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Posted: Apr/29/2006 3:46 AM PST
Here's a thread just for lovers of gardening in the shade. Bring your questions here.....Ahhh, how peaceful it is in the shade! I am fascinated by shade and woodland plants! I have packed quite a few plants into my small shade garden. I have several hostas and ferns, two hardy fuchsias, a white and a pink bleeding heart, astilbes, toad lilies, variegated Solomon's Seal, merrybells, a rhodie, masterwort, heuchera, lily-of-the-valley, lady's mantel, and a purple cimicifuga. Sigh. I need more! |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 3:49 AM PST
how about a Jack Frost brunnera? 
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 3:54 AM PST
I don't have one of those yet, Foz. Do you? I went out and got the variegated Solomon's Seal after seeing it paired with the Jack Frost at a relative's house. (See pic) Don't Jack and Solomon make a handsome couple? Attachments:  |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 3:56 AM PST
I enjoy the variety of shade plants as well...(Zone 5)........You didn't mention begonias or impatiens.. are they hardy in your zone?.. .Mandrake (Mayapple) and Wild Ginger go well in the shade..WIld Ginger has the attraction of having a brown flower that blooms on the ground...and Mandrake has a curious lifestyle....It lives for 7 years....It looks like a lush parasol, about 10" high, and has a white flower that dangles under it....and they grow in nice tidy colonies..very attractive......... usually about 6x9 ft.........they can take a little sun..but its sex life is curious:..two years its a male plant, then turns into a female and produces the flowers, then it reverts to being a male plant its last year and then its gone..but there are other babies coming along, so the colony gets better and better..I like mine with Spanish bluebells, and Amsonia..(both light blue)........My astilbe isn't happy however...it only gets a foot tall and its not a sturdy plant.....any ideas? |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 4:06 AM PST
My astilbe looks very happy. It's right against the house so it gets full afternoon shade. I also keep that garden moist. I have a dwarf astilbe that gets a lot of sun and that does well too. But I baby them with the water too. The astilbes of my SO's parents have been featured in Sunset magazine. She uses lots of compost when she plants and divides them. Here are some of her astilbes. Attachments:  |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 10:29 AM PST
More pictures of shade gardens !!! swindyi |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 11:22 AM PST
I love corydalis, mertensia(virginia blue bells), and Arum in my shade gardens. I do love all of the Brunneras that are out now too. Also, I can never have too many Hostas. My favorite hosta is June. I will attach some pictures with any luck. Attachments:  |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 2:59 PM PST
I like shade gardens too, and would like to get going on mine this summer (as I have every summer for the past four years ).I find that my [URL="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v739/RIII/ Picture074.jpg"]columbine[/URL] thrive in the shade - not dense, but with only about 1-2 hours of dappled sun in the evening when the sun is in the north. I also have violets, sweet woodruff, pulminaria, woodland anenomes (hardy to zone 3), as well as the above mentioned Soloman's seal, bleeding hearts, and hostas. I'd like to add a toad lily, snakeroot/bugbane, and astilbe. At my old house I had a hepatica, which I loved, but it got left behind. The current garden is just there because I needed a spot to plant my shade plants when I moved in, and I haven't done much to it. I do plan on digging the whole thing up and building a small raised bed and layering the garden there. At least that's the plan. :o Edit: Wow - nice pics Ron, Jade and Sweetlebee |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 3:06 PM PST
A couple of questions. I love corydalis too but I haven't had much luck with it. Does it need deep shade? I also read that it does well along foundations, possibly because the cement leaches into the soil (probably makes the soil alkaline). Does anyone know about this? Ron, I have my Japanese anemone in the sun! Should I move it? I forgot to mention I have foxgloves in my garden too. They were given to me last spring. One put out a flower--it's the yellow foxglove--but they didn't really grow. This spring I moved it from dry shade to moist shade. Are foxgloves finicky? What's good for dry shade under trees? I'd like to start filling in under my birches. Does anyone have shrubs under their trees? I love the look of a skirt of shrubs under trees, but I don't know how to go about it! After seeing what everyone else has, I need to create more shade! We planted a Japanese maple last month, but it's a slow grower. Might be 5 years before it gives me enough shade to play in. |
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Posted: Apr/29/2006 4:57 PM PST
Everyones plants are so beautiful. some of them I didnt know could go outside. are the perennials? I cannot wait to have a garden of my own. Im getting so many ideas |
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