White garden in the shade

I want to plant a white garden ia a shady portion of my yard. I have some small gardenias there already and am looking for some other plants to put there. Any ideas of plants with white flowers to use for this type of garden? I am fairly new at gardening and would like to plant things that are easy to grow. I'll take all the suggestions I can get, from types of plants to placement.

Thanks in advance.

hilburng, I've been looking for plants to do the same and some of the best info I found was using the "Custom Search" at http://www.bluestoneperennials.com/ -- you can input your zone, flower color, and light conditions and you'll get a list of approriate perrenials.

I am doing the exact thing you are doing--working on a flower bed with a white theme, in the shade. Just seems like white things go well in the shade....I am in Raleigh, very near you. Here's what I planted/intend to plant: Lilly of the Valley, Astilbe, Christmas fern, hosta, oakleaf hydrangea, cast iron plants, shade varieties of coleus (if you don't have snails..), azalea, camellia, foamflower, solomons seal, and, eventually, spring flowering white bulbs of some sort (white daffodil? Snowdrops? Not sure). Other options, especially to add evergreen leaves and berries for winter interest include hollies, many of which will prosper in light shade or part day shade. Same for camellias, which are evergreen so look beautiful anytime, but also bloom during winter/early spring when nothing else does. If you have room, Japanese maples look beautiful in the fall, as do the oakleaf hydrangea. Niche Gardens has lots of interesting, native holly. You can mail order or visit them in Chapel Hill, NC. Another good source is Plant Delights nursery. They also mail order, but if you ever get to Raleigh, they have a wonderful space at the farmers market on the south side of Raleigh where things are often priced a little cheaper. Let me know if you discover anything else, as I, too, am still looking to fill a few more spaces. Good Luck!

Thanks to both of you!!! I will spend time with the website. I am sure it will be helpful. As for Niche Gardens, I have been there several times and love it. Have never been to the Farmers Market in Raleigh but will make a point to go.

Yotedog, you obviously have a large garden site. Your plant suggestions are good but I'll have to pare the list as my site is small. If I come up with anything new I'll let you know.

thanks.
Hilburng

OHHHH, ahhh! I LOVE white gardens! I'm not sure how much light you are getting, but if it's close to 3 hours, most of these plants will work, at least here in Zone 6. You didn't mention if you wanted perenials, annuals, herbs, shrubs, etc, but would be glad to make some more recommendations if you wish to expand to larger plants.
Verbena, Jasmine, Chinese Wild Ginger, Sweet Woodruff, Violas, Siberian Iris, Goatsbeard, Trillium. Edelweiss, May Apple, Anemone, Japanese Painted Fern, Helleborus, and Coral Bells would be some nice perenials to try. I'd definitely fill in with pansies, impatiens, chamomile and snaps or cosmos until the longer lived plants fill in.
This is going to be fun! Please, please--post photos!
Here is a pic of my white Moon Garden, which is in part sun.

What a lovely garden. I know you are enjoying it.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will fill in with annuals but really want perenials mostly and the ones you all have suggested give me a very good start. I'll let you know how it goes.

If you want a Japanese Maple for a white shade garden, A. palmatum 'Butterfly' will stay almost totally white in the shade.

It isn't white blooms but I love the color and texture of this variegated vinca...It's the white on the right and absolutely glows in the moonlight or solar lights. This is in the ground under an oak tree. Limited sun. High shade maybe...

This message was edited Jul 20, 2006 9:26 PM

BTW Doss, THAT is a really pretty JP. Have a friend that has a JP arboretum. I will have to see if he has one of them.

You could have cimicifuga, anemone canadensis, anemone japonica, anemone sylvetris, anemone blanda...whiteish leaved pulmonaria, white primula(different kinds),,,,tricrytis, white lillium and daylillies do not need full sun. Hosta plantaginea. Thalictrum .. corydalis (white flowered). Clethra, azaleas, itea, rhododendrons, deutzia, clematis paniculata, phlox divaricata has a white form...iris cristata..and so on and on.

I don't think that anyone has mentioned Polygonatum multiflorum "Variegatum". Beautiful plant and white flowers in early spring. Brunnera 'Looking Glass' or "Jack Frost'is also possibilities. Pale blue flowers in the early spring but the foliage is great all season long.

hmm, and gooseneck loosestrife.

Platycodon alba are nice. Mine start in the sun and are shaded the rest of the day.
Kalimeris pinnatafida, Hortensis, is a tiny dainty daisy. It wouldn't show up from very far, but is almost a dollhouse sized bloom.

I am so glad I posted this question. With so many responses I should have no problem getting my garden started. Thank you.

Forgot to tell you hilburng, since you are not that far away--go visit the white garden at JC Raulston Aboretum in Raleigh. Its not a shade garden, but does have some plants for partial shade, plus the layout is beautiful. Great for inspiration, and absolutely free.

Thanks, yotedog, I will. And I'll look forward to it.

A white shade garden is also on my wish list! There are some great suggestions here so I'm saving this link in my favorites.

JoAnn

Hi, Hilburng,

I just found your thread. I love white shade gardens. Here's my experience with some easy ones:

Anemone blanda white splendour will return for years. It blooms for me from mid-April for about a month. Lily of the Valley blooms all May, will spread but can be invasive, pop up between pavers, etc. Be careful where you plant it. White bleeding heart is pretty, but not as hardy as the pink, and blooms for me in late May. Hosta "so sweet" has pretty white flowers in late summer, a nice white edge, and will spread and return for years. (Slugs and deer like it though.) Sweet autumn clematis paniculata bloomed the first year I planted it, in September.

I don't know when they would bloom in your zone, but I guess would follow the same order (??). Good luck!

LadyCleo,

Your white garden is so pretty.

Loretta

Thanks for your thoughts. I am planning to plant Lily of the Valley but have a question. My father-in-law gave me some pips from his yard a couple of years ago. I was glad to share in his garden and looked forward to havingthe flowers for a long time but something (a squirrel??) dug them up and carried them away. Does anyone know what eats the pips and a way of preventing it?

I will definitely try the plants suggested.

hilburng

I have a ton on Lily of the Valley, along with squirrels and chipmunks and nothing seems to carry it away..I probably could use a little less of it, lol! When mine blooms, it doesn't seem to be for very long and the bloom doesn't really have much impact. There may be so many of them that the foliage obscures them.

Recently I saw a beautiful plant at a little nursery that I regret not getting...it was a beautiful white bellflower and the tag said shade (or at least part shade), and that it was long blooming. I believe it was some form of Campanula..not sure if anyone mentioned that or knows what that is.

There are several white campanulas..could have been 'wedding bells'

These are great ideas -- I'm so glad I stumbled on this thread!

One annual I don't think anyone has mentioned is Nicotiana. If you get the older varieties, they have a nice scent as well as a white flower, and do well in my garden with very little sun.

For late Summer and early Fall blooms try Aconitum Napellus 'Album' it would look great at the back of the border.


Steve

Love that Aconitum

levilyla

Check out my thread in the Perennials forum for more photos under Aconitums

WOW you really are into Aconitums! I have ONE..LOL it is Arendsii and it ALWAYS gets rusty leaves and then the blooms usually fall off. I love them but can't seem to get them going ..I have tried (I think Napelus sp.)? and they seem to wilt away in our summers. I do not have any full sun in my garden. re you a breeder?

I need color in my shade garden too. I went for the "burg. and white" theme (my kids local HS colors!! lol) but all my "white" went. :(

I bought a Cimicifuga (spelling?) and it said that it blooms in fall with 2 foot plumes! WOW, great, fantastic .... dead. Or, at least, died back this year.

Do those die back the first year or is it dead?

They like alot of water..they should be blooming now. Wait and see if they come back...the foliage may have just died back. I transplanted one this summer and the same thing happened..leaves all fell off and now there is nothing...I am hoping for its return. They are spectaccular when in the right place and doing well....well drained moist. No afternoon sun.

levilyla

Check out 'Canadian Gardening' and 'European Gardening' for even more photos and advice.

If anyone wants help with Aconitum post on any of my Aconitum threads and I will help.

I'm not a breeder, I collect them and am going to specialize with them.

Steve

Thanks, i'll wait for its return next year. I didn't realize they needed so much water.

Steve...I think that is one of the main problems with Aconitums here....Canadian and European gardens do not have the high heat and humidity that we have (especially all night long). We forinstance cannot have Meconopsis or Delphinium or Lupine. (for any length of time at any rate).

If brunaria grow in your zone, the Jack Frost brunaria is very nice for a shady white garden. I have mine in one place that gets several hours of sun and in another place that gets hardly any sun - it seems to do well in both places, but it doesn't like wet soil.

Jeannine

Hello eveyone,

I'm so glad I found this thread. I hope to have a white garden (north/west exposure), and have been doing a lot of research. Hilburng, I found this website that have a series of articles about desiging a white garden - you may find helpful. http://flowergardens.suite101.com/article.cfm/designing_the_white_garden

The white Japanese Maple is spectacular Doss - what a great focal point for the white garden. All plant/shrub suggestions are great. Thanks!

Liz

The east side of my house only gets a few hours of sunshine in the morning, but several white plants are doing well there. Astilbe and Perennial Candytuft in the spring, Nicotiana in the summer and Japanese Anenome is reliable every fall.

LadyCleo mentioned goatsbeard. I tried a dwarf variety a few years ago, but it threatened to take over the entire plot and I am still pulling out sprouts from their persistent underground runners. I think I will try some Sweet Woodruff in its place.

I picked up a copy of "The Complete Shade Gardener" by George Schenk some years ago in a used book store. It has hundreds of recommendations for all types of shaded areas.

DonShirer.......I have never had any problem with goatsbeard being invasive....but if want to put in sweet woodruff....stand back .. run in your house and close all the windows and doors so it doesn't get inside.

That's interesting -- my sweet woodruff isn't invasive. It has spread a bit over the years, but nothing untoward. I wish it would spread more. I wonder if there are different strains. Is yours in the sun? Mine is in the shade.

I have it in mostly shade..but some in sun..it makes no difference..it grows along my mulched paths and I pull it up and throw it away....you aren't too far...if you want any more ??? I DO like it in some places however...nice plant in the right place (but everything in my garden seems to be in the wrong place!)

If you ever want to trade, or I can send you postage, I'd love more! I've been nursing mine along for 15 years and have a patch a couple yards square at best shared with hostas. I got it from my mother's house in downtown DC before she sold it.

I know what you mean about everything in the wrong place. I love to garden and it gives me great satisfaction, but my garden would never be fodder for the pages of a magazine!

I would love to give you some (alot) but I am not one to send things through he mail...it never seems to work for me and too much trouble. Come and get it.