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Need ideas for a strip of shade
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Posted by tbt3 z7VA (My Page) on Tue, Sep 13, 05 at 9:07
| I have a 8 ft strip of border that is next to my deck (need something small <3ft or so) that isn't in deep shade, but never gets really dappled shade or full sun either. I need some ideas for perennials, preferablly something for bees/butterflies/birds. I am a big fan of symmetry and have a few pink astilbe that I would have to move because they are all at one end but would like to keep in the bed. I am taking any thoughts or designs
Thanks,
TBT |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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| Hi, I also garden in zone 7 VA and have a lot of shade. I guess we are all tired of the standard shade-loving impatients! Here are some plants that I have found reliable in shade - bright, dappled or full: hostas (hummingbirds love their flowers), ferns (some are evergreen) and there is a wide variety of both habit (arching, upright, creeping) and fronds (delicate, bold, painted), primrose (spring perennial), pansies, coleus, caladium (bulbs--annual), true geraniums, heleboros (lenten rose) which is evergreen. You might, if you have space, try some of the 3-4' hydrangeas - although deciduous, they bloom from spring to late summer in a variety of colors, although our Richmond soil tends to make most blue if they have a choice (many hydrangeas will turn either blue or pink depending on the soil). I have one garden that is all ferns, hosta, astilbe, lenten roses - to which i add a few annual impatiens for color. Because the ferns and hostas emerge in late spring, they can be underplanted with spring bulbs - as the spring flowers and foliage fade, the hostas & ferns emerge to cover the bulb foliage. Hope this helps. |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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- Posted by tbt3 z7VA (My Page) on
Thu, Sep 15, 05 at 11:44
| That sounds great. I think I will go with a mix of Hostas, Astilbe and Ferns. Any tips for planting bulbs with these? That would be a new trick for me Thanks,
TBT |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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| If you are going with ferns, be sure to try Autumn fern. It is evergreen in zone 7 in Georgia. I planted some a couple of years ago. Wasn't impressed with them the first year, but by the second year they had become beautiful. The have a beautiful shape, the new fronds are bronze. The fronds eventually become a pretty shade of yellowish green. The seem to survive anything. My only problem with them is that I need more, more, more. They are good companions to lenten roses if you decide to try some of them. |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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| TBT, You might add some hellebores and/or dwarf nandinas (these don't have berries but the foliage is good), because none of the perennials you mention (hostas, astilbes, ferns) are evergreen. Hellebores have cool leaves (forget about the flowers). Bulbs for shade in our region include ipheion, chionodoxa, alliums (I like allium triquetrum), and galanthus. My main piece of advice is, plant them BEHIND the perennials. The bulbs will all come up and flower before your perennials even start to leaf out, so you will get to see the flowers, and then your perennials will emerge and mask the bulb foliage from view as it ages and yellows. |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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| Something else that looks great with ferns and hostas is "Bleeding Heart". Along the far side of my house where nobody but me walks, that is almost all I have back there and it looks wonderful. The foliage on spectibillis (pink or white) is very fernlike. I too have Autumn Fern and LOVE the new foliage which emerges orange and gold and then turns to green as it matures. For your growing zone I would also recommend the hardy evergreen ferns so you can enjoy them all year round. Christmas Fern, Holly Fern and Hart's Tongue Fern are 3 that I have and enjoy but unlike you I can't enjoy them through the year b/c they are always covered in several feet of snow over the winter. Let us know what you decide to use and send in a picture if you can. :o) Barb
southern Ontario, CANADA zone 6a |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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| Cardinal Lobelia has been popular with the hummingbirds here. Monarda draws the bees, but the reds of the two do not, absolutely do not, go together and they do overlap in bloom time. False turtlehead, a.k.a. chelone, works well for me in shade also. If it is sunny in late winter, you can go with early blooming bulbs, but that doesn't sound like the case here. |
RE: Need ideas for a strip of shade
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- Posted by tbt3 z7VA (My Page) on
Mon, Oct 31, 05 at 10:22
| Have done some planting since the post. Thanks for all of the ideas. I have one verigated fragrent hosta in the middle, one lady-fern on each side, then one pink astilbe on the outside. I have room for one more plant on each end of this strip next to the astilbes. I will be on the lookout for two last plants. It looks grreat already. Thanks,
TBT |
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