"What can I add to my new shade garden – that is, besides hostas and ferns?" my cousin asked last week, after showing me this hidden retreat she just carved out of the woods in her back yard:
She had already gotten creative with a corner planter box of bamboo:
And this large-leaved guy she said was elephant ears (colocasia), but I'm not so sure (anyone know?):
And so started my latest obsession: finding ways to funkify that ho-hum shade garden. I hit the garden centers, talked to some gardening friends and read some recent articles on the topic. Here are some of the tricks I learned:
1) Bring on the begonias
As noted in a number of recent articles (like this shade gardening plants story at Canada.com), tuberous begonias can add brightly colored blooms to the shade all season long. (Indeed, my Bonfire® begonia (below) lights up my shady front yard like fireworks in the night sky). And in cold-climate gardens like mine (Zone 6a), it can be overwintered indoors.
Or, you can forget the flowers and go for the colorful foliage of rex begonias, which can take part- to deep shade. (Here are a few pics I took at the Garden Factory in Gates, NY, although Logee's has a great Web site where you can buy or just explore the wide variety of funky foliage offered by rex begonias):
2) Try the "Three Hs"
That stands for hakenochloa, heuchera and hellebores – three shade lovers that give you your money's worth in the shade. Below are pics I took of these lovelies at Bristol's Garden Center in Victor, NY.
Hakonochloa, or Japanese Forest Grass (below) is hardy in Zones 5 through 8 and the yellow-green variety is especially great for brightening up dark spots:
Heuchera (coral bells, below – my apologies if some of these are tiarellas or heucherellas – I sometimes get them mixed up), has been the darling of shade gardeners and foliage lovers for at least a decade now, with its shades of amber, lime, purple, burgundy black and more:
Then, of course, you can't leave out hellebores (who could, anyway, with a Perennial Plant of the Year designation in 2005, shiny, (mostly) evergreen foliage, a broad spectrum of bloom colors (including white, yellow, burgundy, pink and even black), late-winter/early spring blooms and an adaptability to a wide variety of climates and conditions, including shade?). This here is the beautiful 'Green Corsican' early-spring bloomer from the Helleborus Gold Collection.
(For unmatched variety when it comes to hellebores, by the way, be sure to visit Sunshine Farm and Gardens. I once sat, mesmerized, all the way through a talk by its irreverent, tie-dyed shirt owner, Barry Glick. He's passionate about hellebores and a really funny guy … he and Plant Delights owner Tony Avent should get together and go bowling).
3) Funkify your foliage
Many tried-and-true shade or woodland plants now offer colorful or variegated foliage that's a new twist on an old favorite.
Here, for instance, is ColorFlash® Astilbe (burgundy and purple leaves) and ColorFlash Lime:
“I got my greedy little hands on ColorFlash Lime,” wrote “bloomingwriter” blogger in a May 29, 2010 post, “Focusing on Foliage (mostly).”
And About.com Gardening Guide just called ColorFlash astilbes “a personal favorite of mine” in a May 21, 2010 post on bromeliads.
“As if astilbes weren't wonderful enough, with their lacy foliage, colorful, long-lasting flower plumes and minimal maintenance needs, ColorFlash Lime has added a whole new dimension,” she wrote in an earlier post, “ColorFlash Lime Astilbe: A Perfect Plant Made Even Better.”
“Two-tone gold /lime leaves are edged with a slightly darker lime border. This burst of sunshine works well as an accent plant, particularly in partially shaded borders. Paired with its pink feather duster flowers, it commands the eye.”
Variegated-white varieties of tried-and-true shade plants are also a way to brighten up dark areas. Here are just two of the many variegated shade perennials I found while browsing through Bristol's:
Variegated pachysandra (a little bit classier, in my opinion, than the overused, plain-green pachysandra everyone had at their tract houses when I was growing up in the '70s):
Variegated Solomon's Seal:
4) Add tropicals or houseplants
As I mentioned in my previous post about using tropicals in the garden, houseplants (many of which actually thrive in low-light conditions) are a great way to jazz up the shade garden.
"Nearly all indoor foliage plants will benefit from outdoor growing conditions if they are protected from the hot midday sun, in such locations as a spot under a tree or on the north side of a house," says University of Minnesota extension agent Deborah L. Brown in her article, "Gardening in the Shade." Pots may be sunk into the soil to conserve moisture, she writes, "but with frequent watering they also could be set right on the soil surface, an ideal way to make use of those shade areas that are compacted with tree roots."
Some houseplants with fabulous foliage that I'd love to try include croton, bromeliads, tradescantia (Wandering Jew or spiderwort), triostar stromanthe and elephant ear (alocasia).
Tradescantia (the purple stuff):
Croton (the rainbow-colored ones):
Triostar stromanthe (image courtesy Monrovia):
Bromeliad:
Elephant ear (alocasia):
5) Sneak in some "throwaway annuals"
"Annuals work well, except in dense shade," says Brown (see "Gardening in the Shade" article above). "Browallias, coleus, wax begonias, dwarf salvias, and other shade-tolerant annuals will begin blooming soon after frost danger is past if you start with robust young bedding plants."
Browallia (image courtesy EM Canada):
Well, that's enough for now. There are so many options I have to split this post into two parts. Look for the next five tips next week! And please let me know if you have any great suggestions for beyond-the-ordinary shade garden plants!
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