Shade gardens can be a challenge but they are also very rewarding as they offer cool, quiet tranquillity. There are varying degrees of shade, from lightly-shaded areas that receive three hours of full sun daily, to deep shade where the sun is not present for any part of the day. Many plants can tolerate light shade, but it is the heavily shaded areas where the challenge is.
There are some very beautiful annuals that are made for the shade. One of the most beautiful is the tuberous begonias.
There are many different varieties to choose from with a wide range of flower types and colours.
Not only are they beautiful, but they are also economical as they are grown from a tuber, and the tuber can be dug up in the fall after the first frost and saved for the following year.
Start them indoors in February so they will be in bloom by May.
Fuchsias also are a shade-loving plant that come in a wide range of colours and types.
They can be mixed with other shade-loving annuals such as mimulus, torenia, lobelia, and ivy. If you are looking to add bright colour to a shaded area try planting impatiens. These come in bright, neon colours as well as the red, orange, and white.
A beautiful foliage plant for that shady spot is coleus.
Sometimes you may not want a lot of colour, so you could plant dusty Miller which is a good plant to mix in with other more colourful plants.
Perennials are a favourite for many gardeners and there is a good selection of plants that do well in the shade. One of the most common ones is hosta. Hostas are grown for their beautiful foliage. They produce a flower in mid-summer, but it is the foliage that sells them.
Leaves come in various shapes and size, as well as different shades of greens, blue-green, cream, white, yellow and combinations of these colours. The plants come in varying heights and with some planning you could create a beautiful hosta garden.
Ferns are also grown for their foliage and do best when planted in a shaded, moist area of the flowerbed. The newer varieties of heuchera are known for their beautiful foliage.
The leaves have a nice shape and texture and come in a wide array of colours including purple, bronze and greens. The spiked, foamy flowers are an added bonus.
Other shade-loving plants with plumes of spiked flowers that rise above the foliage are astilbes, goats beard and bugbane. Lady's mantle has sprays of small, yellow, star-shaped flowers that rise above the large, scalloped shaped leaves. When the foliage gets wet the water beads on it making them even more attractive.
This is a good choice for the drier, shaded area of the yard as well as elephants ear (bergenia) which has the added bonus of staying green year round and produces beautiful pink flowers.
A late bloomer for the shade is liatris. Flower spikes come in either purple or white and show up towards the end of summer.
An early bloomer that is a well known favourite and has been around for many years, is the bleeding heart.
There are a few varieties to choose from including the new Valentine which was developed here in Prince George by local gardeners.
For the back area of the flower bed ligularia works well as it can grow six to eight feet tall with long yellow flower spikes.
Ground covers include lamiuml bugleweed (ajuga reptans), creeping Jenny, and sweet
woodruff.
There are shrubs that do well in the shade and these include arrowwood, burning bush, cranberry, coralberry, Russian Cypress, dogwood, elder and
snowberry.
