Aquilegia with ferns: Aquilegia vulgaris, Dryopteris wallichiana and Paeonia 'Late Windflower'
In the dappled light of the woodland, the divided leaves of this deciduous fern are "spotlit" by the sun, emphasising their strong architectural form and scaly stems of near black.
Grounded by a sprinkling of self-seeded aquilegias in the foreground, the composition is obliquely balanced by the large single white flowers of the woodland peony, which glow from the darkness.
Follow with the tall spires of violet monkshood (try Aconitum 'Spark's Variety', which flowers June to August) and the delicately speckled toad lily, Tricyrtis 'Dark Beauty' (August to October), to provide colour in this naturalistic planting right through until winter.
