Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

We can't guarantee our recommendations will grow, either, but we'll make a best effort. The first thing we would suggest is that you use plants native to Nova Scotia. At the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, we focus on the use and propagation of plants native not only to North America but to the area in which they are being grown. The next suggestion is to select plants adapted to low light. We define less than 2 hours of sun a day as "shade." You need to consider, too, that the construction, soil or exposure of the rock garden might need some changes. This Virginia Cooperative Extension website Rock Gardens has a lot of good information on what you need for a successful garden. 

Because we are not that familiar with gardening in Canada, we went to Northscaping.com for the Interactive Climatic Map for Nova Scotia; when we clicked on Sydney, we learned that you are in Hardiness Zone 5, your average last spring frost is May 6, first fall frost November 6 and you have a typical growing season of 184 days. 

There are plants that will grow in only filtered light or limited full sunlight, and we will go to our Native Plant Database and select some plants that we hope will work for you via a Combination Search for Nova Scotia native plants, selecting on dry soil and shade as Soil Moisture and Light Requirements, respectively. We found 7 herbaceous flowering plants and 2 ferns that fit those requirements. Follow each plant link below to find out about that plant's culture and propagation.

These plants are all commercially available, but if you have difficulty finding them, you can go to our Native Plant Suppliers section, type in your town and province in the "Enter Search Location" box and you will get a list of native plant nurseries, seed suppliers and landscape and environment consultants in your general area. When we tested that, we only got suppliers in Maine, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, which just means no native plants suppliers in Nova Scotia have registered with us yet. However, all those listed in our database have contact information, including websites, and you might be able to get more information from them, or to find a nursery that specializes in native plants in Nova Scotia. 

HERBS (herbaceous flowering plants) for dry shade in Nova Scotia

Aquilegia chrysantha (golden columbine)

Campanula rotundifolia (bluebell bellflower)

Campanula rotundifolia (bluebell bellflower)

Corallorhiza maculata (summer coralroot)

Desmodium canadense (showy ticktrefoil)

Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa (roundlobe hepatica)

Mitchella repens (partridgeberry)

Viola adunca (hookedspur violet)

FERNS

Polypodium virginianum (rock polypody)

Pteridium aquilinum (western brackenfern)

Aquilegia canadensis

Campanula rotundifolia

Corallorhiza maculata

Desmodium canadense

Hepatica nobilis var. obtusa

Mitchella repens

Viola adunca

Polypodium virginianum

Pteridium aquilinum