My yard is full of trees. I love trees. The front yard is full of majestic oaks, graceful maples and... invading mulberries, as well as a few firs, pines and some newly planted native plum (and my husband's bonzai nursery, but they're all just little) and the back yard is full of more oaks and maples, gorgeous wild cherry trees and some invading buckthorn.

I also love flowers. All those trees means lots of shade. That means that the usual flower beds consisting of roses, daisies, coneflowers, dianthus, ornamental grasses, garden phlox, etc. just aren't happening in my yard. Luckily, I have options and so do you. You might be surprised how many.

While this may not be your grandmother's shade garden, there's something to be said for seeking the wisdom of those who came before. Some of the most commonly used shade hardy plants have been used with success for generations, and some of them are near impossible to kill.

Hosta is an old stand by that's nearly impossible to kill, but not too difficult to deal with. It spreads in clumps and easy to divide them in the spring and they're relatively easy to get rid of if you don't want them anymore. They send up graceful shoots that bloom in a variety of colors, mostly variations on lavender, in the late summer and provide interesting foliage throughout the year. You'll have no trouble getting some of these for free from your gardening buddies. Just ask around.

Astilbe is a shade loving perennial with bright fan-like flower heads that comes in many different colors in the spring and early summer. It's very interesting, pretty and hardy.

Bleeding Heart is a classic favorite for the shade garden. It comes in several varieties including fern leaf bleeding heart which has all the charm of a fern with the added bonus of flowers off and on all year. There are various sizes as well and don't discount the wild type dutchman's breeches.

Coral bells have very interesting leaves and sends up tall spikes of tiny flowers at midsummer.

Lungwort is an early spring bloomer that comes in a variety of bright colors and has attractive, bushy foliage all year long.

Jacob's ladder is a particular favorite of mine. The leaves are really neat looking and produces lovely blue flowers at midsummer. It does like a little sun, but too much will kill it. Cat's like it, so they might maul it a bit if given the chance.

Hellebore, including the popular lenten rose is a beautiful old world shade plant that blooms beautifully in early spring. It gets a bad rap because it's poisonous. Very poisonous.

Foxglove is a cottage garden favorite and it comes in a variety of colors. It can get pretty tall and sends up a spike of fabulous tubular flowers with speckled throats. Hummingbirds and butterflies love them, but they're also very poisonous.

Ferns ferns are more delicate than anything else listed here. There are many types of ferns, from native lady fern and ostrich fern to more exotic ghost fern and japanese painted fern. They all add interest and mystery to a garden. Ferns need to be kept in moist, rich soil. If you abuse them they won't come back. Save your abuse for the lily of the valley.

There are several varieties of iris that will do well in shade including Tennessee White Crested and Bluebird. These are a little pickier than some shade plants. You must keep them moist.

Liriope has a look like ornamental grass and does well in shade and just about anywhere. Pale lavender flower spikes appear in late summer.

Groundcovers

Lily of the Valley is beautiful, smells great and you can stomp on it, pull it out, probably pour gasoline on it and burn it and it'll still come back next year. It also spreads like crazy. Planting this baby is a commitment. I found lily of the valley on an historic archeaological dig site once. Tenacity! The flowers are usually white, but there are pink varieties available now that are all the rage with my plant exchange buddies.

Periwinkle, vinca vine, creeping myrtle are many names for the same plant. It's a great groundcover, spreads like crazy, stays green year round and blooms pretty blue in the spring and keeps blooming all year. I found some of this at the same dig site mentioned above. I have some. I can't get rid of it. Do you want some?

Pachasandria is a popular groundcover that will grow in dry shade under pine trees where many plants have trouble. It sends up spikes of white flowers early in the spring.

Cyclamen is another pretty flower that grows well in the shade and makes a good groundcover. There are several varieties and if you live in the North you'll want to make sure to get the hardy variety. The heart shaped leaves are really quite cute and the rosey colored flowers that appear in the late summer look like little butterflies.

Hydrangea is a shade tolerant shrub that likes acid soil but is pretty tolerant of various conditions. The colors of the flowers sometimes change according to the soil acidity so keep that in mind when choosing your plants. They produce clumps of flowers from midsummer to autumn.

Azalea is also likes shade but is a little more picky about soil. It blooms in early spring and comes in a variety of colors.

Mother Nature is an excellent source of inspiration for your shady area. Take a hike in a park or a wildlife preserve and see what's growing wild. If a flower is growing wild in your area it'll probably do well in your garden given similar growing conditions. An advantage of growing native wildflowers, versus cultivated ones is that those plants are adapted to your local weather conditions, insect pests, fungi and diseases and have a better chance of doing well.

Take a camera and a wildflower identification book for your area so you can identify whatever you fall in love with or take a picture of it and take it to your local native plant nursery or university extension for identification.

When you find a plant you like, don't just dig it up. You must get permission from the landowner to collect plants, otherwise it is a crime. Unless you like the idea of dashing through the undergrowth clutching a plant to your breast with the Mission Impossible Theme running through your head... and that's just silly... ask first, or get your plants from a dealer. The following searches will yield interesting results for you:

Native Plant Nursery MyState

Native Plant Conservancy MyState

Native Plant Sale MyState

Native Plant Exchange MyState

Repeat these walks monthly. Many native plants look completely different from one month to the next and any good garden should have plants that provide interest at different times of the year, so choose plants with different blooming times.

If you're not into walking, check out the field guides at http://e-nature.com and choose plants with "woodland" or "shaded" listed under the habitat field or just do the above searches and let the salespeople guide you.

Some native woodland plants that are available for my area (Michigan) are:

Bloodroot (early spring, groundcover), Wild Ginger (Spring, groundcover), blue cohosh (tall, graceful, early summer blooming), black cohosh (tall, late summer blooming), cranesbill geranium (groundcover, late spring to summer blooming), eastern bluestar (tall, spring to summer), twinleaf (small, early spring), mayapple (early spring, tall groundcover), fire pink (medium height, spring), bunchberry (groundcover, all summer), creeping cucumber (vine, all summer), starflower (small, all summer), wintergreen (groundcover, all summer), Popsissewa (low shrub, all summer), wood nymph (spring to summer, small), wild strawberry (groundcover, spring), ground cherry (tall, summer to autumn), violets (groundcover, many colors, spring to fall), trillium (small, spring), bellwort (small, spring), solomon seal (small, spring, interesting foliage), greater solomon seal (same as previous but bigger), false solomon seal (spring foliage and autumn berries, small.)