Just joined today and really am looking forward to learning more about gardening. I especially need help in gardening in shade. My yard hardly gets any sun. Any suggestions on perennnials that would do good in shade would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
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butterfly755
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:35 pm
Hi Butterfly,
Welcome to The Helpful Gardener. I'd love to make some suggestions of plants for you, but I don't know where you live. Plants that would be happy in Hawaii wouldn't do well in Montana. It would help to know your state and hardiness zone.
Full sun is 6 hours or more
Part sun is 4 to 6 hours
Part shade is 2 to 4 hours
Shade is 2 hours or less of sun
Let us know and we'll try and help.
Newt
Welcome to The Helpful Gardener. I'd love to make some suggestions of plants for you, but I don't know where you live. Plants that would be happy in Hawaii wouldn't do well in Montana. It would help to know your state and hardiness zone.
Full sun is 6 hours or more
Part sun is 4 to 6 hours
Part shade is 2 to 4 hours
Shade is 2 hours or less of sun
Let us know and we'll try and help.
Newt
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butterfly755
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:35 pm
This list should get you started along with hostas which come in many different sizes and shades of green, blue and yellow.
Heuchera (coral bells) is a wonderful native plant and now comes in an array of leaf colors that will boggle your mind! You can have all kinds of color combos and the hummers like the flowers. You will also see Heucherella at the Terranova site. It's a cross between two natives - Heuchera (coral bells) and Tiarella (foam flower). It's sterile and dosen't produce seeds and doesn't do well in less then pampered conditions. So don't even bother with them.
Another fun native is Tiarella - foam flower. Lots of neat leaves on these too.
Columbine has several cultivars, but the most common one seen in the wild is the native Aquilegia canadensis and it's a red and yellow flower, sometimes called granny's bonnet. It's a short lived perennial but seeds around the garden and isn't invasive. I love mine when it appears in places I'd never thought to plant it. It's easy to pull out where you don't want it. Let the seed heads dry on the plant and harvest the pods as soon as they open. Scatter the seeds where you want them so you'll always have some. Don't purchase the double hybrids as the hummers can't get to the nectar and they don't produce as much.
Bleeding heart in pink or white. My old fashioned ones bloom for a long time in a moist spot and form a lovely clump. In a dry spot they go dormant mid summer. They look nice with larger leaved hostas. There is a new smaller one called fern-leaf bleeding heart. The entire plant is smaller and blooms on and off all summer.
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-21.html
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-22.html
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-23.html
Hakonechloa looks great at the front of a bed. Comes in different shades of variegation. Looks great with solid green hostas, purple leaved plants (Ligularia) or large ferns behind it. Not all varieties are hardy to zone 5, so check your zone on these.
https://www.chrisghyselen.be/pictures/arch004.jpg
https://www.gardenlady.com/favorites_2004.html
Geranium 'Rozanne' - hardy geranium that starts blooming in May in my daughter's zone 6 garden and blooms until hard frost. Spreads into a lovely clump about 3' around.
https://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=1.230.520
Epimediums aren't evergreen in your zone and some are only hardy to zone 6 so choose carefully. Several colors and leaf shapes. Just in case you can't pick just one...
https://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/page36.html
or you could look at these 5 pages!
I'm sure others will come along with more ideas.
Newt
Heuchera (coral bells) is a wonderful native plant and now comes in an array of leaf colors that will boggle your mind! You can have all kinds of color combos and the hummers like the flowers. You will also see Heucherella at the Terranova site. It's a cross between two natives - Heuchera (coral bells) and Tiarella (foam flower). It's sterile and dosen't produce seeds and doesn't do well in less then pampered conditions. So don't even bother with them.
Another fun native is Tiarella - foam flower. Lots of neat leaves on these too.
Columbine has several cultivars, but the most common one seen in the wild is the native Aquilegia canadensis and it's a red and yellow flower, sometimes called granny's bonnet. It's a short lived perennial but seeds around the garden and isn't invasive. I love mine when it appears in places I'd never thought to plant it. It's easy to pull out where you don't want it. Let the seed heads dry on the plant and harvest the pods as soon as they open. Scatter the seeds where you want them so you'll always have some. Don't purchase the double hybrids as the hummers can't get to the nectar and they don't produce as much.
Bleeding heart in pink or white. My old fashioned ones bloom for a long time in a moist spot and form a lovely clump. In a dry spot they go dormant mid summer. They look nice with larger leaved hostas. There is a new smaller one called fern-leaf bleeding heart. The entire plant is smaller and blooms on and off all summer.
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-21.html
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-22.html
https://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/components/7566-23.html
Hakonechloa looks great at the front of a bed. Comes in different shades of variegation. Looks great with solid green hostas, purple leaved plants (Ligularia) or large ferns behind it. Not all varieties are hardy to zone 5, so check your zone on these.
https://www.chrisghyselen.be/pictures/arch004.jpg
https://www.gardenlady.com/favorites_2004.html
Geranium 'Rozanne' - hardy geranium that starts blooming in May in my daughter's zone 6 garden and blooms until hard frost. Spreads into a lovely clump about 3' around.
https://www.perennials.com/seeplant.html?item=1.230.520
Epimediums aren't evergreen in your zone and some are only hardy to zone 6 so choose carefully. Several colors and leaf shapes. Just in case you can't pick just one...
https://www.plantdelights.com/Catalog/Current/page36.html
or you could look at these 5 pages!
I'm sure others will come along with more ideas.
Newt
Good suggestion by Sharon on the Bergenia. I have some in a light pink in spring and the leaves are evergreen. They come in different colors these days.
https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/bergenia.html
Another perennial that comes to mind and has a long bloom time would be Helleborus. These are also evergreen and have a long bloom time too. Mine start blooming while there is still snow on the ground and go until June. Many different colors these days and some even have their downturned flowers that face up. These often look lovely planted in a raised bed or along a tall wall where their flowers are at head height. The flowers turn down to protect them from snow load. The ones that have spread to the sunnier areas tend to go dormant in the summer, but reappear each spring.
Newt
https://www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com/perennials/bergenia.html
Another perennial that comes to mind and has a long bloom time would be Helleborus. These are also evergreen and have a long bloom time too. Mine start blooming while there is still snow on the ground and go until June. Many different colors these days and some even have their downturned flowers that face up. These often look lovely planted in a raised bed or along a tall wall where their flowers are at head height. The flowers turn down to protect them from snow load. The ones that have spread to the sunnier areas tend to go dormant in the summer, but reappear each spring.
Newt
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butterfly755
- Newly Registered
- Posts: 3
- Joined: Mon Nov 20, 2006 8:35 pm
thank you so much for the suggestions. After turkey day I'll have time to check all of these out. One more question though, my house is surrounded by pine trees. Some people I've talked to say I'll have a problem growing anything because they put acid in the ground. Is this true? I should have mentioned this before but completely forgot. 