Help! What do I plant?

[Lorelai]

I'm really new to gardening, especially flowers. I know what I like to look at, but that's about it! I like daffodils, tulips, lilies, hyacinths, daisies, asters, etc. I'll start with a little information and hopefully some of you can give me some advice.

Where I am: Zone 8, northwest Washington state.

Specific Location: A small, sad area next to the walkway to our front door. We don't use this door, but it's near the front of the driveway and is very visible from the road, so it could really do with some pretty things to brighten it up. Unfortunately, it's mostly shady (with some work we may be able to provide some "dappled" morning sun). The north side is the one exposed (of course). I also have an area on the north side of the house alongside the driveway (may get some late afternoon sun) that has three sad rose bushes and nothing else that I want to beautify. The small area next to the walkway connects with the northern facing area.

So, we rent and can't do anything too drastic to alter our environment (example, we can't top some trees to get some sun ). I'm having issues because I'm new to gardening, and I want these areas of my yard to be more attractive, but I'm drawn to colorful, splashy, sun loving flowers. I'm overwhelmed by my choices (annual, perennial, seed, bulb, etc) and bad at making decisions. I'm not sure how to organize for pretty continuous color. I'm in analysis paralysis! I'm willing to learn, I just need some advice! What would you plant???

 

[Mickey328]

There are quite a lot of things that will tolerate shade to part shade, but most don't have that splashy, colorful look to them. One of my favorites is Bleeding Heart. They come in several varieties, tho my preference is for the white. We have one outside our front in a spot that only gets dappled light for just a few hours a day. The flowers are that pretty heart shape and are so white they almost glow in the shade there. A good ground cover is Lamium...I have the varigated variety in the same area...very tiny flowers, but the foliage is very pretty and quickly spreads to cover the dirt, letting other plants grow through it. Most columbines do well in the shade and there are a variety of sizes and colors. Hostas and ferns of course, are known for shady spots but personally, I'm not all that crazy about them...but that's just me.

Check out your local nursery; they should be able to give you a lot of information about your specific area...what works well in your soil as well as which plants like those shady spots. In general, being a lazy sort of gardener, I prefer to put in perennials...plant 'em once and then just a little maintenance, LOL.

 

[897tgigvib]

Lorelai, the SHADE GARDEN

Tons and tons of options! You just think of different beauty...and there goes that analysis paralysis, flying off in the distance

Foliage has great beauty! Deep shade lovers include Hosta. There are variegated and purple bugleweeds that are domesticated, even golden leaved ones.

That reminds me...shade is not a single thing. Open shade with blue sky is far brighter than deep shade with little blue sky. Dappled or filtered shade is different yet.

Columbine love filtered shade. 50 columbine plants enmasse can be spectacular! Huechera enjoy bright sky shade. Lady's mantle tolerate lots of different kinds of shade.

Many shade lovers can tolerate light but stunt down, or get small leaves, or sunburnt leaves. Some tolerate light well though.

A good nursery in your area will have someone whose eyes light up if you ask them about their shade garden plants, who will take you to their shade garden area. Slow down and look at how the conditions are for each kind of plant there.

You'll see groundcovers kind of hiding in pots. Hostas can and may well bloom.

Guess what...there is even a kind of bright yellow Daisy, almost a Sunflower, for the shade. It loves morning sun with the rest of the day in dappled filtered shade or blue sky shade. LIGULARIA. Purple leaves.

Helleborus. Primrose. Cyclamen. Daphne. I am forgetting three times the number!

Make note your shade types
Find great nursery

SHADE IS NOT A LIMITER! Shade is an opportunity!

 

[journey11]

Hi Lorelai,

Don't worry, you can still have lots of color! You might want to look at http://brecks.com/ I am planning for a shade garden too and I've been pouring over their gorgeous catalog. This will be my first order from them, so I can't speak for their quality of service or anything, but they have some great sales going on now until March 15th. If nothing else, it will help you get some ideas of what you might like to plant. I was really surprised by how many plants I found that would tolerate shade, my horribly poor soil and dry conditions. Now I will have trouble narrowing it down!

You've gotten a lot of good advice already. Another consideration is the type of soil you have. Some shade perennials will not grow without rich, moist, well-drained soil. Others are much more tolerant.

Good luck and have fun!

ETA: Click on perennials, then click on shade perennials. Astilbe is a very pretty, colorful shade loving perennial you might like.

 

[Carol Dee]

oh Marshall is great help. I have a pretty shady yard and love the suggestions. Can't wait to get to the nursery as soon as weather allows planting. Have fun.

 

[lesa]

All good suggestions... since you are renter and would like some "instant gratification" I would go out and buy a bunch of Begonia's. They do very well in shade and come in bright reds and pinks and whites. I would plant them close together and let them blanket the area. If you want to make a little investment in someone else's garden, add a couple of hostas. The bulbs you mentioned are all fun, but would have to be planted in the fall, for a spring show. If you think you will living there next spring- throw some bulbs in the area in the fall. Since those flower early the shade won't be such an issue, since the trees won't have leaves on them, yet. Good luck! Keep us posted on your plan....

 

[Mickey328]

Excellent points! Impatiens also do well in the shade and provide lots of pretty color. Marshall is right (of course)...there's shade, then there's shade and again...shade

 

[digitS']

. . .Where I am: Zone 8, northwest Washington state. . .

It is my suspicion that I am about 300 miles east of you, Lorelai. That means we are on the same line of latitude and you have just begun to see some light at the end of the tunnel - for spring :coolsun!

You have some real good advice here. The TEG gardeners have really come thru with some great ideas. I am just here to offer some sympathy . . . a little support, and an idea or 2. First of all, the sympathy: you live in one of the most light-deprived areas imaginable. Not only does your part of the world receive little winter sun but the moist weather means continuing clouds thru the growing season. A warm Zone 8 winter means a cool summer for your garden, and not very much sun.

Now that we've got that out of the way - : I was looking thru a brochure from Victoria BC's wonderful Butchart Gardens. There was only 1 flowering annual that they recommend for "Partial Shade." Here is a short list of their partial shade perennials: Erythronium, Euphorbia, Fritillaria, Galanthus, and Helleborus. I'm not sure if you even want to research these plants - the suggestions you have above are good ones. Butchart also recommends some flowering trees and shrubs. Quite a commitment and you already know how wonderfully rhododendrons do in your part of the world .

What it all suggests is that a plant is likely to require more than one season of growth before it can gather enough energy to bloom. We can do all we want with our garden soil but green plants require light energy for growth and flowering.

I can't get good blooms from impatiens here because of the arid summer weather. The blooms dry up! I bet you wouldn't have that problem with impatiens!

I can tell you what grows and blooms in nearly complete shade for me here: crocus, daffodils, bleeding hearts, and heuchera. Columbines can put on a wonderful, fairyland show but can have real problems with mildew and I've done best with them treating them as biennials for real shady locations. (There are also some variegated columbines.) Canterbury bells do okay in quite a bit of shade - you might want to think white ! Hostas get a little more sun in my yard and I really recommend them for variegated foliage to lighten dark corners.

That annual that Butchart mentioned (& no one has mentioned here )? Pansies! Go for the brighter colors but they may bloom for you almost, year-around. And, they may well survive for you from one year to the next as perennials!

Steve

 

[Lorelai]

Wow! I'm amazed by all of the wonderful suggestions I've gotten. I already feel better! I'm happy to visit my local nursery, but I prefer to do so with a specific list of plants, because I don't shop well under pressure. I will do my best to address all suggestions in my post.

Micky328 - Yes, the Bleeding Heart is pretty! Since a lot of what has been suggested are bushes, or bush-like, I may need to go measure my area. I wish I could take a picture, but my camera has stopped working, unfortunately.

marshallsmyth - I found some really attractive hosta (and toad lilies!) here:

http://brecks.com/category.asp?start=0&ipp=5000&c=140

And regarding my shade, well, I'm afraid it's very shady. The problem is that we get very little overall sunlight in my area. What we do get is near constant cloud cover. Last summer we went pretty much from July - October without rain and with mostly sun, what I would call a "freak summer" like I've never seen before, and I've lived here my whole life. Part of what shades the front side of the house from morning sun is a random mess, so we may be able to provide some dappled morning sun by cutting down some of the random small seedlings that have popped up, clearing out the diseased plants and replacing them with something else. What we're definitely stuck with is the big fir tree.

journey11 - I LOVE that website! Exactly what I've been looking for to feel less discouraged about my shade garden. There are some gorgeous options for me after all. Now the trick would be deciding what, and then, where. Tall in the back, short in the front, yeah? We have really nice soil here, overall, and we can amend it with our own compost as well. We raise rabbits, and we've got some lovely compost piles going.

lesa - Instant gratification would be nice. We plan to be here for at least five years. We're fortunate to rent on acreage, and have a farm. There are many great things about this place. I can always make some raised beds for my sun loving plants, or, plant some large containers. I already have a half wine barrel planter leftover from the previous tenant that will be planted with some tete a tete daffodils, tulips, and hycinth, I think. I'll buy some little pots (my mom gifted me with some tete a tete daffodils already) with the bulbs already started for the instant gratification. Though I was thinking that daffodils can be quite tough and hardy, and I love them, so maybe I will plunk a few in front and see how they do in shadier conditions. I can always move them later, right?

digitS' - You understand my situation completely and nailed my weather conditions exactly! You've also encouraged me to try some of my favorites, daffodils, even though my conditions are shady. Maybe along with the impatiens and pansies. Rhodies do well here, it's true. I mentioned somewhere in this post about that clump of randomness at the front of my driveway, part of what is shading the front of my house? Some of the diseased plants in there are rhodies. We need to work on that area to make it healthy again.

Thank you all so much for your suggestions, support, and for that website! Now I'm armed with a list, and feel very good about adding some pretty green foliage and color to the front/side areas of my house!

 

[digitS']

Laura, so . . . you have ground elsewhere with a good deal more light?

Here is an idea that I've been thinking about for years! (And, still haven't done anything about . . . :/.)

Everyone has a "north side" no matter where they live. Most north sides have some room for plantings. We can put things in there that are in containers. How about if the containers are already in full bloom before they show up in the shade??? Then, magically - maybe by the light of the moon - those plants disappear and others take their place . The neighbors may never figure it out --- unless they can see into your "backyard" where the containers are lined up like soldiers ready to take their place on the firing line.

Here is info from a Northwest nursery: Bloom Season Calendar :rainbow-sun (click).

If a gardener wanted to do it, he/she would have to have space somewhere for the plants that are out of season.

Steve