 Morel Mushroom Morel mushrooms grew there. These spongy chunks would turn into the most savory accompaniments when sautéed in butter. While my family hunted these prizes on the springtime woodland floor, I learned, too, about ferns and spring beauties and mayapples and trilliums and jack-in-the-pulpits. Many moves and years have taken me far from that Ohio farm. Shade gardens take me back. Tall trees mean home to me now. Wayside Gardens is featuring some very special woodland prizes sure to make your shady spaces special. Trilliums come in several shapes and colors. The Trillium Flexipes, offered by Wayside Gardens, faces the world without a droop. Red berries fill the flower spots late in the year. Trillium grandiflorum is the native that will make its way into my garden this year. Its great white flowers cover hefty plants. Late season white berries replace them.  May Apple Wayside Gardens does not offer wild collected trillium plants. These are cloned from tissue cultures. The wildlings stay where they belong. If you are hankering for a shade garden, but want one on a budget, Park Seed has the answers. Their Bio Dome seed starter kit is a breeze to use. In addition, it will be ready to fulfill growing pains for many years to come. (Check out the blog at http://popupgardens.typepad.com/ for a quick review of a new Bio Dome user.)  Tiarella
Who can resist the springtime flowers of aquilegia? The long red spurs of Aquilegia caerula ‘Red Star’ will naturalize over time if you plant it on the edge of your woodland, where it will get a bit of sun. The plumes of Astilbe x arendsii are hard to miss in a shady moist location. Park Seed offers these seeds as a mix of colors. Their flowers and ferny foliage remind me of the Victorian gardens of times past. Whether you opt for plants already growing, or seeds to do it yourself, a shady woodland garden is a most pleasant place to be in all seasons. ---Coach Anne, Posted Feb. 11, 2008---
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