Northern Shade Gardening

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.

After shady bed east side

Here is a before and after comparison of one of my shady garden beds, and how it has been changed from eight years ago. The above picture was taken this June, so the plants are not quite their full summer size. I like the mixture of textures in this bed, from all the different foliage colours and shapes.

At the back is a mockorange shrub, Philadelphus virginalis. It gives a shady green backdrop for the garden bed. In front of the mockorange are a group of Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady in Red’ (lady fern). These are a fresh green colour with dark red stems. In front of them on the right are some Brunnera macrophylla ‘Mr. Morse’ (Siberian bugloss), with their silver and green leaves. In front of the Brunnera, to the left and right, are some Asarum europaeum (European ginger), with extra shiny leaves. To the left are some Pulmonaria ‘Samourai’ (Samourai lungwort), with long silver white leaves. On the far right edge of the picture are some Trillium grandiflorum.

Ugly before picture

The before photo of this same area was taken when I first moved into the house 8 years ago. I think it makes a classic before picture, because it’s so bad and decrepit that anything you do to the area has to be an improvement. The before is actually just a bad grassy area in front of a rundown fence. The new bed is near the fence, between the maple tree on the right and the sidewalk on the left.

after east shady bed sideways

This is a sideways view of the area now, with the fence on the right. This shows the plants in spring, so they are still a little small here. I like the combination of leaves in the bed, and I think it looks interesting , even when the flowers are gone. There are delicate, finely cut fern fronds, large heart shaped leaves, round shiny leaves, and long matte finished silver leaves. This year the Trilliums are adding their groups of three too.

After east bed showing pulmonaria

This view is farther back, to show a bit of the Pulmonaria on the left. There is a new fence behind the Philadelphus virginalis, although  it’s mostly covered here when the shrub leafs out. This mockorange has never bloomed for me, but I’m excited this year, as it appears to have buds. I thought perhaps it was too shady a location for it, but if anything, it is even more shady now. We even had a cold winter, and quite a few late spring frosts, which I thought would have decreased the bud count. I’m looking forward to seeing the flowers for the first time. This mockorange has never performed as well as my Philadelphus lewisii ‘Blizzard’.

Here are two previous posts showing before and after pictures for other garden areas that were changed, a corner shade garden redesign and a narrow side garden remake.

There is a great sense of satisfaction in creating or renovating a garden bed, and watching it develop. It is fun to see how the plants work together, whether the plant shapes, flowers and leaves look good collectively, and fit their space. Have you been redoing any beds? How do you plan a new area?

Syringa vulgaris 'Wedgewood Blue' (lilac) June 2009

The lilac and lily of the valley are providing the sweetest scents in the garden this week. This is Syringa vulgaris ‘Wedgewood Blue’, a pretty bluish lavender colour. The buds which haven’t opened yet are the darker purple colour. The lilac fragrance is divine. There is a swirl of perfume that draws me to the flowers. It’s such a delight to wander over to this side of the garden and sniff these beautiful blooms. This is a shorter growing lilac, about 2 m (6 feet), so the blooms are at nose height.

This area around the lilac was a little sunnier a few years ago. I’m thinking of removing one or two maple branches that have grown to shade this area, to let a little more light in here. There aren’t as many flowers on this sun lover, and I’d love to have more of these sweetly scented blooms. You can read more about and view pictures of Syringa vulgaris ‘Wedgewood Blue’ in this followup post.

If you’re viewing on a smaller monitor, you’ll have to click to enlarge the photos, as the picture overflow doesn’t show.

Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) June 2009

This Convallaria majalis (lily of the valley) is another of my favourite perfumes in the garden. A large patch of them create a drift of scent around the garden. Since I have a number of groups, the fragrance is never far away right now. When I close my eyes and inhale, it brings back wonderful memories. It’s such a powerful effect, for such a little flower.

When the most perfumed plants start to bloom, I am reminded of how a garden is experienced with so many senses. Viewing the lovely flowers and leaf textures, touching a fuzzy leaf or a soft petal, hearing the rustle of the willow branches, feeling a light breeze on your skin, smelling the fragrant memories, all create an uplifting experience, a warm envelope of peacefulness.