Northern Shade Gardening

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?

Here is a foliage combination that is one of my favourites right now in the garden. The fern is Adiantum pedatum (maidenhair fern) and the ground cover is Asarum europaeum (European ginger). I particularly enjoy leaf combinations that have a good contrast, and these two perennials play off each other with different weights, leaf shapes, plant shapes and reflective qualities. They make a terrific pair in the shade garden.

Adiantum pedatum and Asarum europaeum foliage

If you’re viewing on  monitor set to a lower resolution, you can view the complete photo by clicking on it.

I have a group of Adiantum pedatum ferns behind a group of Asarum europaeum plants. These perennials are under the shade of a deciduous tree. When a breeze blows, the delicate looking fronds of the maidenhair fern sway back and forth above the sturdy ginger. It’s a delightful foliage combination that I enjoy immensely.

Adiantum pedatum is such an ethereal looking fern, because the thin supporting  stems are wiry and black, so they blend in with the soil. This makes the fronds appear to be delicately floating above the ground. The fronds radiate out, with the leaflets forming a circular pattern. The leaflets are a light green colour, turning blue green when they’re older, and making a good contrast to the black stems. Each subleaflet has a scalloped side, that looks like its been carefully cut into with a number of snips. The maidenhair ferns are about 45 cm (1.5 feet) tall, so they rise above the ginger.

In contrast, The Asarum europaeum ginger has solid, thick leaves with a circular shape. The foliage is held very close to the ground, covering the soil. This European ginger  grows about 15 cm (6 inches) tall in my garden. The leaves are highly reflective  of the small amounts of light that make it under the tree canopy. The foliage of these perennials looks rich and attractive in dappled light with their shiny leaves. Although they have the low growing decorative leaves of a typical groundcover plant, they don’t have the fast spread of other groundcovers.

In the shade, I like to plant ferns next to plants with heavy, thick or solid leaves. The contrast adds some excitement to the plantings. The maidenhair fern and European ginger make an especially nice foliage combination.

There are some closeup photos of the foliage of other shade plants in this previous post.

Do you have any particular plant combinations that you are enjoying?

Here are some further additions to the shade bed between the evergreens. I wrote about starting this shady garden bed two weeks ago. There is an hour or two of light hitting different sections of the garden, and some dappled light falling at different times during the day. I’ve been planting more perennials on either side, curving around the tall conifers.

Aruncus aethusifolius with cone droppings

On the left I’ve added a group of Aruncus aethusifolius (dwarf goatsbeard). With its delicate texture, this perennial looks good next to the large, solid textured Brunnera leaves. In this photo you can see the reddish colour of the newer stems, which is very attractive. The new small leaves in the middle are a light green, but the other leaves keep a fresh look. With these neat mounds of attractive foliage, this plant is looking good even before the cream coloured flower plumes decorate the top.

In the upper left corner of the dwarf goatsbeard picture you can see the recent cone scales that are getting dropped as a squirrel works its way through the cones. This squirrel  loves to sit on a horizontal branch of the pine above when snacking. These ones are new since I planted the bed, so with enough of these leftover scales, this bed will be self mulching. :)

Epimedium 'Lilafee' nice red tinged foliage

On the right I’ve enlarged the group of Epimedium grandiflorum ‘Lilafee’ (lilac fairy barrenwort). This perennial should do well in the drier section of this shade bed. The new leaves on ‘Lilafee’ are tinged with red, which looks especially nice with the other foliage plants.

Epimedium 'Lilafee' nice red tinged foliage 2

As the leaves mature, they become a more solid green. Here they are a few days later, with the red tinge fading to the edges, and new red leaves emerging.  There are flashes of red on them off and on as they send up new growth.

Hosta 'Ginko Craig' nice foliage

To the right of the Epimedium, I’ve added some Hosta ‘Ginko Craig’. It was Shady Gardener who suggested this low growing Hosta for this garden bed, and I quite like the way it looks here. This Hosta has medium green foliage with a narrow white margin around each leaf. The little flashes of white add some spark to this extra shady side of the garden bed. This Hosta is similar to ‘Francee’ in colouring, but it is lower growing, with narrower leaves.

Hosta 'Ginko Craig' flowers

The flowers on ‘Ginko Craig’ are similar to ‘Francee’, except they are a light to medium purple, instead of lavender. They have faint stripes on the inside, which are only noticeable close up. I added this Hosta just for the leaves, but the flowers are actually pretty, and don’t detract from the foliage display of the plant. The flower stems of Ginko Craig are short enough to fit under the lower evergreen branches, so this perennial fits the space well.

I plan on planting more perennials in this shade bed, as the garden wraps around the trees. The section on the far left gets more sun, so I might add some Campanula (bellflower), which should do well in the part shade there. I’d like to add some Polygonatum (solomon’s seal) behind the Hosta, for its elegant shape and variegated leaves. The shade plantings are working out so far, and I’m looking forward to seeing how it looks next year. Here is a followup post, showing some more shade plantings under the conifers.