Northern Shade Gardening

Astilbe simplicifolia 'Hennie Graafland' closeup

Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Hennie Graafland’ has very brightly coloured flowers. Not only do they have these showy pink plumes, the plants also have extra shiny leaves, that show up well in the shade. This astilbe blooms a little later in my garden than the other cultivars.

The Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Hennie Graafland’ flowers have an overall bright pink colour, because each section of the plume has a deep rose pink centre, with a soft pink around it. The flowers keep their intense colour for about 3 weeks, and then slowly fade to a neutral tan colour. When fall comes, these brown flower plumes fit in with the natural fall colours. In winter, the naturally dried flowers provide interest in the garden, rising above the snow.

The leaves of this astilbe are highly reflective. This glossy foliage is great in the shade, as it adds a bit of sparkle to the darker areas. The leaves makes a great contrast to more matte finished perennial leaves. They do like some water, if you’re walking by with the hose. The moisture keeps their foliage nice and fresh green. These astilbes are in  a medium shade area of the garden, which helps them conserve moisture, without too many top ups.

These short astilbes look good at the front of the shade border. The Hennie Graafland plants are 30 cm (12 in) tall, and the flashy flower plumes grow up to 45 cm (18 in) tall. I have a group of three of these perennials that make a good showing together.

Astilbe simplicifolia 'Hennie Graafland' plants

Hennie Graafland astilbe bloom a couple of weeks after my Diamant and Europa astilbe. They extend the astilbe flowering time in my garden, as the other ones are fading.

Astilbe simplicifolia ‘Hennie Graafland’ is a nice little perennial for the shade garden. When in bloom, it’s a little more flamboyant than most shade plants. The polished leaves are attractive all season, and the vivid pink flower plumes really brighten up my August garden.

Helleborus Brunnera Athyrium foliage combination

Brunnera, Helleborus and Athyrium ‘Ghost’ make a great foliage combination in the garden. I especially like these three shade plants together, as their leaves look good all season, even when they are not flowering. This group of perennials is flourishing in a shady garden area with about an hour or two of direct sun a day, a bit of dappled light, and some extra light in spring before the leaves come out on the willow. You can click the pictures to see the whole photo, if you’re viewing at a smaller resolution.

The Brunnera macropylla ‘Looking Glass’ (Siberian bugloss) leaves start off with more green in the spring, but by summer the foliage develops a mainly silver colour, with small green lines along the leaf veins. This colour is very eye-catching, especially in the shadows of the shade garden. In spring this perennial has a bonus of very beautiful light blue flowers above the leaves, which last for 6 weeks or more. The Brunnera add pretty heart shaped leaves and a frosty silver colour to this foliage combination for the rest of the season.

The Helleborus ‘Ivory Prince’ has very dark green, stiff leaves, with faint light green markings on the veins. I really like the contrast next to the Brunnera leaves, with the inverse colouring. The beautiful green leaves are displayed very early in the spring, when most everything else is still underground or brown. I would plant another group of ‘Ivory Prince’ in another shady garden area, but I can’t find any around locally this year, so I’ll have to wait for this group to expand. This is a great shade plant for its long season of  interest, and I especially like the thick, dark green foliage next to the other perennials in this combination.

I’m pleased with how long the Helleborus has held onto the colourful bracts for the flowers. In early spring these had rose pink buds, that opened to cream, pink and green flowers. The bracts which hold the flowers have a greenish yellow colour and are still holding up, looking like flowers three months later.

Athyrium' Ghost' Helleborus 'Ivory Prince'

The Athyrium ‘Ghost’ fern has very silvery fronds, even when they don’t have shafts of sunlight highlighting them, as they do in the first photo. The dark purple axis down the middle of the frond really sets off those silvery pinna. The silver fronds stand out when surrounded by darker leaves in the shade. The feathery texture of the foliage contrasts nicely with the other solid leaves in this combination. The ghost fern comes up later in spring than the other two perennials, but by mid summer the plant is taller than the Helleborus or Brunnera.

This trio of perennials is one of my favourite foliage combinations  in the shade garden right now.  Are you enjoying any particular combinations in your garden?

Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is not what you would call a demure shrub. This Hydrangea is not a shy and retiring woodland plant. It is an exuberant cheerleader in the garden, with large pompoms.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' flower closeup

This flower cluster is 20 cm (8 inches) across.  For such small shrubs, they usually  produce a large number of these jumbo sized blooms. Typically, an Annabelle hydrangea is covered in these large white flowers.

My shrub is in a very shady area of the garden, so it doesn’t get as many blooms. It is on the northern side of my house, and gets about an hour or less of direct sunlight a day. This seems to be enough to produce about five large pompoms at this point. Although Annabelle can take shade, this might be too shady of a location. I’ve only had this one for two years, so it might get more flowers as it matures, or it could be that this Annabelle is just blooming the best it can with the small amount of sunlight I give it.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' flowers

As the green buds open, Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ produces these showy, white flower heads. The flowers last for over a month in summer, and then gradually fade to tan in fall.

Hydrangea arborescens 'Annabelle' shrub

Here are the five blooms on my 60 cm by 60 cm (2 ft by 2 ft) Annabelle shrub. :) You can see that some of the blooms are still green, and the buds have just started opening.   I could move the shrub to a brighter part shade location, but I think I’ll leave Annabelle here for now, and see how it blooms as it matures. After all, it would only take another five of those giant bloom clusters, fully open, to cover this shrub.

This Annabelle hydrangea is planted in the garden next to my front steps. Every time I come home in August, it waves its pompoms and cheers:  “Give me an ‘N’  —  ‘ N’. Give me an ‘O’  —  ‘ O’. Give me an ‘R’  —  ‘R’. … Yeaaaaaah, Northern.” You have to admire such an enthusiastic shrub, even if it doesn’t have its full compliment of pompoms.