Asphodeline lutea, king's spear or yellow asphodel, has tall, vertical spikesof fragrant, yellow, lily-like flowers.

Asplenium scolopendrium 'Cristatum' makes a beautiful specimen with shiny, evergreen, tongue-like fronds with a crested tip.

Asplenium trichomanes is a darling native fern that is incredibly tough with pure black stipes and bright green fronds.

Aster subspicatus (Symphyotrichum subspicatum) has lovely lavender flowers with narrow petals around yellow centres.

Aster ericoides 'Snow Flurry' is a cold hardy heather aster with masses of late season nectar-rich white flowers.

Aster Island 'Bahamas' offers deep hot pink flowers with bright yellow centres.

Aster Island 'Barbados' has late season light purple flowers and bright yellow centres.

Aster 'Lady in Black' forms tall stems clad in burgundy foliage that erupt with hundreds of small white and pink flowers in fall.

Aster novae-angliae 'Grape Crush' is a New England aster with purple flowers with orange eyes.

Aster x frikartii 'Monch' is one of the best of all asters with a long season from summer to fall of bluish lavender flowers.

'Chocolate Shogun' is an Astilbe with a difference: clumps of fern-like, chocolate-coloured foliage with upright, plumes of pale pink flowers.

'Dark Side of the Moon' is a unique Astilbe with dark foliage and purple flowers that bloom in late summer.

'Beauty of Ernst' Color Flash is an Astilbe with an ever-changing foliage display topped with pink flowers in summer.

Astilboides tabularis is one of the best of all foliage plants for a dramatic focal point in the shade.

Astrantia major 'Hadspen Blood' is a masterwort with rich, deep pinkish red flowers that last for months.

Astrantia major 'Ruby Wedding' is a fabulous boldly coloured masterwort with rich ruby red umbels.

Astrantia major 'Sparkling Stars Pink' forms clumps of palmate foliage topped with intriguing, bicolour pink and cream flowers.

Astrantia major 'Sparkling Stars Red' forms clumps of palmate foliage topped with intriguing red-maroon and white flowers.

Astrantia 'Star of Beauty' forms clumps of dark green foliage topped with branching stems of intriguing, deep pinkish red flowers.

Astrantia major 'Vanilla Gorilla' is a great masterwort for foliage and flowers with variegated leaves and pink umbels.

Athyrium 'Godzilla' is a giant Japanese painted fern growing 3 feet tall by 6 feet wide! Your shade garden will never be the same.

The lady fern, Athyrium filix-femina, is a beautiful and elegant native fern with pale green deciduous fronds.

Athyrium niponicum 'Aubergine Lady' is a Japanese painted fern with green fronds maturing to deep purple-black.

Athyrium niponicum 'Burgundy Lace' is a top notch Japanese painted fern flushed with beautiful purple-pink tones on silver blades.

Athyrium niponicum 'Crested Surf' is a Japanese painted fern with lacey, silver-green fronds and red stems with double crested tips.

Athyrium 'Pearly White' is a Japanese painted fern with silvery-grey fronds with each leaflet centred with silver-white.

Azorella trifurcata 'Nana', the cushion bolax, has shiny, plastic-like feathery foliage and tiny yellow flowers in summer.

Baptisia 'Lunar Eclipse' is an exciting cultivar with shrub sized plants and lupine-like flowers that age from cream to lavender-blue.

Begonia grandis 'Heron's Pirouette' is a hardy, fall-blooming hardy begonia with bright pink flowers in larger clusters.

The hardy Begonia grandis 'Alba' has light green, textured foliage with red-veined reverses and ivory white flowers in fall.