I posted, or thought I posted a topic inquiring about what plants work well in the shade in the hill country. Being new to this I'm not sure if it actually posted or where it went... so I am posting again. Thanks
shade area plants
Hi, silverfluter. I don't know anything about what plants do well for your area, but I do know what to plant for mine. Most of them should be okay for your area to. Not sure how much shade you are talking about. I have hostas, foam flowers, lily of the valley, ferns, lungwort, spotted nettle, japanese spurge, violas, sweet woodruff, astibles, I also will throw poppy seeds and they come up and bloom but just little flowers...there's more but my brain is tired.
:) Donna
hi and welcome~
there's a 'shady garden' forum where you'll find all the info you need
http://davesgarden.com/forums/f/shady/
Welcome Silver - if you put your zone uner your location, it would help to know what would be hardy for you. Be sure to hit the "Watch Thread" at the top of your thread - then when there is a reply it will pop up on your home page.
There are tons of plants that do well in shade, here are a few I have:
Hellebore
Caladiums
Azaleas and Rhododendrons
Pacysandra
Cast Iron or Aspidistra
Hardy Begonia & Strawberry begonia
Coleus
Some E ears & Alocasia
Hydrangea
Woods Poppy
Honesty
This message was edited Jan 3, 2005 12:19 AM
Well, we finally figured out to add our zone to our info page. I am absolutely computer illiterate, so this is really a stretch for me. My husband is much better than I am, and he is the one that posted the message you read.
We have lived here since l990, and I still am puzzled about what to plant in my shady front yard.
The back yard is easy because it gets lots of sun.
The west and southwest sides of our house are shaded by two immense oak trees with a circumference of around 9 feet each. Planting under them is not really a problem. My problem is planting under the pecan tree which is due south of the house. There is a space of about 15 feet between the pecan and the oak that gets sun in the middle of the day. It is close enough to the house to give shade which is wonderful, but makes planting difficult. Since we are not real good about watering our trees, this is dry shade.
I don't know if pecans use more water than oaks or if there is some chemical in the leaves or nuts that makes it difficult for other plants to live, but there's not much that thrives under this tree.
I did finally try some oxalis, German iris, St. John's wort, some kind of strange african lilly, and some variety of coral bells. They are all doing OK finally. Oh I also tried something called creeping buttercup. Nothing is thriving, but all are holding their own.
My next target is two raised beds that are in the shade of this pecan, so the leaves and nuts from it also fall there. One bed is in the middle between the pecan and one of the oaks, so it gets sun in the middle of the day only except when the pecan has no leaves. Then it gets sun til 2 or so.
The other raised bed is under the eaves of the house, gets no rainfall and is very dry, because I usually forget to water it. The mystery is the split-leaved philodendron planted there IS thriving on nothing but neglect. I think last year I used some of Howard Garrets sick tree treatment on it, but that's all. I don't even cover it in the winter.
I really need something that will add a splash of color to brighten up the shade in both these beds.
The bed under the eave of the house is under a window. Space under the window is about 2 1/2 feet.
Well I feel like I've written a book called ML's Gardening Woes. I hope it's not too long to post.
Thanks.