woodland garden path project

Hello!! I'm a new gardener and have a LOT of shade on our property. One of my favorite parts of our yard is the woods behind it. There is an old gravel quarry behind our house, and we have the same rocky features present here, but as a geo nut i love it and would like to showcase some of the gorgeous rock walls, natural and man made in our back woods, making a path to walk. I'd love to reintroduce some native shade plants, as well as a few others, but i'm not even sure where to begin! I'd like for it to look as though i haven't planted a thing at all, just nice, natural, maybe even a little wild! I'm not worried about deer resistance, or other pests, this garden is as much for them as for me. Bring on the deer, we love venison. ;) anyway I'd love to hear ideas for a nice native shade garden. So far i planted hosta 'sum and substance', bead fern, Noid fern, & some variegated solomon's seal. There is a lot of Solomon's seal already here.
Here are some photos

The variegated solomon's seal i planted

This message was edited Aug 2, 2011 12:02 PM

These aren't rolling stones...
Large rock so mossy, plants are growing in the moss

That quarry ledge is a wonderful backdrop for a shady garden - could NOT be better!

The NOID fern, maybe fiddlehead? Love the heart shape, see it?

I know!!!! I just LOVE it! :) what i don't love is that Back in the day there was a LOT of old bottles cans etc. Dumped back here. Love the little pottery chips, but the glass, barbed wire, bed springs, car parts etc. Make me nervous! Lol good thing I've had a tetnus shot!
Here's the bead fern i planted in an old stump

Chance loves hunting chipmonks back here and is forever digging holes so the cheaper, and more natural this project is, THE BETTER! lol i would love some cypripediums but refuse to spend the $ for him or something else to dig them up!
But Can they be grown from seed?

There are fabulous tree roots that seem to be begging for mini hostas!

Our shade garden was fully planted when we moved in. It's got ferns, celandine poppy (wood poppy) with interesting leaves and yellow blooms a lot like the buttercups I recall. Also, there are several yellow lady's slipper plants in a couple of spots, and they spread a small bit each year. Lots of hosta and some very large leafed plants I cannot ID, except possibly bloodroot. Among the first to bloom are trout lilies, also known as dog-tooth violets, and my favorite, epimedium, with a bishop's hat bloom. There is also a eucomis (pineapple lily) that is taking hold. The shade plants are our first harbinger of spring. All are spring bloomers. In another area that gets only filtered or morning sunlight, we have jack-in-the-pulpit and a few different trillium plants (sessile toadshade). Also all early growers and bloomers. Even the uninvited guests.

Solomon's seal (polygonatum variegata) is not my favorite, so every year I pull some and give it away. I don't know if you can buy some of these plants. I am forever giving away lady's slipper to friends and visitors.

cathy, I would love to be able to get a few yellow lady's slippers from you =)

My woodland areas have:
ferns (noids for me, they came with the house)
Black Cohosh (Actaea racemosa)
Yellow Corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra spectabilis)
Fringed Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia)
Coral Bells (various Heuchera)
Solomon's Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Lungwort (various)
Early Meadowrue (Thalictrum dioicum)
Jack in the Pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
American Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) just added from a trade!
Trillium, Wake Robin (Trillium grandiflorum)
Yellow Trillium (Trillium luteum)
Vasey's Trillium (Trillium vaseyi) new find for me!

I love lady slippers!!!! :) let me know if you ever want to get rid of a few more.
I have lots of solomon's seal, just the standard kind that was already growing wild, and i added some variegated.
I love jack in the pulpit but have never seen them in my travels. I guess I'll have to buy online.
I'm getting some woodland violets and I'd love some wild northern monkshood and i think I'm going to look for some other endangered, natives to add as well it would be so cool to make this area a native preserve. :)
I'll be looking up some of your recommendations and keeping my eyes peeled. I live finding new favorites.
This cute little guy is growing back there. Any idea what it my be? See that tiny little pink forget me not type flower?

This message was edited Aug 8, 2011 7:39 PM

Reminds me of Herb Robert, which can be pretty invasive in some places. I pull it whenever I notice it trying to take over my beds, but at least it's easy to yank. I even find it growing in crack between my driveway and side door where there's only a teaspoon of loose dirt and leaves.

Here it is on DG http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/601/

Yeeeah..... Dang it! Don't i have ANYTHING in my yard that is not an invasive weed?! LoL
so far:
herb Robert
Purple lustrife
knapweed
honeysuckle
curlydock
burrdock
creeping Charlie
Creeping myrtle
wild grapes
ivy
Wild morning glory
sumac

I'm sure this isn't all, i just don't know how to ID them all yet. :(

I added honey bells hosta, a green coral bells that gets pink flowers, ladys mantle, Hydrangea, coppertina, woodland violets, and more ferns, to this area today. :)
sadly I'm seeing some nasty spots on my variegated Solomon's seal. Any clues what's going on here? All the ones that are there naturally look like rotten old banana peals too.

I'll check mine today to compare them to your leaf. Could they be going dormant early?

I don't know? Maybe too hot for them this year? Seems like many have disappeared and are just berries on a stick now. The roots all look good still.

Maybe too much rain?

Mine looks like it's ready to go to sleep for the winter.