Re: Ferns are out--now what?
Wendy Bradley wrote:
> I really want something
> evergreen to look out on, since so much of my garden is perennial and
> dormant in the winter. (I have enough leaf-mulched bare earth, thank
> you.) So ferns are out
> I detest most junipers.
> it gets dappled sun in the AM and almost
> full shade in the PM during the summer. In winter it is more sunny with
> leaves gone from the trees (when we get sun; often raining or
> overcast). We get some frost, and it is a wind prone spot. I'm
> thinking I need a specimen plant surrounded by more compact plants and
> some that will cascade over the 10-inch high stone edges to soften it.
> With winter rains and a nearby summer sprinkler, the plants need to like
> some moisture. Suggestions?
For a low background, you could try Oxalis oregana - the native sorel, that
grows in the redwoods. There are other more attractive sorrels, but I don't
know about frost their tolerance. You could plant a compact shade loving
rhododendron (most rhododendrons want some sun - only a few like heavy
shade) as a specimen - but they are very slow growing, so spring for a
largeer one. Of course would need rhododendron soil (preferably bark and
NOT soil) and watering. R. macrophyllum, a northwest native, would do, but
gets tall, and does not like it as wet as other rhododendrons. If you
should decide the thought of a rhododendron sounds appealing, try the rhodo
list at onelist.com for more advice.
