plants for a bog with shade, zone 6

What kind of plants would be best for a bog in zone 6? I need suggestions of plants that grow well along a stream and in permanently waterlogged flatland and hillsides. Also, the bog is almost entirely covered with a pine and deciduous canopy so it's raining pine needles and rainbow colored leaves for three months during Autumn, therefore I need plants that can tolerate shade and dappled sun and preferably begin dormancy in September. I have considered ferns, but there are already a few hundred deciduous ferns in the area so I'm searching for a different kind of plant.

There are ponds and a stream. Some areas near the stream are constantly muddy unless there's a drought. Often I walk on a 6 inch blanket of leaves which looks safe but my foot disappears like it's quicksand. A great variety of plants grow there but I don't know most of them.

DoGooder

Japanese iris, Siberian iris, Forget-Me-Not, Caltha (Marsh marigold), arisaema (Jack-in-the-Pulpit), andromeda (bog rosemary) and winterberry are all plants for moist, peaty areas.....

ROBINDOG, thanks for identifying a mysterious plant growing next to my home. One fine spring day I saw a plant with three gigantic leaves (1 to1.5 ft.) next to my home, and I noticed it had a purple and white striped flower that looked like a calla lily. When I researched arisaema that you had mentioned I saw the plant! It's really lovely but I didn't know how to care for it and the stalk has dropped and melted into the forest floor and I regret I never photographed it.

DoGooder

Try Rhododendron viscosum which has a wonderful fragrant white flower in May or early June it will grow in part to full shade and tolerates moist to wet soil. Rhododendron atlanticum has a light fragrance with a pinkish white flower before the foliage and will grow in shade to full sun and tolerates moist soil all the time. Salix elaegnos the rosemary willow will also take soil that is always moist to wet but needs some sun or dapple sun. Our native Lindera benzoin which is a host plant for the spicebush swallowtail will grow in full sun to full shade and will tolerate poorly drained soils, which is why it is often found growing along strreams. Eleutherococcus sieboldianus 'Variegatus' has nice clean palmate foliage lined with a creamy white color and burns in full sun so it is good for shady areas that are moist. Maybe best on your hill. Try Camassia bulbs. They are finished blooming as the decideous foliage has fully opened and it is one of the bulbs that can grow wherre the soil is wet. My favorite in wet soil is Ilex verticillata. It has a small white flower in spring and beautiful red berries from fall throughout the winter. It takes about one male for every 7 or 8 females to get a nice fruit set.

mgarr, thanks for the list of plants! I'm most interested in the Camassia and winterberry.

DoGooder

Dogooder if you are in Hopkington head over to Weston Nursery and ask the folks there as well. I'm sure they will have many suggestions for you.

wha, I've shopped at Weston Nurseries and people there are friendly and knowledgeable. Thanks for suggesting I ask them. I've called the Plant Availability desk when I'm looking for a specific species, but I hadn't thought about asking a general question.

DoGooder

What about ostrich fern for some height? You can pick the fiddleheads in the spring for an early green.

AYankeeCat, Ostrich fern is at the top of my list. It's perfectly suited to this environment and is an attractive plant in my opinion. I just hope it will grow in a muddy bank where nothing else seems to grow.

DoGooder