paghat wrote:
In article , "Paulo"
wrote:
I am looking to plant somethin in containers 50' diam X 50' deep.
Location is shaded, beside a glass wall facing south to the lake,
this location is like a protected gallery without any winter
heating. I was thinking some hostas but i would like also
something flowering. Do you think a hydrangea can make it there? I
would like to plant a perennial
Tahnks for any idea
Paulo (Toronto, 5B)
Fifty FOOT containers? Those are some big containers. You don't say
your zone so some of this might not be useful:
Hydrangeas need BRIGHT shade or dappled sunlight to flower well. If
there is any time during the day when it would get SOME bright sun,
hydrangeas might bloom well even if shaded most of the rest of the
day. But generally, in deeper shade they'll have nice foliage only,
& if you get one of the variegated hydrangeas, bright foliage
may be enough, but flowers will be disappointing without some
sunlight. An exception might be oakleaf hydrangea; it'll bloom well
in considerable shade but isn't apt to have such gorgeous autumn
leaf color without sun, though deeper shade oakleaf hygrangeas are
sometimes semi-evergreen in protected spots, so it's all a
trade-off.
The floweriest shade shrub is Camellia sasanqua, but if you're not
in zone 7 or 8, they probably won't do as well.
Old-fashioned bleedinghearts bloom spectacularly in the shade, but
die back in summer. Smaller Dicentra eximia or Dicentra formosa
(native bleeding hearts) do not die back in summer if they remain
moist, bloom fairly well in deep shade but better with indirect
sunlight.
PJM rhodies can bloom in more shade than most rhodies but SOME
sunlight makes it more certain. The rhodies that always bloom well
in shade are the Korean Azalea 'Poukhahense' & a cultivar bred from
it 'Purple Splendor' Azalea (not to be confused with 'Purple
Splendour' a pontus hybrid that wants sun).
Aucuba shrubs get pretty big. Though the flowers are insigifnicant
the leaves are yellow & green & bring light to a dark location. If
you're careful to acquire only one male aucuba with one or moure
female, they'll produce enormous bright red winter berries so very,
very colorful. If you only have one aucuba even if it's female it
won't have berries as it needs a male. Garden centers don't make it
easy to sex them, so get one with berries already on it to be sure
it's female, & for its male partner get the commonly available 'Mr
Goldstrike.'
Another evergreen shrub, Leucothoe, has small white dangly flowers
in winter with quite a fine vanilla scent that is most noticeable
in enclosed planting corridors where the perfume isn't too quickly
dispersed.
A big perennial called rogersia blooms well in considerable shade.
For a front border, hardy cyclamens bloom spectacularly well in
autumn (Cyclamen hederifolium) & winter to early spring (Cyclamen
coum) but die back during late spring & summer. An evergreen for a
front border would be wintergreen, which has small white flowers
& big red berries, quite a nice groundcover mini-shrub for a
shade garden.
Corydalis flexuosa has extremely wonderful fish-shaped blue
flowers, an easy & superior plant for Zone 8 in the shade, but
delicate outside of zone 8.
Possibly the floweriest of all large perennials for deeper shade
would be Japanese anemones, nice foliage then in early autumn
bbursts into spectacular bloom.
-paghat the ratgirl
Paul (Toronto, 5B)
--
Travis in Shoreline (just North of Seattle) Washington
USDA Zone 8
Sunset Zone 5
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