You are welcome but mine has a long way to go to look neat. BEV
Deep Shade II
Bev you know gardens are always a work in progress and never truly "finished".
Thanks Dug.
Very nice gardens, Bev--and great shot of that lily! That would be a good one to put in Plant Files, if they need pics of that one--what is it?
those are my tiger lilies.cannot use capitals have baby kitten in other arm. powder. thanks bev
i have more
dont want to bore you. but
Bev I also love the tiger lilies!!! Have orange (which have blossomed already) I have white and yellow. The yellow are open now. So pretty... Love the height of them. I did give some of them on a trade once. But still ahve a few of each!. Does any one want some bublets??? Still have some for last year and will have more from this year. JLMK> Kitties huh? What color are they Bev? Awwww I bet they are adorable. Shade gardens are looking very lovely everyone.. Have a great evening. Ronna
Are the bulblets the little one leaf things that grew and will take three years to flower? If they take less time I would love some. BEV
The bublets are the tings that grow under each leaf and fall off when the plant gets done flowering. Then they spead every where. I try to pick them all off before they fall off!!! But you are welcome to some. I am not sure how long they take to flower. All I know is I get babies all over the place. Ronna
Thanks Ronna, But no thankyou dear. Those are what I call seeds and it does take three years before flowering. I am sorry but I will have to buy bulbs so as to see them next year. Thanks again anyway. BEV
You are so welcome Bev. Here is a photo of my Turks Caps. So pretty. They are pretty long lived also. I always have to stake mine cause its so tall. Im sure others stand up straight??? This one only gets dappled sun but does quit well with that. They must not spread. This one has been here for around, 8-9 years I believe. No "little ones". Never understood that.? Ronna
My asiatics "White Butterfly" and "Pink Butterfly" both stand up on their own but of course they don't have that incredible color going for them. Same shape though. The pink ones bloom earlier than the white ones.
Are the asiatic lilies as tall as the Turks Cap? They are so neat. I like how they curl back so tightly.
The Butterfly asiatics curl back like the turk caps ones do. They are about 3 feet tall.
My turks cap is probably about 5 ft tall. So pretty.
I just got the October 2008 (why do they deliver magazines so early?) Fine Gardening. It includes an article on underused perennials for shade. Do you have comments on any of these?
Spigelia marilandica (I'd already planned to get this)
Delphinium exaltatum
Hakonechloa macra 'Beni Kaze'
Arisaema kishidae 'Jack Frost'
Deinanthe caerulea
Cyclamen hederifolium (I've been hoping to get this)
Rabdosia longituba
Hellborus 'Ivory Prince' (syn. H. 'Wallhelivor')
And what about Delphinium tricorne?
I have helleborus Ivory Prince. It's in a very dark part of my garden so it's very slow to grow but the foliage is beautiful. I looked up the hakone grass and it says that it's green most of the year but turns red in fall. Sounds very pretty - I'm a big fan of Hakone grass though.
I agree about Hakone. I wonder, though, if the red tint might not stand out. I love the Hakone with gold or white edging -- they positively sparkle!
Ronna, I can never figure out this Lily staking. I can have 10 of the same lily growing in a group in 3 square feet. Half of them will need staking. The other half won't. I find this true whether they're growing in sun or shade. Lillies make great shade plants. I grew 5 or 6 varieties in shade this year. The perfumes have been heavenly. This is a 6' tall Asiatic "Fangio"
And this is my latest love, 4 to 5' tall, Orienpet "American Journey"
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!
Happy & RCN, you've got me starting a list for next year!!!!! I don't suscribe to Fine Gardening. Do you find it to be one of the better publications? In trying to cut down on my incoming reading material, I've stopped a lot of subscriptions. Maybe I should try this one.
RCN, Poor Rick! Those creatures can drive anybody nuts!! Yesterday, I even planted the Brunnera inside of those metal pots we've made. Their roots looked similar to a hosta's to me, so maybe they'd appeal to the voles. I wasn't taking the chance. Weerobin has been buying ready made cages for underground planting. Our fingers are getting so wrecked from making them, I'm ready to start buying some. I'm still too handicapped to stomp!!
My shade garden is so wet right now from all of the rain, that I'm worried about plants drowning. Quite a few are looking oxygen starved. Fungus is another worry in this weather.
RCN: Thanks for your comments -- I always love to read your descriptions of how plants grow for you.
Stormyla: I do like Fine Gardening -- it is probably my current favorite. Which you do like?
Happy, I've got several of your list growing in my garden.
Deinanthe caerulea grows well for me, but I really don't like it that much.
The flowers are pretty, but they face down. I find the overall texture of the plant to be coarse.
I have deinanthe bifida (the white flowered version) - same complaint.
I don't have cyclamen hederifolium, but I love my cyclamen coum.
It's planted right outside our front porch, since it's leaves come up in fall and stay all winter.
The leaves are beautifully variegated, so it's nice to have garden interest all winter.
I can't post of pix of the leaves, since it's summer dormant.
But coincidentally, I have a bloom today (see post below).
The blossoms are more often pink than white, but the one today is white.
My rabdosia longituba grows well. It's not super showy, but I think it's a nice plant. Not fussy at all.
And I've got lots of spigelia. It does really well here.
RCN - I like Naylor Creek and Garden Vision for epimediums.
The latter is the nursery run by Darrell Probst, who's usually referred to as the guru of epimediums.
His annual offering is amazing. Unfortunately, their catalog isn't on line.
Heronswood used to have a lot also, but alas, their catalog isn't what it once was.
And Stormy, I still promise to find you the source for the gopher cages!
Organizational skill isn't my finest attribute.
And since I ran out to get a picture of my cyclamen, I couldn't resist getting a shot of my bottlebrush buckeye.
They are indispensable in my shady yard for mid-summer bloom, despite the heat..
Bottlebrush buckeye? Pretty cool looking. Shade? I will have to look that one up!! Thanks, Ronna
Ronna, that wasn't a very good picture to give you an idea of the overall plant habit.
This one shows it a little better.
It's a pretty big shrub, so it needs lots of room.
But it flowers right now, which is definitely a plus.
I have several of them and I really like them.
weerobin I really like those. Awsome, I wish I had a bigger yard. Plant files says part shade to sun. The part shade is great for me. Pretty large huh? I love the white flowers that would be great for the shady side of my house! Im sorry did you say they were fragrant. Cool as the flowers are they probably are. Just guessing. Ronna
Weerobin: Thanks for the comments. I'm glad to hear that about Deinanthe caerulea. I was a little dubious about it.
I've wanted to succeed with Cyclamen! I have some seed working now, and some corm from Parks (second attempt; neither ever came up), and some plants that are now dormant. I am praying they return. I read they need it bone dry when dormant. But I lose all plants that need to be dry in the winter, so I am doubtful that I'll find a good spot for them. I'll keep trying!
Better late than never - I promised stormyla a photo of the Eucomis and Brigadoon combo. This is the original planting.
I liked the combination so much I planted it again in another area. Right now the 'Summer Chocolate' Albizia is small, but I'm hoping once it grows taller it will form a burgundy canopy over this combo. This is an area of the gardens that was started in the fall of '06 and I've just started digging more holes in the area getting ready to expand the border. I've got a few more of the Eucomis that were planted years ago in the front of the house that have turned all green because they don't get enough sun. I'm thinking of moving them here and expanding this planting with a mixture of the Eucomis and several Yuccas ('Sapphire Blue' and 'Bright Edge') along the edge of the border to add some blue foliage and more gold.
Weerobin, thank you for the sources! I haven't received Darrell Probst's catalog in a few years, guess I'm going to have to get back on his mailing list :) I love Bottlebrush Buckeye! Ours is done blooming now but this is what it looked like a month ago - caught the late afternoon sun on the blooms.
Happy, while I was grabbing photos of the Eucomis, had to take a couple pictures of the Epimedium for you :) This is the clump of Frohnleiten I was talking about, planted about 4 years ago. I separated the plants with stone steps so our dog could get to the water behind them, but now they're completely covered. Hard to tell from the picture, but this mound spreads about 4'-5' now!
Figured if Epimedium does so well in this area, I might as well have more - so planted E. x rubrum around the base of the Japanese Maple directly across the path and it's finally starting to fill in.
RCN, That Ecomis/Brigadoon/Abelia combo is just spectacular. Do you recall approximatley how many Brigadoons were used? How much sun does that area get?
Sorry, I realize that I got the name wrong, Albizia. I still like Doss's comment: Can't buy it if you can't spell it!!!
Happy, I'm really only reading back issues of Magazines that I never got too. I seem to only find about 20 minutes a day, if I'm lucky to read any. But it would be nice to have a good one or two for the winter. I used to have breakfast on the deck and read, but DG has eclipsed that time. The heat seems to bother me more this year. When it's really hot, it's nice to take my later breaks indoors, and use the computer.
RCN, your eucomis / hypericum combo is fabulous! I can see why you replicated it.
Is the eucomis hardy for you? Or do you lift it for winter?
I would never imagine it would be hardy here, but I see you're same zone as me...
Part shade or blazing sun?
My mind is already racing to find a spot for it in my yard!
(Though Stormy has cautioned me against the hazards of zone denial in the past.)
Happy, I don't keep my cyclamen coum dry in summer nor winter.
The foliage is summer dormant, yet they're being watered regularly all summer,
either by mother nature or my sprinklers.
And our winters aren't particularly dry.
They're planted in a bed right next to the front door which certainly isn't sharply draining.
I'd call it moisture-retentive soil. But there is a lot of tree root competition, which my keep them dry?
Anyway, mine aren't fussy at all. I definitely recommend to keep trying them.
Weerobin, You just can't help yourself!!!! When RCN first started talking about the Eucomis, I read up on them. Everything seems to indicate that they would be fine here. I don't know how much colder you are there. We get down to single digits usually for about 10 days to 2 weeks in the winter. This is true even in warm winters like we had this year. Most other days were in the high 30"s and 40's. Lots of high winds in the last few years, but not much snow. Yesterday, I dug out and threw away 3 zone 7 rated azaleas that I had inadvertantly purchased last year.
Happy, I have some cyclamen growing in a very damp spot. I keep thinking that they should rot, but they keep coming back every year. It's also a very dark spot with no sun.