A website for Garden and Nature lovers! http://www.gardeningcare.co.nr http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Thu, 29 Mar 2007 22:15:44 -0300 Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:07:35 -0300 FeedForAll v2.0 (2.0.2.0) unlicensed version http://www.feedforall.com For someone who delights in a dazzling display of flowers, shady spots have always been a challenge. Sure, I've planted traditional shade-lovers like trillium and jack-in-the-pulpit, but they were too timid, too tiny. Even Lenten roses, which I adore, coyly hide beneath their leaves, requiring a close inspection to appreciate their beauty. What I craved were bright, exuberant, look-at-me blossoms. And I found them. Here's my shady super eight, perennials that put on a show in shade the way others do in sun. Astilbe Almost every catalog touts astilbe as a no-fail shade classic, and for good reason. This striking plant, with its flamboyant, feathery plumes, even looks chic in winter when blooms have faded to a delicate brown. The foliage is equally stunning: large, deeply divided leaves. Better yet, astilbes come in a wide range of heights, from a ground- skimming 6 inches to a soaring 4 feet or more, and in a pleasing palette of white, red, pink and purple flowers. I especially like the white ones (try 'Bridal Veil' at 30 inches or 'Deutschland' at 12 inches); they positively glow in a shady site. Tip: Astilbes are thirsty types, so plant in a spot that stays fairly moist. Coral bells "Full sun to partial shade" is the advisory that usually accompanies a description of Heuchera, but plants in this genus have flourished in a seriously light-challenged border on my property. The fetching sprays of wee flowers hovering over clumps of heart-shaped leaves have spread happily under a canopy of maple leaves as if to prove that sunshine is only a state of mind. My favorites include 'Palace Purple' (18 to 24 inches tall), with bronzy-red leaves and creamy flowers, and 'Lime Rickey', a plant that lives up to its name with startling lime leaves (refreshing in a shade garden) and a cool froth of snowy flowers on 18-inch stems. Tip: Coral Bells have a woody rootstock that seems to want to jump out of the ground, so mulch every year. Bleeding Hearts I don't know what I would do without these plants. I've nestled several white ones beneath a large Japanese maple, others back in the woods, and still more alongside a rock wall that's in shadow most of the day. And all have thrived, tossing out their arching strands of beguiling heart-shaped flowers above lovely lacy foliage. For a sparkling white version, you can't beat Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba', the gold standard of bleeding hearts, which can soar to 4 feet high. I'm particularly fond of D. 'Adrian Bloom' for its carmine flowers, a deeper, richer shade than the familiar pink. That said, if you want pink, D. formosa 'Stuart Boothman', a new introduction from White Flower Farm, has true pink blossoms and gray-green leaves. Tip: For a picturesque image, position the curving stems of bleeding hearts to frame other, smaller plants. Primrose When Shakespeare penned the phrase "primrose path of dalliance," he may have been referring to any one of the 425 species in the Primula family, all of which are notable for their cheery, colorful blossoms. But it is the candelabra primrose, left, with its 2-foot stems holding as many as six tiers of flowers, that dally in the shade at my place. In late May and June they burst into glory in primaries and pastels; the multilayered whorls are a beautiful sight. I've planted 'Postford White' alongside 'Miller's Crimson' to great effect. Tip: To increase established plants, dig rosettes up in early spring, tease apart the roots and replant. Meadow Rue Several years ago I ordered a made-for-the-shade collection and fell madly in love with Meadow Rue (Thalictrum), an airy confection with fluffy bunches of pinky-purple flowers. I started with two teeny-weeny specimens; by the second spring they were almost 3 feet tall and just as wide. T. aquilegiifolium 'Purple Cloud was the name, and its sibling 'White Cloud' is as arresting. I've recently discovered a taller variety, T. rochebruneanum 'Lavender Mist', which can grow to 6 feet. It's so filmy that I can position it at the front of a bed and it won't block smaller plants. Tip: Meadow rue stems are fairly fragile, so tuck among sturdier brethren that can prop them up. Geranium I don't mean those flamboyant annuals of window box and hanging-basket fame (those are actually Pelargoniums). A true geranium or cranesbill has attractive maple-like leaves and demure but decorative five-petaled blooms. I've learned the hard way that certain species crave light, but G. phaeum flourishes in the shade of my pump house. Most varieties have maroon, magenta or mauve flowers, hence the English folk name Mourning Widow. Order purple 'Muldoon' and burgundy 'Samobor' from Digging Dog Nursery. Tip: Deadheading will encourage more flowers; pinch off any old leaves, too, to spur production of new ones. Foam Flower When a neighbor first recommended the native woodland plant Foam Flower (Tiarella cordifolia), I was unimpressed. I bought a couple, plunked them in the ground and, as if sensing my lack of enthusiasm, one withered within a month and the other barely survived. But the following spring they came back strong and proud, displaying their maple-shaped leaves and fluffy bottlebrush flowers with a determined flourish. I immediately bought four more and have been adding others ever since. Plant Delights Nursery, a renowned mail- order source, offers some spectacular specimens. My own list includes 'Iron Butterfly' for its fragrant white flowers and distinctive black-striped leaves, as well as 'Pink Skyrocket', with 12-inch spiky pink blossoms over shiny foliage. Tip: For the most impact, plant in groups of at least three or more; I usually do five. Beyond Rhododendrons Every garden needs good shrubs to give it presence, and rhododendrons and azaleas are excellent choices for light-deprived areas. But my pick for a top-notch shade shrub is the often-overlooked Pieris japonica. Sometimes mistakenly called Andromeda, this winner has dark evergreen leaves about 3 inches long and dense clusters of waxy, lily-of-the-valley-type flowers in spring. What makes it particularly special is that the new foliage is bronze or pink or red, resulting in a lush technicolor allure. 'Valley Valentine', a compact 4-foot mound, displays dark dusky red flowers, while 'La Rocaille', from Roslyn Nursery, reaches a height of 6 feet and has spectacular 12-inch-long tassels of white blossoms. Nurseries: White Flower Farm, P.O. Box 50, Route 63, Litchfield, CT 06759, 800-503-9624, www.whiteflowerfarm.com Digging Dog Nursery, P.O. Box 471, Albion, CA 95410, 707-937-1130, www.diggingdog.com Plant Delights Nursery (mail order and web only), 919-772-4794, www.plantdelights.com Roslyn Nursery, 211 Burrs Lane, Dix Hills, New York 11746, 631-643-9347, www.roslynnursery.com http://gardeningcare.110mb.com/news/newsindex.php?action=article&news_id=23 7C6BFB3F-13EE-40F1-8AF6-E3B1EB71FA62 Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:07:35 -0300