Northern Shade Gardening

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) shiny leaves

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) is a wonderful foliage plant for the shade. The rounded, cordate (heart shaped) leaves are thick and extra glossy. When they bloom, these perennials will have small, inconspicuous flowers, like tiny cups under the leaves. The polished foliage is the main attraction. I especially like the way they reflect the smallest amount of light in the shadows. The leaves spread out flat above the soil surface, making a great groundcover.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) closeup foliage folded

You can see the newly emerging perennial  leaves are folded tightly in half and are a fresh green colour. The large, flat leaf in front is from last year. About half of the leaves remain on the plant from last season, some in good shape, and some not.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) new little leaves

Here the symmetrical leaves of Asarum Europaeum are partly open, and starting to separate. They are luminous in the dappled light. I noticed that the plants which lost their old leaves over the winter were the first to pop up gleaming new leaves in the spring. I like the way the new leaves of this low-growing perennial appear to be coming directly up from the soil. There are horizontal stems at the soil surface.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) foliage unfolding

The little hearts are opening along their line of symmetry, flattening out. The lighter patterns along the veins are noticeable on the inside of the European ginger leaves.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) old and new foliage

In this photo you can see the old dark green foliage from last year close to the ground, as well as the fresh light green leaves rising up in the centre. My one group of seven Asarum plants on the east side of my yard all came back, but I only see seven out of nine plants from this group so far. It is still early in the season, so they might be waiting for a better forecast before they come out.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) new foliage folded

Here is another picture of the shiny new Asarum leaves appearing, like arrows from the ground. They are gleaming on the top surface, even when they are only half open.

Asarum europaeum May 18 with snow (You'll never defeat us, Mr. Freeze!)

The European ginger does not mind a late spring snow. The leaves looked perfectly fine afterwards, which is a great trait for a foliage plant.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) flower closeup

It is difficult to get a good picture of the flower, since they are very small, and hidden under the leaves, sideways on the ground. The purplish brown structure in the middle of the above photo is the flower. Having your flowers laying on the ground makes it easy for insects that hang out at the soil surface to pollinate your flowers. If you click to enlarge the picture, you can see how tomentose (hairy) the flowers are, like the stems.

Asarum europaeum (European ginger) shiny foliage

This group of Asarum have some Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair fern) planted behind them on one side, but it is much slower to come up in the spring. On their other side, there is a group of Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ (Siberian bugloss). The fern is very lacy, and makes a nice contrast, while the Brunnera have a similar cordate leaf, with a silver pattern. On the other side of the yard, I have another group of Asarum europaeum in front of some Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady in Red’ (lady fern with red stems), and next to some Brunnera macrophylla ‘Mr. Morse’.  Again they make a nice combination of lacy fern, red stems, silver foliage and lustrous little rounded hearts.

These shiny leaves will enlarge, and make a lovely perennial groundcover under the trees. They make a good contrast to other shade foliage. The hardy plants keep their foliage after frost, looking good until they are covered up. I recommend Asarum europaeum to make a pleasing green carpet in the shade, in the dappled light under deciduous trees.

Trillium grandiflorum (look at me I'm growing)

I have to take back the disparaging remarks I made about the Trilliums in a plastic bag. I planted the perennials twelve months ago, and never saw a sign of them in the garden.  Now, those overdue Trillium grandiflorum are finally making an appearance. I was so pleasantly surprised when the characteristic three leaves suddenly appeared in the garden.

I bought them very cheaply from the shelf of a store last May. The little rhizomes were in plastic packages, carelessly arranged on a dusty shelf, with no extra signage.  How could such a special and pretty little woodland plant be laying on a shelf in a plastic bag? However, the price was so reasonable, that I had to give them a try. As I purchased them, I had misgivings, but I figured that I  didn’t have much to lose.

I planted the little brown rhizomes carefully in this garden bed under the maple, thinking that they would enjoy the shady location and fallen deciduous leaves.  I watered and tended the space all last year, but there was never a sign of any growth. When the slow-paced perennials  had still not appeared this spring, I admitted defeat and bought three new Trillium grandiflorum plants. Now the old rhizomes are coming to life.

I feel bad that I gave up on the little Trillium rhizomes in this previous post. However I feel even worse that I was stepping over this area of the shade garden a week ago, as I cleaned up, finally sure that nothing was under there.

Now the fresh leaves have appeared, and I’m elated at this unexpected bonus. Only two of the six have appeared so far, but with our current weather, I wouldn’t blame the others for staying cozily underground for a while longer. I’m definitely not giving up on the other Trillium rhizomes yet, after a twelve month delay for the first two.

Trillium grandiflorum new flower

Here’s what the three petaled blooms will look like, if they flower this year. This flower picture is of one of my newly purchased plants.

I’m thrilled to see these perennials in the garden.  My little Trillium patch is growing. I’m not sure how long it will take them to flower, perhaps not this year. However, there is a little piece of charming woodland growing under the trees now.

Have you given up on a plant, only to have it surprise you much later?

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' May 16 beautiful blooms

The Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ (Lenten rose) are in bloom now, and their blossoms are as pretty as their foliage. The flowers are subtle shades of cream, muted pink and green. All six plants made it through a zone 3 winter, and a cold spring. I’ve been very impressed with this perennial’s hardiness and perseverance through repeated frosts. These attractive shade plants are great in the spring garden. Their name is Helleborus ‘Walhelivor’, but they are usually found under the marketing name of  ‘Ivory Prince’.  Either way, they are a very desirable plant.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' Dec 21 under snow

Here is what a Helleborus leaf looked like back in December under the snow. It resembles a sea star, floating atop a frozen ocean. The stiff leaves hold the snow without crumpling.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' April 17 red stems

The Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ were remarkably preserved in April, retaining the leaves from last year, to give a wonderful burst of early green. This photo shows the red stems on April 17, with a few new leaves and buds emerging from the centre of the plant.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' April 18 with foliage from last year still

This picture shows what great shape the Ivory Prince leaves were in after winter. I think the fallen leaf cover and snow helped to protect the perennial, because I’ve heard that Hellebores don’t normally do well on the prairies, or in zone 3, but these have done exceedingly well so far. Perhaps the shelter of a garden, with fences and houses around, and trees overhead help protect them from the drying winds, or perhaps Ivory Prince is better adapted for this climate.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' April 23 under leaves and snow

We had a cold snap at the end of April, and the temperatures went down to -15 C (5 F) with the windchill. I had already removed the winter leaf layer, and the new Helleborus sprouts were exposed overnight. My timing was not good though, since I put some leaf cover back over the hellebore plants after the coldest night. Here they are protected by leaves, with snow over top. I wouldn’t bother covering them back up in spring again, as they seem to have done just fine anyways. I should have left the winter leaves over half of them, and uncovered the rest, to see if there would be any difference in their growth.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' May 2 red stems

Here are the pretty new Helleborus buds at the beginning of May. I love the dark red stems, contrasting with the green foliage. The buds look wonderful, with their burgundy pink outside sepals, and creamy pink tips.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' May 16 flower closeup

The lovely cream coloured blooms, with hints of green, are revealed as the sepals open on the Ivory Prince. The colour variations are delicious, and add to the charm of the flowers. Most of the flowers face outwards or even up, so they are easy to see.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' May 16 plant group

This is part of a group of six Hellebore plants. I’m pleased with how these perennials are filling in, as they just start the season. You can just see some Galanthus  elwesii (snowdrops) behind the group. They have been blooming for about  as long as the Helleborus. The other surrounding perennials have not developed yet.

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince' May 16 lots of beautiful blooms

Above you can see a  Helleborus covered in beautiful blooms. They are very striking, and besides the Puschkinia (striped squills), they are the most noticeable flowers in the garden right now. My other early perennials, Brunnera (Siberian bugloss) and Pulmonaria (lungwort), are just beginning to open their first blue flowers. I would recommend Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ for a protected garden in zone 3, as they really extend the flower season, blooming before most early perennials. In a cold, late spring like this one, this is especially appreciated. The plant below is shown blooming on May 18, after a day of snow.

Here is another article I wrote with more information about Ivory Prince hellebore, and you can see how Helleborus look in late fall here.

Helleborus ‘walhelivor’ (Ivory Prince Lenten rose) blooming after the snow