plant.. you do have to take care of it for a year or two ...

NOW.. THAT SAID ... oops ... on my mineral sand.. after the establishment .. NOTHING.. i mean NOTHING in the way of a shrub gets watered ... for me .. its kinda included in the definition .. and if it doesnt like that.. it can die.. and i will be done with it.. lol ...

by they .. i am talking hardcore woody shrubs.. as compared to herbaceous shrub .. the water suckers.. the foo foo ones ...

i am sure some of the hardcore botanists are going to argue with my use of certain terms ... so be it ...

my thought.. for such in shade .. is not your common rhodie/azalea.. etc .. the bigger the flower.. and the more fibrous and surface type roots.. the less water tolerant ...

so start looking for shrubs that are either variegated.. so you dont need a big flower.. like var. viburnam ...

or smaller flowered ...

check out the link ... from there ...

i see.. trillium ... Calycanthus floridus ... native dogwood ... ferns ... holly .. service berry ... Cimicifuga .. what looks like wild geranium ...

ken

Here is a link that might be useful: link

Do a gardenweb forum search....this topic has been answered before (I know I've done it twice) for other people.

I'd think of A. palmatum varieties (dwarfs and weepers). There's a few sharp looking, newer varieties of dwarf dogwoods, kousas, I think.

Vibs and shrub dogwoods come in a nearly infinite variety.

Yew? Enkianthus?

whaas,

I hope this helps: Variegated Fiveleaf Aralia

It's in the Broken Arrow Nursery catalog and I have it in my garden. I really love it. It's beautiful. It takes dry shade incredibly well, even when poorly bare-root transplanted in the middle of a hot summer with no pampering at all. Now that's TOUGH!

Eleutherococcus sieboldianus �Variegatus� � Variegated Fiveleaf Aralia � Z4 - Variegated fiveleaf aralia is one of the finest and most durable of all variegated plants. Plants are both beautiful and functional in many landscape settings. Forms an upright arching habit and showcases five-parted leaves that are boldly splashed with white and cream variegation. They are at home in full sun and dark shade alike and will grow in nearly all soils except for the most water saturated. A perfect choice for that spot where everything else dies. Grows 5-8â high and wide and is deer resistant to boot.

Best of luck!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Broken Arrow Nursery - Deciduous Shrub Catalog

Ken, definitely things to keep in mind. For some reason I always think of Dogwoods as being moisture lovers.

Smives, no offense but offering the OP to do a search is a pet peeve of mine. The point to the post is to find more selections that may not have been mentioned before or selections offered by newer members. If there was a simple concrete answer then I can understand the logic. At the end of the day its a good reminder to ensure the OP does search so they don't limit their suggestions to a single post.

Strob,
A. palmatum wouldn't be a selection I'd typically see listed as a performer in dry shade. I really don't have any experience with these plants (yet) so I'd love to use them if they'd perform in these dry conditions. V. prunifolium is added to the list!

Steve,
Good suggestion! I wonder how the variegation holds up in shade. I'm thinking about using cool splash honeysuckle as well. I've used it in full sun and the variegation was out of this world when paired up with a purple leaf cultivar of ninebark.

Viburnum acerifolium - mapleleaf viburnum

You might want to consider Sambucus Black Lace. Have one in the corner of my yard that is bone dry and probably about 12 to 15 feet away from a Silver Maple that is probably 80 foot tall in the yard behind. Canopy extended way over that area before the electric company came through and trimmed trees. May not color quite as well in too much shade but still looked great. Will probably add one of the other Sambucus down there also since I need to move my Iris. They aren't doing as well as the Sambucus.
Cher

there are foo foo dogwoods .. of which they all died for me. ..

and there are native dogwoods ... which i see covering about 2/3 of the forested areas here in my county .. easy to spot at spring bloom ... almost like redbud.. in their understory effect ... though usually near the tree edges ...

it never fails to amaze me.. how a post sits here for what seems like days.. with no reply.. one peep makes a reply.. and everyone comes running out of the woodwork .. lol ...

my list went beyond shrubs .. just in case you were looking for other things ...

ken

esh,
For a green selection I like that suggestion. Although that plant is only available in the woods here!lol! I'm against digging up native plants but I'll poke around to see if I can find a source. This would offer a nice splash of red fall color too.

chohio,
Interesting to see some of the suggestions based on experience. Elderberry is usually a moisture lover but perhaps due to its vigor it can adapt quite readily? This one is definitely on the list list since I don't have one. Offers a different color (like the Aralia) and fine texture.

Ken,
I started looking into Cornus alba but alot of sources say to stay away due to pests and diseases then offering Cornus racemosa as a good alternative. I'll have to dig around for cultivars on this one. Not familar with any off hand.

Do you think the dogwoods you see are Pagoda?

Any thoughts on Hamamelis x intermedia? Again native to well drained moist sites but there is a really nice 'Arnold's Promise' I'm eyeing up. Somewhat pricey but will pull the trigger if it will adapt to these dry sandy rocky soils.

Hamamelis x intermedia is not native (China, Japan) but will grow well in all but the driest sites. H. vernalis & virginiana are the native species and should perform about the same.

Grey Dogwood is a good one for dry sites (C. racemosa). C. alternifolia prefers a moister site but may be ok.

I have Daphne mezereum growing in a really dry part shade site. Burning bush is another (Euonymous alatus).

Have you considered Boxwoods? Buxus 'Green Mountain' is a larger grower, very hardy boxwood.

Gaultheria procumbens, Ruscus aculeatus and Sarcococca hookeriana var. digyna are low growing, gently spreading hardy shrubs which will take shade and dry soil.

Aucubas are classic dry gloom solutions over here but I don't know if they are hardy in your zone.

Thanks everyone, I have a few nice selections to work through.

I did just a plant a small conifer towards the edge that gets more sun and the soil was BONE dry. That is just two weeks since the last precipitation!

The oddest shrub that does remarkably well for me in dry soil about 8' under the canopy (which comes down to about 4-5' from the ground) of our white pines is variegated weigela! It gets an hour or two of morning sun slanting in under the pine branches and that all - it actually flowers well in those conditions! The white variegation lights up under the trees nicely. Last summer I added a Wolf's Eye dogwood nearby just outside of the canopy - but still under the canopy of the neighbour's trees, and an Ivory Halo shrub dogwood too to make a triad of variegated foliage in the intersections of three paths that meet in a Y.

I also have some very small Japanese Maple seedlings (gift from the neighbour to the north) growing well on a very dry bank under the pines. I have never watered them.

In the last year or so I've been working on developing a 'golden path' leading into this area. So far it has a Golden Full Moon Japanese maple and another small bright green JM (whose name I forget), a couple of Sum and Substance hostas, some yellow variegated euonymus, some lime/golden green heucheras, and Golden Forest Grass. It'll take a few more years to get really established but it's looking promising. The cursed rabbits chowed down on the JMs this winter so that will have set things back a bit!

Now that you mention it I had one that flowered well with just a few hours of east sun.

Good point on the variegated plants. I have a Cornus 'Samzam' and Nyssa 'Sheri's Cloud' towards the back which is a bit less rocky and better moisture. Hopefully they'll brighten up back there. I'd like to get more golds and blues in there...but that dry, rocky soil thing is limiting my choices.

Watch out for the golds. They can become irritable if you have too many! I went on a golden conifer kick and I learned to use them every once in a while.

whaas - I generally don't like yellow/gold (which might seem a bit strange since our house is yellow!) So I have almost no yellow flowers in the garden and, up until recently, had very few yellow foliage plants - they always look sick to me :-) However, I have come to see that the best way to use yellow plants is to mass them together - hence the golden path idea. My 'lightbulb moment' re yellow came a few years ago on a local garden tour when I was bowled over by the combination in the picture below. There were a number of other 'yellow' plants in the garden but they were mixed in with other - heavily 'blue' type - plants. The gardener was obviously trying for a yellow and blue themed garden but it came off as a bit insipid. But it struck me that what would have made a very striking and beautiful garden was to mass all the yellow stuff together. I've been looking for an excuse to try it ever since... :-) My SIL planted some yellow globe cedars near their front door a couple of years ago and I suggested she plant the Golden Forest Grass with them. She did and that makes a beautiful combination - and reinforced my desire to try for a yellow grouping. We'll see how it turns out....

{{gwi:149049}}

Have you considered running a soaker hose in the area to provide supplemental water? I used soakers to start the garden under the pines. After the first couple of years I didn't need to use them anymore. So far, even the Golden Forest Grass is surviving under the pines even though it's supposed to prefer moist soil. If the plants aren't too expensive, I always push the limits on the moisture issue. For instance, Rodgersias are supposed to prefer moist soil but they do best for me in soil on the dry side in shade. Astilboides, on the other hand, most definitely needs lots of moisture and do wonderfully well planted at the base of downspouts from the eavestroughs! Experiment, experiment...