GARDENING IN HARMONY WITH NATURE IN THE NORTHEAST

Woodland Plants

Even in the midst of summer, where the forest floor may be almost completely shaded and tree roots compete for soil moisture, a few well-adapted perennial woodland species in addition to the native ferns and sedges still thrive. These plants may have growth spurts in spring under more favorable light conditions, but unlike the spring ephemerals, they don’t go dormant in summer. Instead they provide valuable summer interest in dappled shade.

Some of the plants that we have already covered in woodland groundcovers or favorite hummingbird plants fall into this category and can be looked up there. Those tended to be the ones with showy flowers that are attractive to insects, hummingbirds, and humans alike. Good examples are woodland species from the phlox and lobelia families. Here, we explore the more subtle native herbaceous woodland plants that tend to fascinate through their foliage, and special attributes rather than through showy flowers.

Jack in the Pulpit

What a wonderful plant to find in one’s woods. Jack in the Pulpit features two three-lobed leaves, one with a unique pitcher-plant-like flower and one without. Female plants produce bright red berry clusters in late summer, providing interest in fall even after the leaves have withered. The native (sub-) species of Jack in the Pulpit growing all around our woods is rather small, No more than 8 inches tall. We also purchased plants from nurseries and those are HUGE (up to 2 feet tall). Either way – Jack in the Pulpit is a must for an authentic Northeastern Woodland Garden.

Green Dragon

This is a rare native relative of Jack in the Pulpit. Green Dragon is really cool looking, with a single deeply dissected leaf arranged in a circle. Flowers are hidden and berries resemble those of Jack in the Pulpit. We tried to grow this plant in a rather dry spot, but it declined. If we find it for sale somewhere again, we will surely try growing it again, maybe in a more boggy spot.

Solomon’s Seal

Just as in the case of Jack in the Pulpit there exists a small and a giant form of the native Solomon’s Seal. These have at times been regarded as two separate species. Again like in the case of Jack in the Pulpit the small variety of Solomon’s Seal is growing wild in our woods, mainly in natural rock-garden settings. These plants are about a foot in height and have quite beautiful delicate foliage with small white flowers.

False Solomon’s Seal

The foliage of False Solomon’s Seal looks very much like that of Solomon’s Seal, but the flowers and later the fruit are the giveaways. A plume of white flowers at the tip of the plant (rather than pendant white flowers) are followed by red (rather then blue) fruit. False Solomon’s Seal grows sparingly in our woods. They seem to like north-facing slopes where they grow in association with sedges.

Blue Cohosh

This woodland plant has beautifully dissected foliage that stays showy all summer long and a nice clumping habit. In spring Blue Cohosh leaves emerge from the ground in a deep dark brown before turning to a fresh green color. Small yellow flowers appear early when the leaves are still brown and last for a while when leaves turn green. Check out the image on top of this page showing the plant at this growth stage. Pollinated flowers develop into berries that start out green but turn deep blue. These are readily eaten by wildlife.

Black Cohosh

During flowering time Black Cohosh is very showy. This is a tall clumping plant with white spiky clusters of flowers towering over already quite substantial mounds of neat foliage. The flowers are followed by black seed. Black Cohosh grows naturally on a west-facing slope in quite a bit of shade on our property. It flowers better with some sun. Deer leave the foliage alone, but do nibble on the flowers.

Baneberry (Doll’s Eyes)

Growing to the height of 2′, Baneberry is another interesting native woodland plant. The foliage is not quite as refined as that of Blue Cohosh , and the white flower clusters are not as numerous and big as those of Black Cohosh, but Baneberry has one thing where it really shines: It’s white Doll’s Eye berries with a single black spot on each berry. Berries last for a long time on the plant. We use Baneberry as accent plants among Royal Fern.

Tall Thimbleweed

Tall Thimbleweed sadly is a deer favorite, so you won’t be able to enjoy the wonderful seedheads in fall if this plant is not securely fenced in. White flowers in late spring last for a long time, and they even look good in cut flower arrangements.

Common Blue Violet

These cute little spring flowers are a welcome native in our woodland garden. They don’t spread, but self-seed freely, so we leave them undisturbed wherever they pop up. In addition to the common blue, we have yellow and white violets present here and there on the woodland floor. They all serve as a nice ground cover where happy. Violets such as the Common Blue Violet are the sole food source of the larva of all fritillary butterfly species. So if you want to welcome the beautiful Great Spangled Fritillary and others to your woodland flowers, you need the violets to feed their larva first.

Canada Violet

Not your tiny violet. This one has substantial height with a clumping rather than spreading habit. Apparently it self-seeds where happy. In our woodland it is flowering profusely all season long. We like the color contrast between fresh (pink) and mature (white) flowers.

Spotted Geranium (Cranesbill)

Spotted Geranium is an easy to grow native that is very tough but does not spread aggressively. Seedlings may pop up far from the mother plant. This 2′ plant carries purple flowers in profusion, especially when it gets some sun. It will grow in full shade as well. A dark cultivar (Geranium maculatum ‘Espresso’) has even more interesting brown foliage, which makes it a great accent plant. The straight species shines when massed.

Foam Flower

Foamflower has attractive variegated semi-evergreen foliage with red veins. Nice white flowers appear in spring. This plant may spread by long runners, but in our setting it has not multiplied much yet. We have it growing in quite dense shade under a redbud. It should be quite attractive when massed.

Virginia Creeper

This native vine can creep or climb equally well. It fills in bare soil quite rapidly and climbs over boulders, fences, or up over trees. Good-looking foliage turns red in autumn. Easily overlooked flowers are followed by showy black fruit. Fall color is better in some sun, but the plant is still quite vigorous in shade. We like it as both a ground cover and a climber. It needs space, but is easily pulled from areas where it becomes too weedy.

Bluntleaf Waterleaf

Bluntleaf Waterleaf functions as a tall (1-2′) groundcover for shade. Emerging foliage has showy watermarks, which fade after 2 months into green. Inconspicuous flowers are carried under the bold foliage. Deer do nibble on this plant, but they don’t damage it too badly, and the plant can send new leaves up all summer, which have the nice watermarks again. We like Bluntleaf Waterleaf much better than the more common but also more aggressive Virginia Waterleaf species.

Wild Sarsaparilla

From the same family as American Ginseng and very similar in look, Wild Sarsaparilla grows under Mapleleaf Viburnum in our woods. Wild Sarsaparilla has three leaves growing from a single stalk with 5 leaflets each. The flower grows on a separate stalk and is often hard to see, since it is usually located below the leaves and has a greenish-white color. Berries turn from green to black when ripe. Wild Sarsaparilla roots where used together with or as a substitute of Sassafras roots in root beer.

Wild Leek (Ramps)

This edible native spreads slowly by offsets and seed. We wish it would propagate faster, so we could harvest more. Slender green leaves are carried on showy red stems. The foliage is followed by white flowers on their own stems, which produce black seed in autumn.

Goldenseal

This plant has become rare in the wild due to over-harvesting for medicinal use. We planted a few roots intermixed with creeping phlox and only realized after a couple of years that they had survived. Now each clump is growing quite vigorously. Goldenseal only reaches a foot in height. A single white flower is followed by a red berry that resembles a raspberry. We are currently preparing a new woodland patch to mass this plant together with Yellow Trillium. Looking forward to see if that combination works well.

Allegheny Spurge

Allegheny Spurge is the native cousin of the Asian Pachysandra so ubiquitous in suburban gardens. Whereas the latter is a rapidly spreading invasive, Allegheny Spurge is more of a clumper (it spreads very slowly) and very well-behaved in a woodland garden setting. Again we wish it would spread faster. The flowers appear on naked stalks before the leaves. In that respect it reminds us of Wild Leek, where flowers and foliage also alternate, but in the case of Allegheny Spurge the flowers appear first and the leaves follow.

False Hellebore

False Hellebore impresses early in the season with bold foliage emerging from the soil like a rocket and unfolding beautifully. The flowers are not very showy, but in our setting the plant tends to be shaded out by tall summer perennials anyway, so it tends to decline by that time. Nevertheless, each spring we can’t wait for the emergence of this fantastic plant, which is reminiscent of Skunk Cabbage at that time of the year.

American (Spreading) Globeflower

American Globeflower or Spreading Globeflower has two distinct subspecies, one with white flowers and yellow centers growing in the west, and one with pale yellow flowers growing in the east. The eastern subspecies is becoming increasingly rare and we were fortunate to find this plant for sale at a native plant sale. American Globeflower is a lovely petite spring wildflower blooming quite early. The whole plant continues growing bigger during summer and with luck there is a second bloom in summer. We are growing our American Globeflower in a low/moist area and it seems happy in that environment.

Ohio Spiderwort

Ohio Spiderwort is a tough plant that we have growing in many spots around the woodland garden near paths. In order to see the flowers, you need to visit the garden in the morning. By afternoon Ohio Spiderwort flowers have closed. (This habit is opposite to Evening Primrose, which you will only see blooming in the evenings).

Early Meadow Rue

Early Meadow Rue is valued mainly for its nice mounding foliage and early growth / bloom time. The flowers are tiny and not very ornamental, but small insects (flies and wasps) seem to like them.

Bluestem Goldenrod

Our favorite Goldenrod and a species that is quite happy in shade. It has nice purple stems and yellow flower clusters as is typical of the goldenrods. In our woods it grows naturally with White Wood Aster on dry slopes in the shade under oaks. Bluestem Goldenrod is valued for it’s late bloom time and shade tolerance, which prolongs the Aster bloom by a couple of weeks. The plant can be a bit floppy especially in part sun where it grows a bit taller. It readily self-seeds in our woods, a habit that we welcome.

Yellowroot

Yellowroot is a spreading sub-shrub that we try to establish on a slope for erosion control. We chose it because we like to experiment with native plants not usually found in the trade. It does form mats by underground runners, but our local deer have kept it in check by eating most above-ground growth each winter. Brown flowers in early spring are easily missed since they blend in with the soil background.

Pipsissewa, Spotted Wintergreen, Striped Wintergreen, Dragon’s Tongue

Pipsissewa is a diminutive woodland wildflower that we found growing in a mat of moss. Flowers with white blossoms are followed by red berries.

Moss

We are not totally sure which species of moss we have growing in our woods, but it does grow beautifully in wet shady areas. The image below shows it during spring where it sends up spores carried 2-3 inches above the moss. For us moss is the perfect lawn. Going to a garden center and seeing herbicides that kill moss within a grass lawn feels so wrong. What about a herbicide that kills invasive grasses within our moss ‘lawns’? – We have never seen that anywhere, but it would make much more sense to us.

Indian Pipe

This intriguing parasitic plant is completely white (no photosynthesis needed). It feeds on a fungus, which in turn feeds on the roots of trees – don’t you love how evolution works! Each leaf-less stem carries one white flower. The flowers initially point downward but become erect later in the season. Indian pipe cannot be transplanted, so create a good woodland environment with symbiotic fungi in the soil and enjoy Indian Pipe wherever it pops up. Interesting even in Winter when the dry plant turns dark and seedheads persist.

Beechdrops

Beechdrops (Epifagus virginiana)

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Mountain Bugbane (Actaea podocarpa): Similar to Black Cohosh but shorter.

Red Baneberry (Actaea rubra): Similar to Baneberry but with red berries.

Coral Bells (Heuchera): Relative of foam flower. Likes poor dry soils.

Purple Meadow Rue (Thalictrum dasycarpum): No review yet. Just seeded in a wet spot.

Bowman’s Root (Porteranthus trifoliata): Pretty flowers but difficult to grow (ours never survived more than 2 years).

Woodland Sunflower (Helianthus divaricatus): Great for covering large areas but may spread too aggressively for mixed plantings.

Meehan’s Mint (Meehania cordata): Diminutive member of the mint family for the shade. Nice flowers visited by hummingbird moths.

Fairy Wand, False Unicorn Root (Chamaelirium luteum): White flower spikes reminiscent of Black Cohosh flowers. No review yet.

Interesting non-native woodland species for controlled areas:

Lenten Rose, Christmas Rose, Hostas, Spring Vetchling, Cowslip, Oxlip, Bishop’s Hat, Shredded Umbrella Plant, Ligularias, Columbine Meadow Rue.