Shade Garden Kit
Garden kits are designed to make gardening goals easy. They can be used as a quick way to start gardening native without having to research all 100+ plants in our nursery. Kits come pre-arranged in the tray so you can plant them just as they are for an instant garden design, with tall plants in the back and short, showy plants in the front. Or, since each plant is labeled with plant name and height, you can arrange them to suit your space.
Our Woodland shade garden is a perfect choice for a full-shade or partially shaded garden, especially in richer forest loam with medium moisture. Full shade means no direct sun to up to about 3 hours of direct sun in midsummer. Part shade means less than 6 hours of sun per day. For a mix that is more tolerant of dry shade, try the Yooper Shade kit.
A typical kit will contain approximately the mix of plants below, but one way we keep the per-plant costs low on garden kits is by reserving the right to substitute plants based on our current inventory. A kit will contain 2 to 4 of each species. If you need specific plants for your garden goals, consider supplementing your garden kit with quarts or a plug flat of your favorite shade plant.
American Spikenard
Tall Bellflower
Giant Yellow Hyssop
Drooping Woodland Sedge, Bottlebrush Grass, or Longstalk Sedge
Bluestem or Zig-zag Goldenrod
Calico Aster or Foxglove Beardtongue
Columbine
Indian Tobacco (Lobelia inflata)
Big Leaf Aster
Wild Blue Phlox or Jacobs Ladder
Golden Ragwort or Golden Alexander
Bishop’s Cap or Foam Flower
Wood Violet or Common Blue Violet
If substitutions are necessary, they may include Pearly Everlasting, Fireweed, Bottle Gentian, Canada Mayflower, Woodland Sunflower, Common Violet, Jack in the Pulpit, Northern Heartleaf Aster, White Turtlehead, New Jersey Tea, or Rock Harlequin. If you are looking for plants that spread enthusiastically, Spreading Dogbane and White Snakeroot will fit the bill. All of these plants are recommended if you wish to expand your garden.