Northern Shade Gardening

Astilbes add a feathery softness to the shade in the summer. Astilbe ‘Europa’ is a lovely medium sized perennial with soft pink plumes. The fluffy plumes look good above the foliage, which stays healthy and green, as long as they get enough moisture.

This is a great flowering plant for medium shade. Only a third of the plumes have opened, but already it’s looking good. They would probably get even more blooms in a light shade or sunnier location, but I’m happy with how well it does in the medium shade. The flowers of Europa are a beautiful, clear pink, without purple or peach tones. The light coloured flowers are very noticeable in the shadows. I like how they look with the fiesta white double flowering impatiens. Sometimes I’ve planted a pale apple blossom pink double flowering impatiens with them too. The plumes look pink for about 3 weeks and then start turning brown. This is one of the few perennial blooms that I still like the look of after the flowers lose their colour. I leave the astilbe plumes on until next spring. Like the Hydrangea flowers, they add interest over the winter.

The foliage looks good, green and healthy, and I find it stays that way, as long as it gets enough water. These astilbe plants get about an hour or so of direct sunlight in the early morning, and then a bit of dappled and indirect light for the rest of the day. This probably helps them from getting too dry, I haven’t watered them for a month, but the rain has been very accommodating this summer.

The plumes of this perennial open from the bottom up. In this closeup, it’s easy to see the delicate pink of the astilbe flowers, and the top still waiting to open.

My Astilbe arendsii ‘Diamant’ and A. simplicifolia ‘Hennie Graafland’ are barely beginning to open, and not ready for their closeup yet. They should be adding their showy white and pink blooms to the shade soon too. You can read more about these other astilbe in another post I wrote.Do you grow astilbes, and do you have a favourite?

The Campanula (bellflowers) are displaying their beautiful blooms now. They are a great perennial, and not just because they come in various shades of blue, purple and white. Many of these plants have a long blooming period.  Most of them also have good looking foliage. Campanula tend to be very easy care. Most bellflowers don’t need much fussing, except some of the small rock garden ones which need good drainage. Generally, deadheading and some extra water when things get dry are about all they need.

I always smile at the sight of bees in the flowers of Campanula. Most of the flowers are small, short tubes, and bees can’t get all the way in. They squeeze their bodies in as far as they can to get the nectar goodness, while their back ends hang outside, and wiggle back and forth.

This perennial with pretty stars is Campanula poscharskyana ‘Camgood’ (blue waterfall Serbian bellflower). It has horizontal flowering stalks with many blue star-shaped flowers. It blooms well, even in medium shade.

The plant is low growing.  It is a spreading bellflower, but doesn’t become annoying in zone 3. In good soil in a warmer climate, it might spread faster. I like the look of the numerous blue stars shining under shrubs or around tall perennials.

Campanula carpatica (Carpathian bellflower) is a very reliable perennial in zone 3. It forms a neat mound of foliage, and is covered in bells that face the sky. This good looking variety is C. carpatica ‘Blaue clips’ (blue clips). I also have the very similar C. carpatica ‘Deep Blue Clips’. Both of these flourish in the semi-shade. They are easy and satisfying to deadhead with a fingernail. Carpathian bellflowers are the longest flowering perennials in my garden.

I have 2 white flowering versions of C. carpatica, ‘Weisse clips’ (White Clips) and ‘White Uniform’. I’ve lost track of which Carpathian bellflower is which now. One of them is slightly more compact. These perennials are both very pretty and show up well from across the yard. Both are in semi-shade and do well.

I posted about Campanula portenschlagiana “Hoffman’s Blue” (Hoffman’s Blue Dalmatian Bellflower)  in more detail before. It is a great bellflower that I highly recommend for its shade tolerance and long bloom. The flowers are upright, showy bells.

Campanula glomerata (clustered bellflower) is my least favourite of the bellflowers I grow. It has a pretty flower, but it is short blooming, too vigorous and the foliage deteriorates after blooming. I discussed it in more detail in this post.

Campanula cochlearifolia (fairy thimble) is an appealing little bellflower with many small light blue or white bells. It is very dainty, and looks good at the very front of a border, or draping around rocks or ledges. It spreads out to make a low carpet, with numerous tiny bells hanging from short stalks above.

‘Elizabeth Oliver’ is a double flowering form of C. cochlearifolia. It is new to my garden this year. I hope it is as hardy as the basic fairy thimble. The charming flowers are a very pale blue, with a bell within a bell. This petite perennial is full of flowers. You can see how dark the Blue Clips on the left looks in comparison.

C. rotundifolia (harebell) is a hardy bellflower  that has blue bells hanging down the slender flower stalks. It has a low base of leaves, and the delicate flowers stalks rise above. In the shade, the flowers tend to lean over more, but this trait is fine, because it  looks good mingled with so many other plants. This is a charming, easy care bellflower that blooms for a few months, and then intermittently until frost.

Campanula never seem bothered by pests or disease. I had rust on a C. persicifolia (peach leafed bellflower) once, and that has been the only problem.

Campanula are a terrific genus in the garden. Their flowers, generally in shades of blue, purple and white, are always eye-catching. Many bellflowers bloom for an extended time, which is always a bonus for a perennial. They are easy to use in the garden, since they blend well with many other plants. Some of them tolerate medium shade, and many do well in part shade. All of these are hardy in the cold climate of zone 3.

Aruncus dioicus (goatsbeard) is lighting up the shade right now. This perennial is about 2 metres (6 feet) tall. Unlike some of the subtle shade plants, goatsbeard grabs the attention, especially when its towering white flowers bloom.

The tall plumes are a cream colour that are very noticeable in the shadows.  The long narrow blooms sway in the breeze, and give the plant a more delicate look at the top, than the solid foliage below.

The foliage is like a coarser version of an astilbe. It grows quickly in the spring, and forms a substantial clump. It can be 1.2 metres (4 feet) across. This perennial looks more like a shrub when it matures, growing rapidly from new sprouts every spring.

Goatsbeard is a great perennial for the back of a shady border, or in a corner. This healthy plant receives about an hour a day of direct light. It tolerates medium shade very well, but it is not as happy about deeper shade.

Another of my A. dioicus was planted in a darker corner under a willow. Whether from the deeper shade, or the competition with willow roots, it never bloomed, and only grew a half metre (a few feet). The branches were close together, like the stunted trees you find growing in alpine areas, a little krumholtz.  I’ve moved it to a medium shade location last year,  but it hasn’t caught up in height with my other goatsbeard, nor has it bloomed. I hope I haven’t permanently stunted it, from an impoverished start.

Aruncus dioicus blooms in the summer, when many of the shade perennials have quieted down. Mine blooms for about 2 to 3 weeks in July. I like this perennial because it adds height in the shade. There are fewer tall shade plants from which to chose. Another tall shade perennial,  Actaea simplex (bugbane), formerly Cimicifuga, will be blooming late in the summer. What tall shade perennials do you grow?

I’ve written more about this perennial and the dwarf goatsbeard on another post.