Frankie Flowers Fast Five: Top Five Plants for Shade

Adapted from the quickest of segments on CityLine, Frankie Flowers (aka Frank Ferragine) spotlighted five plants (perennials) ideal for the shady areas in your garden.  The commentary and photos (unless stated otherwise) here are my own.   "Frankie Flowers' Fast Five Top Five Plants for the Shade" are Heuchera, Helleborus, Hosta, Fern, and Pachysandra.  Read on and you'll see why gardeners everywhere favour these shade lovers.

Heuchera Palace Purple growing in the front bed (above and below)

Flanking this Heuchera on both sides are Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon Meadia) sometimes known as Prairie Pointers.  Behind and to the left is Astilbe.

Heuchera (aka Coral Bells)

How I love this little beauty!  There is such a wide variety of foliage colours and form available but they are all clumping in style.  Ranging form purple as in Palace Purple to deep purple in Obsidian, to marmalade and oranges.  I found Palace Purple does best in shade, turning an unsightly shade of brown in the sun.  Marmalade and other more colourful varieties do fine in sun.  Don't plant this gem in full hot dry sun though, it mustn't be allowed dry out, and it will reward you with the most dazzling foliage.  Its blooms are light airy sprigs that rise high above the foliage, with minute blossoms in white or pink scattered along the stems.

Lenten Rose Helleborus

The Lenten Rose/Helleborus flowers early spring in most areas.  In zone 3, though, it may flower later in the season due to late springs here.  It has a lovely nodding bloom, generally facing downwards, varying in colour from monochromatic to rose coloured.  A pretty little thing, it is poisonous to pets and people. (this photo is stock photo from the internet) 

Hostas along the side of my house.  They love it in this location.  The hostas nearest is Francie.

Hostas

There are so many varieties of hosta available, with new introductions hitting the market each year.  One may select from solid greens and blues (shade only for these), to variegated forms.  I have several variegated forms growing at the side of the house, seen above, and two varieties (Francie and Frances Williams) growing in the bed at the front of the house.  In the back garden, facing east, I am growing two newer introductions which are pale green with a white edge.  These do fine in shade/part sun and will flower with long shoots of lavender or white blossoms.  Hostas are grown for their foliage, though, with many people removing the flowers as they are not so dramatic. The only problem one may encounter is slugs. You may combat this using diatomaceous earth which has minuscule granules of glass mixed in.  It won't hurt pets nor children, but slugs hate it.

Ostrich fern.  Also in this bed are astilbe (left of fern), Hostas, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and not seen in this photo are Shooting Stars, and Heucheras,  Palace Purple and Plum Pudding.

Fern

There are several varieties of fern available on the market including the ostrich fern (aka fiddle-head fern), shown above.  I've also tried the Arctic fern, and it overwintered fine for a few years and then didn't show up last year at all.  Lady fern is a nice alternative for zone 3 gardens.  It grows 24-36 inches tall, compared to the eventual perspective height of ostrich fern of 3-4 feet.  Ferns like a moist soil and do well in shade.  Some will tolerate a bit of sun if the soil is kept very moist.  The ostrich fern is otherwise known as a fiddle-head fern.  When young the shoots are spiralled as they emerge and it is this spiral form of the fern that may be steamed and eaten.  

http://www.ijsselstein.groei.nl/index.php?id=25317

Pachysandra terminalus

Pachysandra forms a dense spreading ground cover which is ideal under trees where nothing seems to grow.  It has glossy green leaves with small white flowers.  Be sure to keep this plant in check though as it is a spreader.

These are five suggested plants for the shade garden.  I really wish I had more shade in mine as I just love the variety of plants that love the shade.  After visiting Shuswap Lake in British Columbia, and hiking through the most gorgeous lush forests, I endeavoured to mimic some of the feel of the forested undergrowth in my shade garden.  I've included Dwarf Alberta Spruce, astilbe (I love the fine teethed edged varieties), shooting stars, heuchera, ostrich ferns and hostas.  Really, only the astilbe and the ferns resemble the forest undergrowth but the other plants just look so good together and I love them all.  If only it were a larger area....

Have you mimicked a garden or natural habitat in your own garden?  I'd love to know how you did it and what plants you incorporated and/or substituted to achieve the effect.

For more information on shade gardening, please visit my posts Made in the Shade, Who Says Hostas Are Only for the Shade?, Planting for Shade, Fuchsia - Shade Plant Extraordinaire.

Til next time, good gardening everyone!

Made in the Shade

Hostas look lovely in planters

The shade garden

Hostas, heuchera, ferns and astilbe

The soon-to-be flower of Francis Williams Hosta

Shooting Star

I love the juxtaposition of burgundy heuchera and the green of ferns, juniper, Alberta Spruce, and astilbe with a touch of pink in the flower of shooting star.

The heat of the last week or so has made me truly appreciate the shade!

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Pushing the Limits

We all know someone who likes to push the limits.  They like to see how far they can go without consequences.  However, I am not talking about people in this article.  I am talking about pushing zonal limits.  Did you know that in some cases, plants have not been tried beyond the zone listed on their tag?  Environment Canada began a study a few years back wherein they asked for volunteers throughout the country to try plants of their choice that were rated beyond their zone.  They were to record how the plant fared.  One goal in this was to determine if the zone map for Canada needed to be changed due to climatic changes.

I did not formally take part in this study but I have tried a few plants within my own garden rated a zone 4 and found them successful.  For example, barberry.  I have 3 Rose Glow Barberries (berberis), one Golden Nugget Barberry and another whose tag has long since disappeared but it is a dwarf yellow variety.  All those planted within my back yard do great with very little dieback.  The two Rose Glow Barberries in the front are a bit more exposed to the elements and had more dieback this past winter than the previous three years.  They are recovering quite nicely though.

Endless Summer Hydrangea is a zone 4.  It dies back to the ground for me every year despite mulching and burlapping.  Each year I hope for a long summer so it will have a chance to bloom.  Thank goodness it blooms on new wood as well as old.

Black Lace Elder (sambucus nigra) is another zone 4 in my garden.   It is in a very sheltered location close to the house but it dies back each year.  A quick grower, it regains its height and more in any given year.  Incidentally, this elder has never flowered for me.  Perhaps this is the year.

A neighbour grows a Crimson King Maple (acer platanoides Crimson) in his front yard.  It is fully exposed to all elements and does die back a bit after a bad winter but comes back in full glory.  It is a beautiful variation of maple with large crimson leaves which intensify in the fall.  A Norway Maple, it is absolutely stunning!!


I tried a Japanese Maple overwintered in the garden one year.  It is a zone 5 but no amount of mulch and burlap could save it its first winter.  Don't bother trying to overwinter it in your house.  Powdery mildew is a major obstacle here. 

I had customers who grew Cherry trees with great success.  I am not talking Evans Cherry or North Star (zone 2) which are both hardy here.  I mean a tree similar to the Bing Cherry with sweet fruit.  A lot of labour went into protecting one particular gentleman's tree.  He built a wooden raised bed.  Planted the cherry deep.  And in the fall he cut styrofoam sheets to fit in the bed around the trunk to insulate the roots.  I think he may have even mulched on top of that!  He swears it works!  Part of the key to success here too is watering well into the fall to create a proverbial block of ice around the roots.  This helps irrigate as the ground thaws and assists in protecting the plant from the upheaval of the soil during the freeze and thaw sessions every spring.

Many perennials can be grown successfully in a "lower" zone.  Here you have the advantage of the ease with which you can mulch a bed of perennials.  Water well into the fall too.  I have grown heucheras successfully for years in zone 3 that were rated zone 4.  This last winter I lost a few but have a few seedlings that self-sowed to replace them.  Try Palace Purple Heuchera (coral bell).  



Another is Astilbe.  I've grown Bridal Veil, a white one, rated zone 4, in the shade for at least eight years with success.

You might try the evergrowing variety of Echinacea such as Double Decker, Razzmataz, Harvest Moon or White Swan (all zone 4).  They don't like a heavy clay soil or wet feet.  Supply a well-drained soil and they will respond accordingly.  Especially important, be sure they are not planted where puddles form in the spring as snow melts.  Be courageous, and give a new plant a try.  You just never know.

Have you success stories in pushing zonal boundaries?  Let me know in "comments" please.  I'd love to hear about it!!