Large-flowered Bellwort Uvularia grandiflora AR Plant Model Description: This drooping flower is named for its similarity to the uvula, dangling in the back of the throat. Also known as merrybells. Propagation: Seeds ripen in late summer and should be sown immediately. Large clumps may be divided in spring or fall. Initial bloom (month and week):…

Little Sweet Betsy Trillium cuneatum   Description: Mottled leaves surround a banana-scented flower Propagation: Seeds, divisions in spring or fall Initial bloom (month and week): March W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Red or yellow Height: 16″ Spread: 12″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Limestone Soil moisture: Medium moist Light: Shade Zone: 5-9

Long-spur Violet Viola rostrata   Description: The spur is at least as long as the petal blades. Propagation: Seeds Initial bloom (month and week): April W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Purple Height: 8″ Spread: 6″ Family: Violaceae  Soil type: Acidic or neutral soils Soil moisture: Medium moist Light: Shade Zone: 3-8

Mayapple Podophyllum peltatum   AR Plant Model Description: Has one to two umbrella shaped leaves. Plants with two leaves flower and produce fleshy white flowers and fruit. Native Americans used may apple to treat internal parasite infections, vomiting, and constipation. Propagation: Seeds or divisions Initial bloom (month and week): May W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden…

Nodding Wakerobin Trillium flexipes   Description: A southern species of trillium with bent stems Propagation: Seeds or division of bulb Initial bloom (month and week): April W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 16″ Spread: 12″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Neutral woodland soil Soil moisture: Medium moist Light: Shade Zone: 3-8

Ozark Witch Hazel Hamamelis vernalis   Description: One of the earliest blooming deciduous shrubs, with a rich, spicy fragrance like cloves. Propagation: Root suckers; difficult from seeds Initial bloom (month and week): March W1 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Red-orange Height: 8′ Spread: 6′ Family: Hamamelidaceae Soil type: Acid sandy loam Soil…

Painted Trillium Trillium undulatum   Description: Moist or wet woods, strongly acidic and humus-rich, usually rocky, under acid-loving trees such as white pine, red maple, red spruce and balsam fir. Propagation: From seeds or division. Very difficult to move once established. Unlike other Trillium species, few variations are found in nature. Initial bloom (month and…

Pennsylvania Sedge Carex pensylvanica   Description: Cool season, stoloniferous sedge that is one of the first to green up in spring. Forms a good sod. Propagation: Divisions in early spring Initial bloom (month and week): May W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Green Height: 1′ Spread: 1′ Family: Cyperaceae Soil type: Acidic…

Pink Lady’s Slipper Cypripedium acaule  Description: Pink lady’s slippers require bees for pollination. Bees are lured into the flower pouch through the front slit, attracted by the flower’s bright color and sweet scent. Once inside, the bees find no reward, and discover that they are trapped, with only one point of escape. Inside the pouch,…

Ramps Allium tricoccum   Description: An edible onion, which has become a culinary trend. Don’t harvest in the wild; grow your own. Propagation: Seeds, divisions in spring or fall Initial bloom (month and week): April W3 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 16″ Spread: 12″ Family: Amaryllidaceae Soil type: Neutral woodland…

Red Baneberry Actaea rubra   Description: A bushy plant with saw-toothed leaves and clusters of white flowers. It produces a poisonous, bright-red fruit. Traditionally used to treat gynecological disorders, but reportedly had negative side effects. Propagation: Seeds or bare-root in fall Initial bloom (month and week): April W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of…

Red Trillium Trillium erectum  AR Plant Model Description: Found often within colonies of Trillium grandiflorum, but much less commonly. Propagation: Seeds or division in fall. Initial bloom (month and week): April W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Maroon Height: 12″ Spread: 12″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Neutral woodland soil Soil moisture: Rich moist…

Roundlobe Hepatica Anemone americana   Description: Also known as  liverleaf, it is named for its 3-lobed leaves which resemble the lobes of a liver. Its blue or white flowers bloom in the early spring. Propagation: Seeds or divisions Initial bloom (month and week): March W3 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Blue Height: 6-8″…

Rue Anemone Thalictrum thalictroides   Description: Toxic native perennial used by Native Americans to induce vomiting Propagation: Division or seeds Initial bloom (month and week): April W1 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White or pink Height: 4 – 8″ Spread: 10″ Family: Ranunculaceae Soil type: Acidic  Soil moisture: Medium, but well drained…

Silver Sedge Carex platyphylla   Description: Clump-forming cool season sedge with wide, powder-blue leaves. Better than hostas as a foliage plant in shady areas. Propagation: Divisions in early spring Initial bloom (month and week): May W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Green Height: 1′ Spread: 1′ Family: Cyperaceae Soil type: Acidic or…

Silvery Spleenwort Deparia acrostichoides   Description: This shining fern can form colonies from roots Propagation: Spores Initial bloom (month and week): no flower Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: no flower Height: 12″ Spread: 18″ Family: Woodsiaceae Soil type: Rich woodland soils, acidic to neutral Soil moisture: Moist Light: Shade Zone: 3-9

Skunk Cabbage Symplocarpus foetidus Description: This is the earliest spring flower to bloom, attracting flies to its fetid smell. Propagation: Seeds or divisions Initial bloom (month and week): March W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Maroon Height: 12″ Spread: 10″ Family: Araceae Soil type: Acidic Soil moisture: Moist to wet Light: Part…

Snow Trillium Trillium nivale    Description: This small and delicate plant is a real harbinger of spring. Propagation: Seeds or division of the bulbous root in fall Initial bloom (month and week): March W3 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 6″ Spread: 4″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Neutral woodland soil. A…

Southern Red Trillium Trillium sulcatum    Description: The flower petals are bent back over the leaves Propagation: Seeds, divisions in spring or fall Initial bloom (month and week): April W3 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Deep red Height: 16″ Spread: 12″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Acidic woodland soil Soil moisture: Medium moist Light:…

Spicebush Lindera benzoin   Description: Fragrant early spring flowers give way to bright red berries, which smell like familiar old world spices. Larval host plant of the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Propagation: Flowers require pollination from male plants that are separate from female plants. Initial bloom (month and week): April W1 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color…

Spring Beauty Claytonia virginica AR Plant Model Description: Small bulbs carpet hillsides and floodplains in early spring Propagation: Bulblets or seeds Initial bloom (month and week): April W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Pink to white Height: 6″ Spread: 12″ Family: Montiaceae Soil type: Rich woodland soils, acidic to neutral Soil moisture:…

Sweet Wakerobin Trillium vaseyi   Description: This trillium bears the largest flowers in the genus, sometimes 4″ across, which are bent down in between the leaves. Propagation: Seeds, divisions of the bulbs Initial bloom (month and week): April W4 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: Dark red Height: 20″ Spread: 16″ Family: Melanthiaceae…

Sweet White Trillium Trillium simile   Description: Distinguished by pointed petals shaped like triangles Propagation: Seeds, divisions in spring or fall Initial bloom (month and week): April W3 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 16″ Spread: 12″ Family: Melanthiaceae Soil type: Acid Woodland Soil Soil moisture: Medium moist Light: Shade Zone:…

Sweet White Violet Viola blanda   Description: Violet lines on bottom petals and twisted upper petals identify this tiny violet. Propagation: Seeds or root divisions Initial bloom (month and week): April W2 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 6″ Spread: 4″ Family: Violaceae Soil type: Acidic or neutral Soil moisture: Medium…

Toad Trillium Trillium sessile   Description: Maroon to deep red flower with 3 petals in the spring. Forms with green or yellow flowers also occur. The leaves also come in groups of three and are marbled with shades of green and white.  Propagation: Seeds or divisions in fall Initial bloom (month and week): April W3…

Toothwort Cardamine diphylla Description: This native perennial is the host food plant for the toothwort white, Pieris virginiensis. Propagation: Seeds or division of the roots Initial bloom (month and week: April W1 Garden name: Shady Woodland Garden Color of flower: White Height: 8″ Spread: 10″ Family: Brassicaceae Soil type: Neutral Soil moisture: Dry Light: Shade to…