Plants that look good year round?

[Usernamesarenoteasy]

One side of my garden only gets early morning sun.
It looks great in the summer, but what can I put in that flowerbed that will look good year round? I'm not a great gardener, but I'd like there to be something to look at on that side.
The soil can also be quite wet that side of the garden.
Thanks in advance!

Maybe look at plants that like damp partial shade?
Hellebores, ferns, pulmonaria, brunnera, foxgloves, spring bulbs.

Thank you. I did try googling plants that like shady damp conditions, but it kept showing me really nice stuff that needed full sun. I was getting annoyed, so thought I'd ask actual people instead!
I just didn't want another winter staring at an empty flowerbed 😆

Try https://www.plantsforshade.co.uk/

Bergenia are evergreen and good in damp, shady conditions. There are several cultivars where the leaves turn red over winter. I’ve got Claire Maxine but there are others. I’ve also got Tubby Andrews which is variegated but I don’t know how much variegation you would get in an east facing bed.

Ajuga comes in a variety of leaf colours, copes well in my wet bed, is evergreen with blue flowers in spring.

Omphalodes cappadocica 'Cherry Ingram' is evergreen with blue spring flowers.

Cornus Midwinter Fire is OK on a moist but well drained bed although I don’t know how much colour the stems will have over winter just from morning sunshine. It’s also quite a large shrub. I also don’t know about other Cornus coping with damp soil.

If you have enough space for a tree, Acer palmatum 'Sango-kaku' is amazing in the Autumn (see rather grainy picture) and has coral red stems over winter.

I’d also take a punt on an Erysimum Bowles Mauve because they are such a fabulous plant. I’ve got one in full sun in a wet bed, and one in an east facing bed which is waterlogged in winter. They both flower for months at a time but only last a couple of years (although are really easy to take cuttings from).

This article on the winter walk at Harlow Carr has a picture of Midwinter Fire. Harlow Carr is on poorly drained clay in a frost pocket

Nurseries often do collections of plants for particular conditions - Claire Austin for example:

www.claireaustin-hardyplants.co.uk/products/for-shady-places-collection

Her plants are excellent IME - they are small, so not as expensive as some, but then if they are happy they establish better than bigger plants would, and she offers good varieties.

Oh my look at the fox!!
Thank you, this is very helpful.
I did have an acer which did really well there for a few years, and then just died on me. Was quite sad when he went, the kids had named him Derek 😆

Thanks all for your suggestions, much appreciated. Looks like I'll be doing some shopping later on!
Really helpful 😊

Also hydrangeas.

Love this article ❤️

Heucheras. They keep their colour all year around and are just lovely. They come in lots of different colours too

Fatsia japonica.

You need to look at evergreen shrubs if you want something green in the winter.

sweet woodruff, but it spreads like mad. low growing with white fluffy heads in spring

Daphne and sarcococca for scent, underplanted with snowdrops - just when you think winter is here forever they start performing with fantastic scent and cheery little flowers.

But if it’s colour you want, you can go with persistent berries, brightly coloured bark, and flowers - winter flowering cherry, Viburnum bodnantense, winter jasmine, cyclamen for example

There's this thread:

Shady characters - a permanent home for shade garden suggestions! www.mumsnet.com/Talk/gardening/2441728-Shady-characters-a-permanent-home-for-shade-garden-suggestions

Mahonia

That’s a great thread. Thanks for sharing! 😊

Sounds great!

Thanks all! Looks like I'm going to have a very busy weekend 😊