"little" plants for full shade??

[MarthaFarquhar]

Huge swathes of my little split-level garden never see the sun. At all . I've got some mid-height shrubs (hollies tec) for one of the shady bits near the fence at the back, but would like some low-level stuff for a bed in the lower part. I'd ideally like colour at some point of the year if that's not too much to ask. Any pointers?

Primulas do Ok in full shade. If you don't mind doing annuals then busy lizzies give a nice splosh of colour too.

thanks liath - any more ideas?

Spring: Pulmonarias, brunnera, dicentra, epimediums

Summer: Astrantia, geraniums

Autumn: colchicums, cyclamen

We have the following under a large dense cherry tree in our garden;

lady's mantle/alchemilla mollis - not very exciting flowers but leaves glisten nicely in the rain. It spreads too.

periwinkle/vinca minor is a spreader with pretty little mauve flowers.

geranium/crane's bill, a spreader

primroses

bluebells (I defy you to kill these once you get them in your garden)

a bushy thing planted 3 years with yellow 'pom pom' flowers - really thriving, don't know it's name

All of these flower in the spring when the tree has no leaves, not sure about permanent shade though think the first 2 best bets

ooh, more ideas - thanks!
so out of these, which am I almost guaranteed not to kill?

yOU COULD ADD IN SOME VARIAGATED HOSTAS THEY DIE DOWN IN WINTER BUT GROW LIKE MAD IN SUMMER - NOT TOO BIG. ALSO POTENTILLA SHRUBS - ALL DIFF COLOUR FLOWERS - MIGHT BE A BIT TOO HEIGHTY FOR YOU THOUGH? PRIMULAS/PRIMROSES AS MENTIONED VERY HARDY EASY TO GROW. CURRY PLANTS - SILVERY LEAVES AND YUMMY SMELL.

I have the same in my garden a whole patch NEVER sees the sun. I have ferns, Wolfsbane, lily of the valley, bluebells and lots of "interesting" green things that I have no idea what the are!

Forget me nots, lily of the valley and hostas -- you can get some varieties that are different sizes. Ferns add great texture. Here's a garden suggestions link.

fantastic - lots of ideas, thanks.
I'm going to weed and dig the bed this weekend, and then get me some colour .

I found hostas prone to be eaten by slugs especially in the shade. We have millions of slugs. I don't bother to deal with them, I just don't have plants that are slug favourites

I am a v low maintainence gardener so all the ones I mentioned are low maintainance. You didn't mention if it was shady due to tree shade. If so whatever you plant will need lashings of water until the autumn at least as trees suck up all the water in the soil. (Which is not low maintainance I know)

sorry maintenance

If you sprinkle coffee grounds under the hostas the slugs may be put off.

Cruhed eggshells or gravel around them..

or you could get s resident hedgehog - although they do prefer caterpillars to slugs.

Don't forget some Hellebores!They are great for early foraging bees and look fantastic with daffodils planted nearby.

Ferns also, there are so many types, they're easy but so uplifting in spring.

ooohhhhh you can put hellebores in the shade? I have one that I need needs planting as it's outgrown it's pot Maybe I will give it a go in the shade!

Yes, they love shade, give it a good handful of compost when planting, they like rich moist soil.

Thankyou seashore

HAve a look at this website, lots of lovely plants and you can search by eg dry shade/damp shade/spring or sumemr flowering

www.plantsforshade.co.uk/index.html