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Native plants for a shady garden
(shade-tolerant species that are indigenous to eastern Ontario)
Links are to photographs taken by Irving Dardick; to view his complete collection Wildflowers and other flora of Eastern Ontario and the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, click here.
Trees
- American beech (Fagus grandifolia)
- Sugar maple (Acer saccarum)
- Eastern hemlock (Tsuga canadensis)
Shrubs
- Striped maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
- Alternate-leaf dogwood (Cornus alternifolia)
- Beaked hazel (Corylus cornuta)
- Mountain maple (Acer spicatum)
- Red-berried elder (Sambucus pubens)
- Canada yew (Taxus canadensis)
- Hobblebush (Viburnum alnifolium)
- Wild raisin (Viburnum cassinoides)
- Flowering raspberry (Rubus odoratum)
Perennials
(A great many woodland wildflowers are indigenous to our area; this list is by no means exhaustive. Please note:
although these plants grow in shaded woods, many need a considerable amount of sunlight in the spring, i.e., they will
grow under deciduous trees, but may not flourish in the permanent shade of buildings. We've added flower
colour and flowering times to help you plan your garden.)
- White baneberry (Actaea pachypoda), white, May-Jun
- Red baneberry (A. rubra), white, May-Jun
- Wood anemone (Anemone sylvestris), white, Apr-Jun
- Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis), red/yellow, Apr-Jul
- Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema atrorubens), green Apr-Jun
- Wild ginger (Asarum canadense), green, Apr-May
- White wood aster (Aster divaricatus), white, Jul-Oct
- Blue cohosh (Caulophyllum thalictroides), green, Apr-Jun
- Wild bleeding-heart (Dicentra eximia), pink, May-Aug
- Trout-lily (Erythronium americanum), yellow, Mar-May
- White snakeroot (Eupatorium rugosum), white, Jul-Oct
- Fragrant bedstraw (Galium triflorum), white, Jun-Aug
- Sharp-lobed hepatica (Hepatica acutiloba), white
- Round-lobed hepatica (H. americana), white Mar-May
- Spotted jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), orange, Aug-Sep
- Wild lily of the valley (Maianthemum canadense), white May-Jul
- Indian cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana), yellow, May-Jun
- Virginia cowslip (Mertensia virginica), blue Mar-May
- Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata), blue, Apr-Jun
- Solomon's seal (Polygonatum biflorum), greenish-yellow, Apr-Jun
- Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis), white, Mar-May
- Zigzag goldenrod (Solidago flexicaulis), yellow, Jul-Oct
- Rose twisted stalk (Streptopus roseus), pink, Apr-Jul
- Wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum)
- Tall meadow-rue (Thalictrum polygamum), white, Jul-Sep
- Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), white, Apr-May
- Starflower (Trientalis borealis), white, May-Jun
- White trillium (Trillium grandiflorum), white, Apr-Jun
- Violet (Viola sp.), blue, Mar-Jun
- Bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), yellow, Apr-Jun
Other possibilities
- Ostrich fern, Sensitive fern, Wood fern, Lady fern
- Horsetail
- Mosses (for damp sites)
Notes
If you spend much time walking through woods in the Greenbelt or Gatineau Park, you'll notice that the ground is
usually dark and spongy. The soil is this type of habitat contains a large proportion of decaying organic material.
Under natural conditions, this material comes from falling leaves, decaying fallen trees and branches and
annual dieback of herbaceous plants. In other words, everything that grows in woods is returned to the soil. To
maintain your woodland garden, you'll also have to ensure a continuous supply of organic material.
If you must remove anything, compost it and return it to the garden later. In fall, spread leaves over and
around plants. If you prune trees or shrubs, leave the branches on the ground. (If the branches are unsightly,
chop them up and mix them into the soil around wildflowers.) If you have access to land in the country, you may
even bring partly rotted logs or other debris into your garden as we have done along our "woodland walk" (see photo below).
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