Hi James, I have irises doing well under black walnut, and lots of daylilies (Hemerocallis) in beds under Black Walnut. Try also the hardy Gladiolus like byzantinus, illyricus, italicus, and imbricatus. I also suggest trying Lycoris as preached by Jim Waddick! I don't have any under walnuts, however, so I don't know if they are affected by the secreted alkaloids. There is a huge long list of things you can try: Arisaema, Anemone, Anemonella thalictroides; Brodiaea californica; Claytonia virginica; Corydalis solida; Dicentra canadensis, D. cucullaria, and D. spectabilis; Dichelostemma congestum; Erythronium of all sorts; Fritillaria meleagris; Galanthus elwesii, nivalis, and woronowii; countless types of Narcissus (I have some in a bed under a black walnut); Polygonatum biflorum, P. odoratum variegatum; Sternbergia lutea; Triteleia ixiodes scabra, laxa 'Queen Fabiola', bridgesii; Trillium species of all sorts. I would not bother with tulips or Dutch hyacinths. Jim Shields in central Indiana At 09:36 PM 9/8/2003 -0400, you wrote: >Ok, so I now have this 10 x 30 foot section of yard, see -- I covered it >with newspaper and a solid 3-4 inches of cypress mulch about a month and a >half ago so any weeds or grass growing there is pretty much history. :) > >There's a nice sized crabapple in the middle of the bed as well as ample >trees in the yard that shade the area well (all deciduous by the way -- a >redbud, black walnut, couple of maples). I have a couple of roses along the >back edge (big white stone wall that is a foundation for the neighbor's >house) and peonies come up in the center strip, but that's it -- nothing >else grows in this area right now. > >My goal, my mission in life -- to fill the area with bulbs. :) Here's the >catch -- in late winter and early spring, this area gets lots of sun >starting with mid to late afternoon. By mid spring when everything has >leafed out it gets less but still does ok -- by late spring when the black >walnut leafs out it will get dappled afternoon sun and that's it. By late >summer the pattern begins to reverse itself as the black walnut loses its >leaves (to give an idea, the tree is pretty much bare already). > >I would like to come up with a planting scheme that will give me a variety >of interest in this bed. Some early bloomers through to late bloomers. >I've no problem with foliage (I plan on putting some hosta in there as well) >but I'd really like to see something that will attract butterflies, give >some much needed color, and so forth. > >The full 30' back of the bed is bordered by my neighbor's stone wall >foundation. This is further painted white. The entire front yard is in and >of itself a microclime but this wall adds to that effect for the obvious >reasons and will benefit the bed. > >So, I'm looking for some suggestions on what to put in the bed and how to >arrange them. We're in USDA Plant Hardiness Zone 6A, SW Ohio -- average >winter temps get down to right about zero with an occasional negative dip as >low as -10. > >James ************************************************* Jim Shields USDA Zone 5 Shields Gardens, Ltd. P.O. Box 92 WWW: http://www.shieldsgardens.com/ Westfield, Indiana 46074, USA Tel. ++1-317-867-3344 or toll-free 1-866-449-3344 in USA Member of INTERNATIONAL CLIVIA CO-OP