Re: Now a question for zone 4

Hello Linda,
    While everyone is talking about their favorite shade plant with some
drama in a moist spot.... my vote would be for Cimicifuga. In fact, I would
transplant about 3 different species or cultivars into the same spot for an
extended bloom period. Perhaps different heights as well, along with
differing foliage. Let it all grow together and appear as one very large
plant. Given a few years they would all mature out into very large around
and tall statements, but quiet enough you could live with the color.
    The native C. racemosa is coming into bloom here now with tall candles
of white above the cut foliage. Will be about 7 feet tall this year with all
the rain. Next to it I would place Hillside Black Beauty with its very dark,
lacy cut foliage that blooms later in the season. Finally I would use C.
ramosa atropurpurea with dark foliage and late bloom.This way you will have
bloom from June until late in the summer.
    Gene E. Bush
Munchkin Nursery & Gardens, llc
www.munchkinnursery.com
genebush@munchkinnursery.com
Zone 6/5  Southern Indiana

----- Original Message -----
> After reading all the questions for the person with the stone
> wall,...I hope I will succeed my first try in providing the situation
> regarding the spot for which I would like advice!
> I have a hammock chair hanging on the edge of my hosta glade where I
> like to sit and rest a bit, usually several times a day.  Near this
> chair is a circular depression in the ground, sloping to maybe 18
> inches deep, about 5 ft. across.  It currently holds dead leaves and
> Virginia creeper, which I prune back when it spreads into the
> adjoining colony of wild geranium or gets too close to a hosta.  Is
> there such a thing as a "bog plant" for shade?  I could easily water
> this depression and keep it pretty soggy.
> I live in southern Minn. zone 4, and I have had success with some
> zone 5 plants, like kirengeshoma.  The soil is ideal for
> hostas...don't know the ph but I can't grow azalea, not without
> additives to make the soil more acid.  It is a rich clay loam that
> does drain well, but not like a sandy loam.  Our soil is perfect for
> corn and soybeans!!  Shade is medium dappled...no problem with tree
> roots.  Trees are mostly ash.
>
> I want something dramatic...fairly tall like a 'Sum and Substance'
> hosta, but I don't want another hosta here, maybe that would flower
> after the geraniums.  I also have a bleeding heart nearby that
> flowers before the geraniums.  I could fill in the depression, but I
> want to take advantage of it rather than destroy it.
> Any suggestions for something different for me to look at while I sit
> in my swing?
> Linda Kofstad

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