Shade loving plants
http://www.taunton.com/fg/features/design/5springtofall.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-----------
Spring-to-Fall Color for a Shady Spot
I would like to add some color to a shady part of my garden. What plants can
be recommended for this?
--Carol Tannenbaum, Glenview, IL
Virginia L. Beatty, a horticultural consultant and plant expert for WBBM
Radio in Chicago, replies: To obtain hardy, long-lasting perennials with
lush spring-to-fall color, consider the genus Hosta and its cultivars. They
are available in a tremendous variety of sizes, colors, and textures.
Hostas with large, puckered, blue-green foliage are fabulous accent plants.
Varieties with foliage blotched or striped with cream or yellow can simulate
dappled sunshine. H. 'Frances Williams'--with its deep blue-green foliage
bordered by a creamy beige margin--and H. 'Golden Tiara'--yellow-green
foliage margined with a band of chartreuse--are striking when planted
together.
There are also many other shade-loving perennials that can add color to your
garden.
False spirea (Astilbe x arendsii) has tall spikes of feathery blooms in
white, pink, or red. Bergenia cordifolia can be used as an accent plant,
with leaves that turn bronzy-red in late fall.
Snakeroot or bugbane (Cimicifuga simplex 'White Pearl') has white blooms on
branched stalks.
The native bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia) has lacy foliage and
long-lasting white (D. eximia 'Alba) or pink (D. eximia 'Zestful') flowers
that make a great edging.
Coralbells (Heuchera micrantha 'Palace Purple'), with purple foliage, makes
another wonderful accent plant.
Cardinal flower (Lobelia 'Queen Victoria'), with bright red flowers and
maroon foliage, is especially striking when set among golden-leaved hosta.
Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is a shade-tolerant grass that
develops lovely tan seed heads for winter bouquets.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
