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[SG] Leadwort

Gene Bush asked: "You grow the above plant in some degree of shade? How
does it perform for you and how much shade? I would love to transfer some
of this to a location up in the garden in shade with some smaller
trees/shrubs. Would you please tell more about your use of this lovely
plant? Any other locations and combinations?"

Dear Gene: I'm growing Ceratostigma plumbaginoides in full, but high,
shade.  By "high shade" I mean, of course, that while the sun does not
shine on the planting at all, it does get LOTS of light.  Although the
shade is provided in my case by trees (to the south of the plants), as at
Brookside Gardens), you would get the same result if you grew it on the
north side of a house with no trees.  In my garden, it is not only in
high shade, but in DRY shade.  We have had, in the Washington DC suburbs,
only six inches of rain this summer, and I have been watering the garden
heavily every day.  But I've directed very little water onto the
leadwort, and I have the impression that it is very drouth-resistant.

I'm perfectly willing to accept the postings from others who have found
it reluctant to bloom in shade.  I have grown it in other gardens, but
also in the shade, and never found it a shy bloomer.  I'm in zone 7a;
perhaps that has something to do with my experience with it, as well as
Brookside's.  Next year I will put some in full sun, and perhaps there
will be a difference in the amount of bloom in the two different
locations.  Who knows?

The following is from my earlier letter:
> Brookside Gardens, in Wheaton, Maryland,
> has used it for many years as a summer groundcover for the Miniature
> Spring Bulbs Garden, under a shady canopy of Thundercloud plums.  For
> those who live in the Potomac Valley, and who can visit Brookside, the
> Miniature Spring Bulbs Garden is between the upper of the two Perennial
> Gardens, and the Fragrance Garden.
>
> Leadwort is easily divided after the first year.  There are various
> species and cultivars, but I have grown only the one mentioned above.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Harry
>
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