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Comments on shade perennials
In article , Suja
wrote: Before I actually order these plants and put them in the ground, I need a reality check from those who have actual experience with them. I am putting in a shade bed in front of the house (North facing, with morning sun in the summer), and this is my short list of the plants I'm planning on getting. The soil is clay (but amended), zone 6b/7a, Northern VA. If I have left out anything that is a MUST HAVE for a shade garden (no hostas please, deer problem; much as I'd love to have Brunnera 'Jack Frost', I can't afford it right now), please let me know. Short Epimedium Sulphureum Always lovely, evergreen in zone 8 though scruffy by winter's end, I suppose it would die back in zone 6. Photo of its leaves in one of the prettiest moments on this page: http://www.paghat.com/epimedium.html Heuchera 'Persian Carpet' Don't recognize the specific cultivar but heucheras tend to need more sun than shade. But are adaptable & will tolerate shade, though may remain mediocre plants the first two years taking longer to establish good root system, but thereafter can have spectacular leaf traits seasonally changing colors -- minor for bloom usually though some cultivars' tall spray of teency blooms are bright pink so have a bit more presence. Dicentra Exima 'Snowdrift' Hardier than the dickens & easily spread themselves about. Ideal shade plants but also do well in considerable light, so can be put anywhere. Long bloom period right up to winter then brief period of die-back. Doesn't die back in summer unless in a sunny dry location, where it can be surprisingly drought hardy even so & will return with autumn rains. I've a page for it he http://www.paghat.com/dicentraeximia.html Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum' Easy to establish, extremely cold-hardy, unique blue-green leaves make it a high fern choice, though the deeper the shade the less bluishness to the color so it needs a bit of light to look unique. Of the many ferns in my gardens, though, the hands-down favorite is Polystichum polyblepharum, Japanese Tassel Fern. In my zone (8) it is fully evergreen; it thrives down to zone 6 without even stretching the point, but I don't know whether or not it would have the same sure winter presence. Even without the strong evergreen quality, though, it is just a beautiful-beautiful fern, deepest shiny green, & when it has the young leaf "tassels," oooo. Here's my page for it: http://www.paghat.com/tasselfern.html Missing from your fuller list are any corydalises. Many of them do spectacularly in your zone & are as lively as Dicentra exima with even odder bright long-lasting blooms. But off the top of my head I can only think of ones for my zone 8, but you should look up ones that do well for your zone. I presently have four corydalis species plus cultivars within species -- & won't hesitate to add others. For a shade guarden I put them WAY ahead of heucheras, tiarellas, dicentras. One that does well in my garden but is actually more appropriate for your zone is C. lutea shown he http://www.paghat.com/corydalisyellow.html Two superb short evergreen shrubs for shade are wintergreen & lingonberry, your zone would suit them excellently. Wintergreen flowers & berries are best in considerable shade (I have a long patch that starts in deep shade, ends in morning sun, & the morning sun end has remained comparatively stunted while the stuff in shade has spread & grown a great deal). Wintergreen is slow spread at first, especially if you start with 4" pots of it, but once established, a lush little groundcover with great seasonal leaf colorations, small white bell-flowers, & large bright edible berries. My page for it is he http://www.paghat.com/wintergreen.html By comparison Lingonberry establishes very quickly & spreads considerably, except the ultra-dwarf kind that stays an inch or two tall, that one seems to spread awfully slowly, but the foot-tall ones spread fast. They flower twice a year; they don't berry as well in deep shade so need light shade. Both of these shade evergreens are ultra cold hardy with year-round presence, so when the majority of things you've listed have died back, there's still these little berry-bright evergreens going gung ho. Page for it he http://www.paghat.com/lingonberry.html Shade gardening is just the most fun. I do a lot of sun-gardening at the fringe of the property, but the interior gardens & walk-throughs are under trees & tall shrubs & just so comfortable to wander amidst. Spring through autumn it is massively densely green & flowery, but I've enough winter-oriented things that it is even great right now -- the Cyclamen coums are blooming right this minute (other cyclamens bloomed earlier in winter or late autumn), & hellebores are at the beginning of full bloom (these blooms last & last & last), the final snowberries are still on the branches though most have fallen to the ground by now, the wintergreen is ultra-colorful, & Corydalis flexusa which died back late in summer grew back gorgeously in autumn & is still a vibrant ferny-leafed presence for the height of winter. So though the dicentras & some other corydalis species & some few of the ferns & suchlike died to the ground, there's still enough lively plant presence that it is by no means moribund in winter. Plus the larger deciduous vines & shrubs pretty much across the board have excellent shapes & barks for winter. I worry a bit about my partner insisting we move to zone 5/6 where I wouldn't be able to garden year-round, but even there choices can be made that provide winter beauty rather than complete die-back of everything in the shade -- & if I lived in a place with a long period of snow, there are a few things I'd plant all over the place that don't live in zone 8, such as terrestrial orchids, most of which want a three our four month dormancy under snow, which my zone just cannot naturally provide (though I'm going to try Yellow Lady Slipper anyway, the most adaptable in a purely temperate area). -paghat the ratgirl -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
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