Plants for shade

Not sure on the roses KatTai but you could look at box honeysuckle (Lonicera pileata) if you are looking for a low growing shrub and Bugle (Ajuga reptans) if you are looking for a bee-friendly ground cover plant, both work well under shady conditions.

There are lots of Roses that grow in the shade.  Rugosa roses are to my mind the best for not only the wildlife , but also the gardener.  They are disease resistant and do not need pruning. The large hips provide food for the birds throughout the winter. My favourite is Roseraie de l'Hay with it's large crimson blooms that smell very strongly of almonds.

Lots of ramblers and climbers like the shade 'Rambling Rector' and 'Pauls 'Himalayan Musk' are two and they love to climb trees. Why not plant some to grow up the conifers. I have Pauls Himalayan Musk growing up a Bird Cherry tree.  Most ramblers will grow to over thirty feet.

Rob - reading around on gardening forums, it seems rhubarb can grow perfectly well in the shade (plus my grandad had rhubarb that basically took over a shady patch of his garden lol) so I'm going to give it a go.  Other people have found it works so that's what I go on.

Cottagegardener - thank you for the suggestions!  I really like the idea of having the roses climbing the trees as I must admit, I find the conifers on the boring side so it would be lovely to have something to brighten them up a bit!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone!

KatTai said:

We have decided we are going to turn the path at the very bottom of the garden more garden - which means more plants are needed!  It is in complete shade in some areas due to the conifers at the back, so shade loving plants are needed, I've spotted a few that are suitable already such as Heuchera, rhubarb and of course ferns (I love ferns) but are there any others people would recommend looking at?  Preferably plants good for wildlife, though my OH would like some more roses in the garden so are there any types of roses that can be grown in shade?

Not sure if you've considered these or not but hydrangeas actually do really well in shade?

Here are a couple of links which might give you an idea of the vast amount of plants which thrive in shade...

Hope these links work!...

http://www.letsgogardening.co.uk/Information/ShadeLovingPlants.htm

http://www.plantsforshade.co.uk/?gclid=CMeYtqKO6KYCFQZO4Qodhj2i0w

I've not used either of these sites to buy from so can't recommend them but thought they give a good overview of shade loving plants which might be of interest to you?

A friend of mine recently told me that she was getting rid of her border on the shady side of her garden as there weren't any "pretty" plants or flowers which would grow there.....I showed her the plants listed on these sites.....she has now just finished drawing up her plans for an extended shade border and stumpery!!!...

Cheers

Lovely pix and useful info. I have a very shady area - but the soil is thin, covered in moss, white clover and fungi in autumn, I think there may be solid red sandstone underneath, hence the moss and poor drainage. I love rugosas too, not just the flowers but those hips are just gorgeous nad so many birds love them.