Shade Gardening: Deep Shade II, 1 by rcn48

rcn48 wrote:
Yikes, lots going on here since I last visited!

Weerobin, don't know that I have any secret for the renardii Geraniums. It's been about five years since we planted Terra Franche and last year planted 'Philippe Vapelle' which has the same textured foliage. Both seem to be suffering from too much shade and will have to be moved soon - keeping my fingers crossed that I don't lose them!

Happy - that's a tremendous list of Epimediums! I have a few of those on the list and I have to say that youngianum 'Niveum' is my favorite. A vigorous plant and the little white flowers are so sweet :) X Perralchicum 'Frohnleiten' is a bear in the garden! Rick keeps threatening to rip some of it out and I have to admit that it has completely covered the rock steps where it was planted on either side and needs to be thinned out but I'm not going to deliberately kill it - I just need to find a few spots to transfer it to. I also love the delicate pink flowers of 'Lilafee' and the unique color of 'Orange Queen'. Both are currently waiting for their spot in the gardens :) All are slow growing when first planted but in just a few years they form wonderful groundcovers and easily one of the best plants I've found for dry shade. The only one I've ever lost was E. epsteinii http://www.pbase.com/glazemaker/image/58085329 - bloomed the second year and the third year it was gone :( Weerobin, I would definitely be interested in your online sources but I'll pass on the one for $500! LOL

BirdieBlue, you may have answered your own question about the Dwarf Crested Iris - not enough sun. Although it's usually described as a shade plant, it prefers a spot that provides "light shade" or at least morning sun exposure. Not sure about your soil, you've probably got the same nasty red clay soil we've got here and the only thing I've found is not to plant them deep.

Happy, still waiting for my October issue of Fine Gardening, sounds like a terrific article - I can't wait! I'll give you my two cents on those I've grown :)

Spigelia - slow to get established but after a couple of years forms an incredible clump and the flowers are beautiful. Doesn't seem too particular about its placement, although where it's planted in the deep shade the clump gets leggy and isn't as handsome as the one planted under a high canopy of pine trees.

Delphinium exaltatum - the first year I absolutely loved it - rebloomed when we had a mild fall the first week in December! This year, I'm not so happy with it - it's growing way too tall - almost 5' and falling over. Next year I'm going to try to control it by pruning it back when it gets about 2' tall. It will delay the beautiful blooms, but there will be more of them!

Hakonechloa macra 'Beni Kaze' - just got this planted. I've always loved the form of these grasses and the photos of the red looked intriguing. Unlike the gold forms, which are painfully slow to establish themselves here, 'Beni Kaze' is a fast grower! We just planted some in the area we've been working on for the past few weeks - it's still all green but anxiously waiting to see the red in the foliage. In the photo we planted a border of 'Aureola' with 'Beni Kaze' behind it to edge the right side of the path. Lots of work still to be done here, but what a difference if you saw what it looked like before!

Arisaema kishidae 'Jack Frost', another painfully slow plant :( We've had these in pots for two years and they're STILL too small to plant in the garden. I will say that the silvered foliage is very attractive, I'm just hoping they hurry up and grow!

Cyclamen hederifolium - my only complaint with this plant is you have to wait so long to see it! The flowers are pretty but the foliage is why we planted it - incredible! I'm trying to be patient waiting for ours to spread - it's been about 3 years and still not as vigorous as I had hoped :(

Delphinium tricorne - absolutely incredible, although I think we may have lost ours :( It's considered one of the spring ephemerals, blooms early and then usually disappears by June which probably explains what happened to it - we forgot it was there :( I remember reading somewhere to plant it with ferns, just as the Delphinium starts to wither away the fronds of the ferns are unfurling and quickly cover the bare spot left.

stormyla, beautiful Lilies! You'll appreciate this :( The voles have found the new gardens in the photo! Rick was working there yesterday, stomped on the tunnel once, twice - the third time the tunnel appeared he was out there watching for the tunnel to move so he could kill the little buggar! By 5 PM he was so frustrated he was armed with the hose and spray I told you about and completely covered the area - we'll see what happens today!