Northern Shade Gardening

Campanula portenschlagiana ‘Hoffman’s Blue’ (dalmatian bellflower) makes a great groundcover, with a thick carpet of gorgeous purple flowers. I planted these in a narrow space between my house and a sidewalk. The area is a little dry under the eaves and shaded between the houses, but they thrive there.

Campanula portenschlagiana is hardy and easy care. I have a 12 m (39 ft) row of these, and they all survived the winter. Incredibly, a couple of these plants kept a few of their colourful flowers under the snow. There they were in April, when the snow melted. They weren’t as perky after being buried in the snow. They were  soggy and wilted,  but they were still violet. These and the C. rotundifolia are the only plants I’ve had do that.

The foliage on this plant is long lasting too. In fall, as other plants give in to the frost, Campanula portenschlagiana continues with perfectly green leaves. In earliest spring, many of these leaves are still intact, giving an early boost of green.

I’ve read that these can spread more in other zones, but I’ve had no problem with them. They haven’t seeded into the lawn, nor have they tried to send runners down the cracks of the sidewalk. I’m not sure if this is because ‘Hoffman’s Blue’ is better behaved than the species or not. Perhaps the location I have them in, or my zone keeps them well behaved.

The flowers of these dalmatian bellflowers are upward facing bells, which makes it easy to view and admire them. The petals flare out and curl back slightly, a very attractive shape. ‘Hoffman’s Blue’ are a bluish violet colour, the exact shade changing with the angle and intensity of the sun. The plants are completely covered in the blooms, even in this area that only gets a couple hours of sun.

Not only do I find these dalmatian bellflowers attractive, but the bees find them irresistible too. You can play ‘Where’s Buzzy’ with the photos, as many have them have a fuzzy little black and yellow rear end sticking out of a flower. There is always a faint hum as I walk down this sidewalk. I like to stop and watch the bees bury their heads in the flowers, as their back ends wiggle around. It always makes me smile.

The Campanula portenschlagiana ‘Hoffman’s Blue’ can grow in some less than ideal conditions, and still produce these gorgeous blooms. There are more photos and information about this Campanula on a follow up post.

Here are some photos of  interesting leaves of some shade plants in my garden. The garden looks especially appealing when neighbouring plants have some variety in leaf texture, shape, colour surface or size. It draws your eye along, noticing the different consistency of the foliage, coarse or fine, rough or smooth, patterned or solid, large or small, and flat or wavy. I particularly like plants with lacy leaves next to large, solid ones.

Shiny leaves near matte textured leaves make a nice contrast in the shade. The Astilbe simplicifolia and Asarum europaeum (ginger) are the shiniest in my garden. In fact, the Astilbe looks as if a flash has gone off above it, but that’s just the leaves, reflecting the maximum amount of light. The Asarum looks polished to a high gloss. These plants bring a little dazzle to the shade garden.

Some shade plants leaves have subtle colours that catch your eye. The Brunnera, Pulmonaria (lungwort) and ghost fern are the most silvery. Their light colour makes them jump out in the shade. They look appealing near dark green leaves. The Athyrium niponicum (painted fern) and Cimicifuga ramosa (bugbane) have purple highlights, while the Epimedium grandiflorum (barrenwort) has red borders on the new leaves. They look good adjacent to green coloured leaves.

The Brunnera, Heuchera and Hosta have the strongest pattern designs on them. They add a little pizazz to the shady garden bed, so there is not just a solid mass of green. When looking along a garden bed, your eye stops at moment to look at the patterns. The provide a focus, a place to rest.

Some shade plants have a light texture, and some are heavy looking. The Hosta, Helleborus and Asarum are the stiffest leaves. The don’t move much in the breeze, and make a good contrast to the supple movement of ferns. The deeply divided ferns look graceful next to any solid leaves.

A variety of shapes on shade plant leaves make a garden bed more pleasing. The Asarum, Brunnera and Sanguinaria (bloodroot) are the most rounded, making a good foil for long leaves or finely cut ones. The Pulmonaria and Hosta have long leaves, which look attractive beside delicate foliage or rounded shapes.

I made a gallery of foliage pictures to show how a variety of leaves look in the garden. It’s a celebration of photosynthesis. All of these perennials are happy in a shady or part shade garden, with the exception of the spruce, which is more of a shade creator. Do you have any favourite leaves in your garden?

You can click on any picture to enlarge it.

You can see more foliage photos in this previous post about leaves. There are photos of shade perennial leaves with descriptions here.