The problem you will find with most of the plants you mention is they will either have short-viable seeds, or the seeds will establish double dormancy if allowed to dry so they are best sown very fresh. You can use the winter sowing method, but should sow right when seeds would ripen on the plant in your area....many of those you mention when left outdoors will then germinate the following Spring. Example, I've sown trillium seeds and had them germinate in Spring, but sown the same day they are collected - mid-July here. Jeffersonia, Thalictrum thalictroides (aka anemonella thalictroides) germinate reliably, but only when sown freshly harvested. To do that, you need to find a trader who will send you fresh seeds, find a seed company who sends seeds moist packed, or what I often find easiest - buy one plant, harvest the seeds when ripe and go from there.

Dear Julie, Thank you very much for your inquiry. Old lawns can be tricky, especially when you compare them to lawns with newer varieties of grasses. These new varieties are darker green and denser, in a way like new computers or cars. Getting a new one of these is expensive so we often want to make do, just like our lawns. The big things to think about are watering, mowing and fertilizing. You may need to add a fertilizer application to May and July. Use the holiday plan, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, and Thanksgiving for fertilizing. If you want to start with ½ or ¾ rates, that is fine. You can always add more, it is the subtracting that is the tricky part. Finally, make sure you are mowing correctly. Only take 1/3 of the leaf blade during any single mowing. This will help your lawn to thicken as well. If you keep your lawn at 3-3.5 inches and follow this 1/3 rule, you will be happy with the results. Again, thanks for the question and let me know if you have more. IF you want, check out my new book for more information and tips, Lawn Geek. Respectfully Trey Rogers The Yard Doctor

Posted by Cindy z5: On the property I bought there is a section 60'x300' that was left wild. Growing on it are a lot of young trees (15' max), some sumac, brambles, kudzu and grasses. I would like a woodland garden, with a path winding through. I planted a few items last spring - canadian hemlock, apple, serviceberry and 3 chokeberry plants (aronia). What do I do next? Susan AK: Grasses harbor mosquitoes and if they are a problem, people here generally burn grass off in small, controlled areas, while the grass is still dry and dead and melted snow has provided enough moisture to keep fire from spreading. As for your pace, that would depend on your resources - time, help, and how much you can spend. Clearing woodlands is strenuous work. Consider ferns, dogwood, wild roses, highbush cranberries and monkshead. Susan-NC/Z7a: Map out your paths, and educate yourself about trees. If you mow once a year, trees flourish. We did, and the sycamores, ashes, and bird cherries almost shot out of their bark in 3 years time. Lauren: take your time. Do an inventory in all levels - groundcover plants, understory shrubs and canopy.Prevent yourself from destroying something that you may wish you had later. I put in variegated and pagoda dogwood, viburnum trilobum, and witchhazel. Debbie: Pulmonaria (Lungwort) are nice because the leaves are spotted. It flowers in spring. Although supposed to be for sun, I have luck with Campanula. Sheila Smith: Geraniums (not Pelargonium) will give bloom over a long period. Carole Musengo: I've had Corydalis lutea and C. ochroleuca growing in "medium" shade, and they bloom all Summer. Pulsatilla vulgaris and Anemones do well in shade. Lynda D'Arcangelo: I've been concentrating on ground covers. My favorites are violets and lily of the valley, both spread quickly and have been pest free. They bloom in midspring, and foliage stays nice until frost. Lunaria has worked well. I've seen beautiful patches of ajuga in other gardens. Bleeding hearts are my absolute favorites, but they turn yellow and disappear in midsummer. Andie Rathbone: Try some caladium. Francine Mezo: Heuchera does well in dense shade, also astilbe. Primroses manage nicely, if I keep the violets from becoming too friendly. Armeria provides a breezy little show, surprisingly, since sun is recommended. Early spring bloom is provided by Bergenia, and the large leaves provide a nice texture. darlene netzer: In North Carolina, hydrangea and rose of sharon bloom beautifully in filtered shade as do phlox. I made the mistake of using lily of the valley, very difficult to redirect. judi z.: Don't forget foxglove, trillium, solomon's seal and begonias, not the bedding kind, but reigers. Lisa: Columbines. I have several varieties in a heavily shaded garden in New York, and while they didn't bloom the first year, this year they were spectacular and lasted a good two months. Bill Plummer: Any of the native woodland flowers. Choose your favorite. Most bloom in the spring. I am fond of fronds, The wood ferns, Dryopteris, Christmas fern, Maidenhair are great. marilyn: A wonderful shade plant is the helleborus orientalis, or lenten rose. It has evergreen leaves and beautiful saucer-shaped flowers that hang upside down from the stems. A wonderful bulb is the fritillaria. Possibly the best book I have seen on shade gardening is one by Ken Druse, called The Natural Shade Garden. Terry Wright: What about Pavonia (rock rose)? It works here in a dry, shady corner of Texas. Mountain Sage will give you red fall flowers in shade. For short pink flowers try Shrubby skullcap. (there is one for sun and one for shade). I think these things will grow in just about all zones. Mike Gurley: One of my favorites is Celandine Poppy (Stylophorum Diphyllum). It has pale yellow flowers and blooms from March till June in N.C. Another that does well for me is Virginia Bluebells.

I have Amorphophallus konjac in Ohio 5b/6a and it grows and lives and is very strange. When I first got the plant it said to treat the plant like a succulent and that it will rot in wet or rich soils. But I read more that they like rich soils and need constant moisture during the summer? I assume it is bad to have them wet during the dormant winter, so I planted them in rather poor soil near the east side of the house to hopefully stay dry and only get morning sun. The listed zone seems to vary a lot, as well as the listed scientific name. So how is the best way to grow this cool plant in Ohio? The plants seems to have 3 morphs... 1. juvenile form with one stalk and one "hand" leaf at the top. 2. adult form with thick stalk and a "bunch" of leaves held at the top. Sometimes a big maroon stinky flower forms if it is a big stalk. 3. weird alien very dark maroon sexy tentacle that opens up into a weird dark flower stalk, then dies quickly. .... sometimes dormant for months or all year? sometimes flower and stalk in the same year? What the heck is this plant doing so I can understand it better?