| Garden Care home >
Garden Care Info Center > Shedding a favorable light on gardening in the shade
Shedding a favorable light on gardening in the shade
 As
the years go by, I get older and wiser. And each year, I learn new
things. You might say I'm a hard learner.
I have always believed that sun gardening was the best way. That
was until lately.
Recently, I have been introduced to several wonderful shade gardeners.
It seems that they are teaching me. Sure, sun gardening allows more
choices, more texture and more flowers. But when I compare the plants
in the sun garden to those in the shade garden, the difference is
incredible.
Shade does not stress out the plants. They seem luminous. Silvers
and whites really stand out. Plants in a shade garden that are given
plenty of water are luscious and lovely. I am beginning to prefer
the shade plants to the crispy-fried sun plants.
I have a large shade bed in the middle of my front lawn. I am learning
how to make it into a great shade bed. Several years ago, I was
interviewing a wonderful gardener in Columbia. Her front bed was
in complete shade. It was an eye-catching combination and she knew
how to pack the bed full of plants. In this bed, in the back, were
about 30 lady ferns. The front of the bed was filled with hundreds
of white impatiens. Finally, coming up through the white impatiens
were
Persian Shields, weaving their way through. This made a dazzling
combination.
The lady fern is a perennial but not an evergreen. This leads me
to suggest a tassel fern, because it is evergreen. Anytime you plant
a fern, you need a lot of them to make an impact. If you are nervous
about planting 30 ferns, which disappear during the winter, change
the combination and use tassel fern, which will stay green throughout
the year. The impatiens probably will reseed effectively. Persian
Shield is an annual with a wonderful purple color.
Another plant that makes a big impact in the shade garden is a
windmill palm tree. My friend Dianne Nodine has shown me how to
use them effectively in the shade garden. I never would have thought
to plant a windmill palm tree, but I must say I love the way it
looks. It is unexpected and provides great texture.
My friend Stan Parker has a large shade garden in the back of his
property. Stan has mastered the art of using the fern by planting
some nice, silver Japanese painted ferns. He has also planted a
large number of hydrangeas, grouping them together to form living
walls. When gardening in shade conditions, you have tall trees forming
the ceiling. But there are many opportunities to plant second-story
trees. This makes the environment seem more intimate and cozy. Stan
has planted a group of forest pansy trees in a large U-shape, forming
a wonderful setting alive with color, as the leaves of the forest
pansy redbud are a wonderful shade of plum or purple.
Another color that really works in the shade is silver. A lot of
the Japanese painted ferns have wonderful silver fronds, and recently
there are a lot of new painted ferns with color accents, such as
Ursula's Red. This is a Japanese painted that has wine-red coloring
on the undersides of the leaves. Other color-tinted ferns are 'Silver
Falls' and 'Burgundy Lace.'
Other silver plants that can be used in the shade include some
of lamiums, ajugas, begonias, cyclamen, Solomon's seal and brunnera.
The use of these plants will allow you to create silver highlights
in the darkest places. Another great silver plant is Pulmonaria
'Excalibur.' This plant produces small flowers early in the season,
but you really grow pulmonarias for the leaf textures. The silver
tones increase as the season develops, creating a luminous mound
of silver leaves. Don't forget to use many of these plants together
to create a big effect.
If you love the color silver in your garden, check out "Elegant
Silvers" by Joann Gardner and Karen Bussolini. This is a must-have
book that will help you introduce silver into your garden. It is
beneficial for anyone, not just shade gardeners. I love the chapter
on designing with silvers. The plant lists, such as "Beautiful
Silvers for Tough Places," really help. Did you know the plant
Artemisia is a deer-resistant silver plant? The book is published
by Timber Press and sells for $34.95 -- well worth it.
Finally, let me say that as a gardener, I am always changing. I
love cutting my full sun roses, but lately, I am really enjoying
the cool enticement of the shade garden. The colors you can weave
together are wonderful. Most shade gardeners complain about there
not being enough choices. This might be true, but if you dig a little
deeper, you can discover all sorts of plants to "light up"
the shade.
Linda Cobb is a master gardener who lectures, teaches and does
garden design in South Carolina. Contact her at (864) 574-8493 or
at lindacobb@charter.net. Visit her Web site at www.mygardenersguide.com.
http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060718/NEWS/607180306/1028/LIFE
|
