Wonderful Shade Gardens

I was over at a friend’s newly purchased home the other day helping her decide what to do with her neglected, shady backyard.  I started suggesting plants, starting with hosta and ferns (of course), and she said, “It just sounds so boring!”  I sympathize with my friend, because there are a lot of plants you must give up on when you have a shady garden. Roses, clematis (although I think there are some varieties that will grow in semi-shade), poppies, poenies and many other flowering perennials. However, a shade garden can be a wonderful, welcoming, cool and magical place.

I remember looking at a row of identical hostas planted next to our rented duplex years ago, and thinking, “How ugly and boring is that?!”, and I still hate unimaginative hosta (or any) planting.  Too much of a good thing is just dull. However, since I first noticed (and disliked) hostas  I have grown to appreciate them more and more as the anchors of a shady garden.  The great thing about hosta  is that it comes in almost endless colours and sizes. With so many to choose from your shade garden will be anything but boring.  Mix them with ferns, bleeding hearts, heuchera (another plant that comes in many varieties!), forget-me-nots, vinca minor (aka periwinkle), sweet woodruff, wild ginger (with its shiny round leaves), creeping jenny (yellow leaves), lily-of-the-valley and many others.

As you plan your shade garden, remember to look for a great variation in foliage colours, textures and shapes.  You may not have the extravagant flowering of a sunny garden, but the delicate flowers and wonderful variation in foliage of shade plants can create a quiet, cool oasis you will enjoy all summer.

P.S. I am off to Italy for two weeks tomorrow, so there will be a hiatus in my posting.  I hope to come back with some beautiful Italian garden photos!

‘I’m in the mood for some Alex Cuba.  Here’s a lovely video of him singing, “Si Pero No”. Enjoy!

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