Northern Shade Gardening

As new perennial foliage unfurls in the spring, the tiny, perfect leaves always look so attractive. Here are some of my emerging perennials with especially nice looking leaves. Some of the early spring bulbs are still lingering, so they make colourful combinations with the new leaves. These perennials thrive in the shadiest parts of my garden. The foliage looks appealing both before and after the flowers.

Pulmonaria samourai new leaves in spring

The Pulmonaria ‘Samourai‘ (lungwort) has developed many silver leaves, and those fat buds promising future blue flowers.

Geranium 'Johnson's Blue' leaves with crocus

Geranium ‘Johnson’s Blue’ has lovely fresh green leaves. They get the most light of any of these perennials, and develop a good number of flowers in a part shade location. The Crocus ‘Yellow Mammoth’ flowers behind have lasted a long time, and look great next to the Geranium. With the cool weather, the Yellow Mammoth have been blooming for over a month, the longest of any of the crocus.

Dicentra spectabilis 'Alba' emerging leaves

Dicentra spectabilis ‘Alba’ (white bleeding heart) has narrow shoots still, rising up through the debris from the pine tree. In hotter zones these seem to die back for the summer, but they keep their leaves in my garden up until the first frosts.

Asarum europaeum emerging foliage

Most of the Asarum europaeum (European ginger) keep their leaves over the winter. The new leaves are shiny, light green, making perfect little hearts. This is one of my favourite groundcovers in the shade. The only improvement I could make on these plants, would be for them to spread a little faster. Of course, planting them next to tree trunks in the deepest shade, with lots of root competition, might slow down their growth a bit.

Aruncus aethusifolius new leaves

Aruncus aethusifolius (dwarf Korean goatsbeard) shoots up these small, fluffy leaves in a tight mound. The foliage remains appealing all season. I don’t remember planting the Galanthus bulbs that close to these plants, but the white snowdrops looked good over top of the Aruncus leaves.

Actaea ramosa 'Atropurpurea' new leaves

Actaea ramosa ‘Atropurpurea’ (bugbane) has a purple edge to each leaf when they emerge. The newest shoot in front is quite distinct, with a pattern of fuzzy looking white on the tightly curled ball.

Actaea racemosa new leaves

Actaea racemosa (bugbane) has a bluish green cast when new, with purple stems and leaf edges. This foliage, which will reach 2 m (6 ft) makes a terrific backdrop for other perennials, long before the tall flower wands bloom in Fall.

Epimedium 'Lilafee' new foliage

The new Epimedium ‘Lilafee’ foliage has a reddish purple border when it firsts pops up, too. The foliage is particularly attractive with the asymmetrical heart shapes. You can see one tiny pink flower bud in the centre. The flowers will develop quickly now, and should be blooming in a few weeks. The plants will develop many more leaves, and make a great groundcover in the shade.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' leaves and buds

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ (Siberian bugloss) has a few blue buds opening over top of the beautifully patterned silver leaves . This plant is such a winner, for the gorgeous flowers and leaves, as well as its willingness to grow anywhere, but never get out of control.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' and Chionodoxa

The Brunnera macrophylla ‘Looking Glass’ (Siberian bugloss) leaves are already developing their silver colour, with faint green markings on the leaves. You can just see the white Chionodox ‘Alba’ bulbs blooming behind them at the back of the photo.

Brunnera macrophylla 'Mr Morse' new leaves

Brunnera macrophylla ‘Mr Morse’ (Siberian bugloss) is another winning shade plant . Although the leaves are  splashed with a little dirt right now, they are as attractive as Jack Frost.

Pulmonaria 'Majeste' with Puschkinia

Here is Pulmonaria ‘Majeste’ (lungwort) with the blue striped Puschkinia (striped squills) flowers behind. Majeste is supposed to have an overall silver gray colour, and did last year, but this year it is showing the more typical spotted lungwort leaves. I don’t know if it will go back to the overall silver colour, or if it will keep the spots. I actually prefer the all silver look of Samourai, but spots can be cute, too.

Pulmonaria 'Majeste' with Chionodoxa

On the other side of  the Pulmonaria ‘Majeste’  are some  white Chionodoxa (glory of the snow) flowers, and you can see the edge of the blue Scilla on the upper right.

Some perennial leaves deteriorate rapidly through the summer, but I’ve found that these shade plants keep their good looks, and make good companions for other plants with or without  their flowers.

Do you have any favourite foliage popping up?

The small bulbs of early spring are some of my favourites. Their perfect miniature flowers add beautiful colour and charm to the garden. The little blue flowers of Chionodoxa (glory of the snow) and Scilla (squills) mix well with the other spring colours, as well as the new perennial foliage. They can also endure snowstorms and keep producing these beautiful flowers. Both the Scilla and Chionodoxa do well in a shady garden.

Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow)

These Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow) are planted under a Hydrangea. The Hydrangea has yet to break any buds, but the glory of the snow are shining beautifully under the bare branches of the shrub. I adore the bright blue flowers, with the white centres. Each flower has six long petals, with a dark line down the middle of each. The white in the middle makes the flowers stand out even more. The upturned flowers of each bulb are very showy, but they look especially nice in groups.

Chionodoxa luciliae (glory of the snow) in shade

The Chionodoxa luciliae (glory of the snow) also have terrific blue flowers that face the sky. These bulbs are planted in a very shady area, but they still bloom each year. The flowers are behind a group of  Scilla, and together they make a beautiful garden bed of blue on the north side of my house. There are still some blue and white Puschkinia (striped squills) flowering next to them, after three weeks.

Scilla siberica (squills) blue flowers

Scilla siberica (squills) come in the prettiest, brightest blues. The flowers hang down from the stems, but the backs of the petals are as blue as the fronts. These squills have spread in this area of the garden, despite getting less than an hour of sun a day. I’m surprised they have been expanding each year, instead of declining under the adverse conditions.

blue spring bulbs in snow

The above photo shows why I appreciate these hardy spring bulbs in a cold climate. The Scilla siberica were getting battered on the morning of a snowstorm earlier this week. The snow actually got deeper during the day, and mostly covered up the blue flowers. After the snow melted, most of these hardy bulbs were still upright and flowering. Their resiliency and tolerance make them great choices for a northern garden. The first photo in the post of the Chionodoxa forbesii was also taken after the snowstorm had completely covered the flowers, and then melted. You couldn’t even tell that they had been buried now.

Scilla siberica 'Spring Beauty' (squills) and Chionodoxa

I have a large group of  Scilla siberica ‘Spring Beauty’ next to some white Chionodoxa ‘Alba’, which flower at the same time. These two spring bulbs make a fresh looking combination in blue and white. This group in the back yard have some blue and white Pusckinia scilloides (striped squills)  flowering to the west in this bed. I waffled, and placed it in a post on white spring bulbs, but could easily have included it with the blues. All of these bulbs have long narrow leaves that fade away by summer, and are easily hidden by the growing perennials.

There are buds on the blue Muscari bulbs (grape hyacinths), but none have opened yet. The little blue spring flowers will continue for a while, once the Muscari fully open. Here is an earlier post with more blue bulb pictures.

I love cheerful flowers that endure and bloom, despite the conditions, instead of sulking and declining. Both Chionodoxa and Scilla are much tougher than their delicate petals and diminutive stature would suggest.

Scilla siberica (squills) blue flowers up close

When Perennials Bloom by Tomasz Anisko Front Cover

When Perennials Bloom: An Almanac For Planning and Planting by Tomasz Anisko is a very useful reference book for the sequence of perennial flowering times.  As well as the length and dates of the bloom intervals in a number of zones, it contains  a great deal of information about plant culture. I bought this book last summer, and I appreciate it as a handy reference, a delightful bedside read, and a great picture book for winter dreaming.

Knowing the relative flowering dates for perennials is extremely useful when planning your garden. This book will help you coordinate those times, to spread them over the year, fill in the gaps, or go for a massive display in one season.

The bloom dates are especially detailed for zone 6 of Pennsylvania, the location of Longwood Gardens, where the author is  the curator of plants. However, the flowering times of other regions are also included. I found the Moscow ones more practical for my specific zone. Even if you are not in an explicitly mentioned  gardening zone, it is still helpful to know the relative sequence and length of the flowering period for the perennials.

The middle picture shows a sample of a quarter of a page, showing the detailed information about the flowering times for Brunnera. It is even broken down into differences between the species and a cultivar.

When Perennials Bloom book Brunnera chart

Besides the individual bloom charts for each perennial, at the back of the book is a particularly useful composite chart. This includes horizontal bars of the flowering months for hundreds of perennials, arranged in order from earliest to latest. The length of the shaded bars on the chart is an easy visual to find long lasting flowers that will carry the garden along, as the shorter flowering perennials come and go. These seven pages are great for a comprehensive understanding of the timing of each perennial’s flowering season.

Although the perennials in my zone 3 garden have different months for flowering than the chart, it is still applicable. My garden season is compressed, but the sequence is still the same. By looking at perennials I currently grow, and when they bloom, it is easy to compare. Because bloom duration can vary from year to year, the data is colour-coded to show the most common dates, as well as the range of early and late intervals for each plant.

By looking down any column of the charts, you can quickly discover plants that will be likely to bloom at the same time. This is valuable for creating or redoing a garden bed, when you are trying to coordinate the flowers to bloom together.

You can also plan a bed to flower across the gardening  seasons as you look from the beginning to end of the list. My beds are heavy on the spring flowering plants, since I look forward to their blooms, after a long winter. However, sometimes a garden seems bare in certain months, and you are looking for flowers to perk it up then.

I’ve been keeping a simplified version of a flowering chart for my garden. Here is a previous post, showing how you can keep track of the bloom time of your perennials. It includes a sample of the beginning of one of my charts.

When Perennials Bloom by Tomasz Anisko Back Cover

As well as the detailed lists of flowering dates, the book also includes lots of beautifully coloured photos, showcasing the plants and their flowers. There are thorough descriptions of the perennial flowers and foliage to accompany the pictures, including information about cultivars and varieties.

It is also a detailed reference of other background information for each perennial, such as the origin and natural habitat of the plants, which I find helpful for figuring out where they might do well in the garden. The tips on plant culture for each entry are comprehensive and practical, including water, light and soil requirements, cutting back, and siting. Most entries include zone hardiness as well. Of course, an entry like, “hardy to zone 5, possibly zone 3,” is just too tempting for me. :)

At 510 pages, When Perennials Bloom, from Timber Press, is packed with valuable information, so you can use it as a reference to research specific plants and their care, to help coordinate the flowering times in your garden, or as an enjoyable read.