shade thoughts for Donna

In a message dated 10/28/02 11:47:20 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
dsdavis@intop.net writes:


> I was glad to read this message.  I did not know that Salvia of any kind 
> would live and thrive in the shade.  This is good to know, because I 
> have so much shade and have an awful time finding plants that will do 
> anything in the shade.  which brings up a question that I have been 
> meaning to ask for days.  I have Columbine seed (lots of them)  given to 
> me by a friend 

Donna,

Responding to "awful time" in the shade maybe Salvias will not be a good 
subject but there are others that bloom that are.

Since I have been cleaning up what is left here plus getting some exercise it 
is fresh on my mind that some plants are good shade "fillers".  One sees the 
fern and hosta solution a lot so I am thinking you are wanting something 
else.

One plant that has a long bloom season is Campanula punctata.  This plant is 
a problem in sun and good soil and warmer zones.  In the deep shade it is 
less of a runner and produces short spikes of huge bells in midsummer on 
quite ordinary foliage.  I have the named form "Cherry Bells" but there are 
the species plus a few others, a white one.  I have large patch of this in 
two places.  One is under an old shrub that was bare and heavily shaded 
beneath the branches.  The Campanula filled in and grows in a neat patch a 
foot or so beyond the shrub curbed by the lawn mower.  Underplanting an old 
shrub is a way to remove bare spots where you would like to keep the shrub 
but it is ungainly after age and pruning.  If you are willing to keep an eye 
on this plant, you can make drifts of it where you have problem spots.  Some 
more of the same plant grows under a maple tree.  Everyone knows about maples 
so that is enough said.

There are many beautiful shade plants which do not fill in large spaces and 
require a bit of care to keep looking good.  One might appreciate a commoner 
that has several uses.  Another is Hemerocallis flava or lilioasphodelus or 
whatever it is called now.  This is the lemon lily of the old gardens and 
will bloom in shade.  In sun and moist  soil it will seed itself quite a bit 
but in full shade will still bloom and make single large clumps.  H. flava is 
scented and a graceful hem that will survive nearly any care or lack of care. 
 This grows for me in full shade in poor dry soil and blooms yearly.  If you 
look for the old hybrids, most will bloom in shade.  They will be small 
flowered and the trumpet shaped but will bloom in shade.  I also have a very 
old red one that blooms yearly in heavy shrubbery and needs to be moved.  I 
have not got to this job and it amazed me that it finds a way to send out 
flowers every year.

A third plant here that blooms in shade and makes spiky hardy clumps is the 
Iris pseudacorus.  This Iris is a plant that will (and does here) run all 
over the pond but in a shady border will remain a clump and bloom in the 
shade. There is the common yellow, a double yellow and a white form that 
remain quite small compared to the single yellow.  This is immortal plant but 
offers one more choice that is not difficult to grow and fills in spaces 
where more delicate plants won't do.  Also it offers height and form not 
usually seen in the shade garden.  I have seen Iris pseuocorus growing in 
swampy woods in deep shade.  There are several other medium sized irises that 
will bloom in shade. They will be more productive in sun but do fine in 
shade.  I also have some form of Iris sanguinea which is absolutely reliable 
in the shade.  Mathew says light deciduous woods but any shade is OK.  It 
seeds itself and is one more plant you may not consider when planning your 
shade areas. Iris sanguinea or anything you find called by that name is 
blue-purple with red coloring at the base of the plant causing the Latinate 
name.

All of this observation is just that from observation.  These are not plants 
usually classified in shade writing but do perfectly well here which is not 
the most hospitable climate.

Claire Peplowski
NYS z4

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