Hi, Three.

this is my 1st year winter sowing but i've heard that hostas can be winter sown. so that could be an option.

3orange
you can look up my trade list. I have shady garden. Majority of my plants/seeds have been winter sown. That should give you a start.

Fern leaf bleeding hearts (dicentra eximia) are a fantastic shade/part shade plant. Columbine are another option. Also astilbe, hosta, and hardy geraniums.

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Fern leaf bleeding heart, my favorite shade plant. It reseeds nicely, too, so it's easy to share and move around.

Laurel

Astilbes...

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More Astilbes...

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Columbines...

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Thalictrums...

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The above were all winter sown. I have also winter sown hostas.

In the following picture, there is Ligularia 'The Rocket' which can be winter sown, although this one wasn't. This is an east facing bed which gets sun until 11 am at most - some areas only 'til 9 am. Behind the Ligularia, the tall plant is a winter sown Joe Pye Weed (Eupatorium) which grew to 6 feet after 3 years. The bed is also home to several Astilbes, Columbines, Perennial Geraniums, Lynchnis Viscaria Splendens Fever (German Catchfly), all winter sown.

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This is another view from the opposite diretion, earlier in the season, showing the Lynchnis border in full bloom. You should also include Forget-Me-Nots in your shade garden. The blue is nice! You can see it here and there in this picture.

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Last year I winter sowed perennial poppies in reds and oranges for the dappled shade gardens. I saw a garden where lots were growing in dappled shade and when flowering the impact was amazing!

These are plants I have in my shade garden that seem to love where they are
English Daisies
Lillies (didn't WS the ones in my shade bed, but love it there)
Astilbe
Columbine, Columbine, Columbine
Pansies (not all perennial, but those that aren't reseed)
Sweet William
Lamium (not WSed, but might be able to)
Coral Bells
Geranium (hardy..."Reflections")

Also, Coleus probably would WS well for you in Zone 7, no?

Yes, I've got some coleus seeds so I plant to do them. I didn't know you could start astilbe from seed. Is it hard? how long does it take them to germinate? I'm reading conflicting info about eupatorium. Everything I read says sun, but a friend of mine grows it in a pretty shady area.

Astilbe are very easy to start. They might germinate a bit later than other perennials. Here I start seeing sprouts in late June/early July, but we have a late start to our summers and up until then things have usually been wet and cool. Your germination in zone 7 would undoubtedly be earlier. Here's a picture of sprouts/seedlings. Note that the germination is also sporadic.

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In regards to the Eupatorium, I can grow mine in full sun, but again, you are in a much warmer zone 7 so I would be inclined to grow them in part shade. Hopefully someone in your zone will chime in on this aspect.

Digitalis do very well for me in shade or mostly shade. In my hot sun they burn up. They wintersow very well, too.

Karen

I have eupatorium in a dappled shade spot that gets only a couple of hours of early morning direct sun and it grows 7' tall. It's my healthiest plant of the stuff on my property.

Ooooh! Exciting to know that astilbe are easy. I'll have to buy some seeds. I still have seed pods on my one astilbe plant but I imagine the seeds have dispursed by this point, yes? Are they large or small seeds?

Great to know about eupatorium. Is that easy to wintersow or do I need to buy the plant?

Yes, I've done digitalis this year. They are one of my favorite plants, but I have a really hard time getting them to thrive. My mom is about 20 minutes away, and they are beautiful in her garden. I can't tell if I need to fertilize them? I wintersowed some last year, and I have tiny plants now.

eupatorium are extremely easy to wintersow.

3ob,

The seeds on your Astilbe plants may have dispersed, but sometimes some of them linger. Just take the whole dried flower stalk, place in a clear bag and let dry with the top of the bag open. After a couple of days, shake the bag and those teeny tiny things on the bottom of the bag will be the seeds - and yes, I do mean teeny tiny!

You should also try the seed exchange forums instead of buying. Someone may have them available for SASE or for a trade which is much cheaper.

About the Eupatorium. I tried winter sowing for 3 years before I met with success, but I think I'm the only one which has had difficulty with germination on this one. I would get very frustrated when I read about how easy it was for others to germinate. I never gave up and was rewarded quite well.

There is no rhyme or reason to Digitalis at times. They grow in sandy soil and in rich soil on our property, in full sun and in full shade. Other than giving mine a mulch of compost, I don't feed them.

Mine grow in heavy alkaline clay, I might fertilize with a little organic stuff at planting time but that's about it. They do well in more shade than sun. The more sun they get the more likely they are to fry.

Karen

Alas, my astilbe heads are gone. Oh, well. I'm excited to try them though. I will check out the exchange. Which eupatorium do you all recommend?

Laurel, that is one gorgeous bleeding heart! Love the color.

I wanted to put one in a narrow shade garden between the garage and sidewalk out back but thought it might be too delicate with people brushing up against it or one of the kids (20's) invariably not being careful where they put their size 13 feet!

Is it hard to winter sow bleeding hearts? I don't have any in my garden, and I'd love to add someone.