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What can I plant with an English Ivy ground cover under a large shade tree? I was hoping to add some color. The area is full shade.

Niall C.
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M. Jones
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    Please tell us where you are and what your hardiness zone is; there's no point in recommending a tropical plant if you live in Alaska! – Niall C. May 28 '17 at 20:01
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    And what kind of tree are we talking about? – Stephie May 28 '17 at 20:17
  • Welcome! Are you looking for a perennial or annual? About how tall do you prefer? The more we know about your needs, the easier it will be to suggest things. The best thing to do is go back into your question by pressing the gray "edit" word and adding all in the extra details. That way we can see everything in one place. Since you're new here I recommend looking around our [help]. [Ask] is a good page to start. If you have any questions about how the site works, leave a comment here and we'll help you! – Sue Saddest Farewell TGO GL May 28 '17 at 22:42
  • What sort of soil do you have? – CloneZero Jun 02 '17 at 23:49

1 Answers1

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Very few plants flower in the shade. That is because reproductive material takes an awful lot of energy that is created from light and photosynthesis to make that energy.

There are a few plants, very few in number, that flower profusely in shade. Impatiens for one.

What kind of soil, exactly how dark is this shade? All flowering plants that flower in shade need at the very least ambient or light bounced off other plants, structures in the landscape. We would need a picture of the environment you are discussing to add more options for you. Impatiens, my example, does well in full shade but there has to be light bouncing off a lawn or from outside the perimeter of shade.

One could enlarge their options by thinking of colorful foliage. The site I am including does both...color in shade

stormy
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