Northern Shade Gardening

Cornus canadensis group with red berries

Cornus canadensis (bunchberry) is a woodland plant that is native to large parts of Canada. It works as a groundcover under trees in the garden, too. This subtle plant with green leaves perks up with seasonal changes, adding colour to the garden with white flowers in late spring as well as bright red leaves and berries in autumn. This fall, I was hiking in the montane and subalpine areas near Banff, and saw bunchberry plants spread out into the distance as I hiked under the pine and spruce  trees. You can see the wild bunchberry in the picture above. My own bunchberry patch is more modest in scale.

Cornus canadensis on forest floor

In my garden the Cornus canadensis is growing under a large spruce tree on the north side of the house, next to a walkway. It makes a very natural looking, easy care groundcover. I’m seeking an appearance that is a combination of forest floor and garden in this bed, so the Cornus canadensis fit in perfectly. I’m aiming for this bunchberry section to look like the photo above from the mountains.

Cornus canadensis flower in in my garden

The picture of the white bunchberry flower is from my garden in very late spring. I planted my C. canadensis 3 year ago, and they are just filling in now. Since they are a native wildflower,  I expected them to spread a little faster, but I suppose the extra shady site under the conifers and the occasional dryness have slowed them down, or the bunchberry just took a while to settle into the garden. I often see larger patches of it in slightly damper conifer forests, so it might spread faster if I gave it more supplemental water.

Cornus canadensis surrounded by green

The feather mosses are common on the forest floor, and give it a springy surface. I’d love to have more moss growing between the Cornus canadensis in my garden, like the picture above.They are often found in spruce and pine forests, so I thought they would enjoy my mini-forest of spruce and pine.

Cornus canadensis group around logs

Here is another shot of the typical habitat where you will find bunchberry growing in the wild. There is lodgepole pine, Douglas fir and white spruce in this forest. Sometimes I see bunchberry growing with twinflower or kinnikinnick plants. I purchased mine from a garden centre and planted them 3 years ago  in a group on their own in between some Tiarella and Hosta, but I’ve thought about planting some of those other natives with it.

Cornus canadensis white flower in my garden

Cornus canadensis gets small white flowers in the late spring. The photo shows the white flowers on my plants back in June. Those 4 decorative, white shapes are the bracts, and the flowers are the little green part in the middle.

Cornus canadensis 2 plants with berries

Come autumn, the plants develop cluster of bright red berries. Mine didn’t get the berry clusters like the wild ones in the shot above. Birds and wildlife eat the berries, so either the neighbourhood wildlife got them already, or they never developed.

Cornus canadensis with berries in fall

Looking at this shot from the mountains, I think I need to add some fallen tree logs. I do have a piece of bark that is developing a nice mossy coating on the other side of this bed that I might place in the bunchberry patch.

Cornus canadensis under tree branches

The understory in the mountains can be very serene in myriad shades of green, with shafts of sunlight reaching through the tree branches to highlight the little plants of the forest floor. For most of the year Cornus canadensis wears  its green camouflage like the picture above, blending in to the forest floor.

Cornus canadensis bunchberry collage of autumn colour

Then the bunchberry leaves make a brilliant transformation in the fall, changing to bright shades of red and purple. Mine develop red and burgundy coloured leaves as the cooler weather sets in. The collage above is made with my garden photos from this fall. Before the snow comes, they give one last jolt of colour under the trees.

Cornus canadensis in snow

The colour flashes on the leaves are still visible as the snow settles on them. If you’re searching for a  natural looking groundcover for a shady area, Cornus canadensis is a low maintenance choice.

Here are two new Heuchera (coral bells) that I’ve added to my garden this fall. Both ‘Peppermint Spice’ and ‘Havana’ have larger and more attractive flowers than some of my other foliage Heuchera.

Heuchera ‘Havana’ and Heuchera ‘Peppermint Spice’ are both suited to the shade. Most Heuchera don’t mind low light conditions, but some of the newer crosses have been selected more for sun tolerance. Since I have lots of shade, and don’t get excessive heat in my northern garden, I look for ones that do well in a shady location.

Heuchera ‘Havana’ (coral bells) in pot

Here’s a closeup of Heuchera ‘Havana’ still in its pot before planting. For an extra flash of colour, the stems are a deep purplish red. The flowers will be a dark pink, almost red, color, but my three  new ones won’t  have any blooms until next year. Some coral bells have very small flowers on overly long stems, but ‘Havana’ have many bells arranged along a number of proportionate stems to make a more impressive display.  These dense and attractive flowers on ‘Havana’ will rebloom as well, so it has more than just good looking leaves going for it.

Heuchera ‘Havana’ (coral bells) leaf closeup

Heuchera ‘Havana’ has very light, yellowish green foliage, with a hint of silver. At times it has more yellow in the leaves. The leaf veins are an apple green colour. That lighter colour is especially noticeable in the shadows under the trees. There are small flashes of red and purple underneath some ‘Havana’ leaves now. The leaf colour of Heucheras can vary as the temperature drops, and even as moisture levels change. In early spring and late fall mine develop more red and purple tones.

Heuchera ‘Havana’ (coral bells) in garden

Here is ‘Havana’ planted in the shade, beneath the boughs of my spruce. It’s recommended for very shady sites, or only a few hours of morning light, so I think it has the perfect location. You can see the darker shadows here, and how the leaves reflect the light that makes it under the tree, so the plants show up well. Next summer I’ll see how many flowers they produce in this section of the garden.

Heuchera ‘Peppermint Spice’ (coral bells) leaves and ladybug

This photo was taken before our recent deeper frosts. By the time I planted the Heuchera ‘Peppermint Spice’ and reached for my camera, a ladybug had already settled in on the leaves. These insects were my constant companions while gardening this fall.

‘Peppermint Spice’ has green leaves with a faint silver overlay, and a darker brownish purple contrasting colour spreads in patterns along the leaf veins. The leaves are similar to  my ‘Mint Frost’ or ‘Green Spice’, but the flowers are supposed to be nicer than either of those. The bright pink blooms of this cross are larger and more noticeable, which they get from their Heuchera sanguinea heritage. I’ll see how many flowers they get in a shady location next year.

Heuchera ‘Peppermint Spice’ (coral bells) flowers

The Heuchera ‘Peppermint Spice’ will get an hour or so of early morning light, and then indirect and dappled light for the rest of the day. Since ”Peppermint Spice’ is best in part shade to shade, they should do well here. The foliage behind the flowers is from a tall Actaea simplex. The conspicuous flowers of ‘Peppermint Spice’ should show up well against the green background.

This garden section is backed by Actaea simplex ‘Atropurpurea’ (bugbane). I planted the ‘Peppermint Spice’ in front between groups of Tiarella  ‘Sugar and Spice’ (foamflower) and Heucherella ‘Tapestry’ (foamy bells), both of which have evergreen leaves, too. There are also pretty little Campanula (bellflowers) planted here, some C. poscharskyana (Serbian bellflower), and C. cochlearifolia (fairy thimble bellflower). Next to the Actaea are some Osmunda regalis (royal ferns). These ferns are supposed to grow very tall, 1.2 to 1.8 m (4 to 6 ft), but in my climate they are more like minor nobility at about 30 cm (1 ft) tall.

I’m looking forward to seeing how ‘Havana’ and ‘Peppermint Spice’ settle into the garden. I’ll show pictures next year of how the new Heuchera look flowering in the shade. My other Heuchera have been winter hardy in my zone 3 garden, so I expect these to do well. Heuchera leaves look fabulous in the fall and continue to look great well past the frost. Even after a snow fall, if they aren’t buried, they are adding wonderful colour to the shade garden.

Sanguinaria canadensis f multiplex double bloodroot group

The exquisite Sanguinaria canadensis (bloodroot) flower in in mid-spring with ethereal white blooms that arise on flower stems held between leaves that are still tightly rolled. The flowers are a pure white that glow in the shade. I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me until this fall to plant some pretty Chionodoxa forbesii (glory of the snow) bulbs with them. They both bloom at the same time, and the wonderful blue of the bulbs will look great surrounding the white bloodroot.

Sanguinaria canadensis f multiplex double bloodroot white flowers

I grow both the single flowered Sanguinaria canadenis and the double flowering  Sanguinaria canadensis f. multiplex. These woodland flowers are unusual in that the flowers come up and start to unfurl before the leaves even open. Each flower stem is held above a securely coiled leaf, which clasps the stem like fingers around a wine glass stem. The petals open and appear to be rising almost directly from the earth. The purity of their petals is breathtaking. After they are done flowering, the leaves with round lobes continue to grow, and will get quite large for a short woodland plant. Unlike some of the more ethereal woodland plants, the leaves stay until fall in my garden. They are just deteriorating now in September and October, especially after our first frosts.

Sanguinaria canadensis f multiplex double bloodroot 2 flowers

Although beautiful, the flowering time of Sanguinaria is brief. The single flowering bloodroots may only last a week, while the double flowering multiplex form last longer. The doubles are sterile, because some reproductive parts get converted to give more petals. I like to have both in the garden, as the single flowering ones are most useful to pollinators, but the doubles have more showy flowers. Because the bloom time of Sanguinaria is short, I have some Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ (Siberian bugloss) planted in front to flower afterwards. You don’t have to hide the Sanguinaria though, as the broad leaves are attractive, and look good next the feathery texture of ferns or Astilbe. I grow some taller Astilbe to the right and some Athyrium filix-femina (lady ferns) in front of those. Here’s a picture of where the Sanguinaria, Brunnera and Athyrium meet.

Sanguinaria canadensis f multiplex double bloodroot 3 flowers

It took me until this fall to realize how nice the white blooms of the bloodroot would look if there were some lovely blue flower bulbs accompanying them. In my zone 3 garden, Scilla (squills), Chionodoxa (glory of the snow) and Sanguinaria flower around the middle of May. Both Chionodoxa  and Scilla bulbs, which are closely related, flower for about 3 weeks in a lovely blue colour. Although they are all blooming at the same time, it just didn’t occur to me before to plant them together.

Scilla siberica (squills) blue flowers face down

I first considered using the pretty Scilla siberica flowers. With those sky blue petals they would make a nice companion plant. They tolerate growing under the trees, too.

Chionodoxa forbesii blue flowers with white centres face up

Then I thought the Chionodoxa forbesii would better. I decided to plant the Chionodoxa with the bloodroot because they have a small patch of white in the centre of the blue petals, so I think they will coordinate especially well with the gleaming white Sanguinaria. Also, the Chionodoxa flowers face upwards more, while the Scilla hang down. The Scilla are pretty, and still very noticeable as the back of the petals are so blue, but I think that the Chionodoxa with the wider upright petals will display better with the Sanguinaria flowers. After deciding that the glory of the snow bulbs would make the perfect companion planting for the bloodroot, I got to work with my shovel.

Chionodoxa forbesii glory of the snow bulbs being planted

I dug holes all around the outer rim of the Sanguinaria group, and placed the Chionodoxa bulbs pointy side up. Then I tossed the soil back in and tamped it down. Altogether I planted 80 glory of the snow bulbs around the bloodroot colony in order to balance out the groups.

I tried to stay outside of the bloodroot root area, but I did accidentally dig one up. The rhizomes are thick and oblong, rather like small carrots, and are a reddish orange color, hence their common name. I could see them already spreading underground by these rhizomes to increase the colony, even though they’ve only been here for 3 years. After I reburied it, I realized that I should have taken a photo of it. I’d already disturbed them enough, so I kept them tucked safely underground.

Sanguinaria canadensis and Chionodoxa forbesii collage

I created a collage to show the effect of the Sanguinaria canadensis surrounded by Chionodoxa bulbs. There will be more white flowers in the middle, since there were originally 3 double bloodroot and 3 single bloodroot. Both the bulb and the perennial will only flower for a short time in May, but I think they will be very eye-catching as partners. The Sanguinaria and Chionodoxa are compatible, since both can grow in the shade, and luckily they are both hardy in zone 3. These two come from different native areas;  Sanguinaria is a woodland plant from Eastern Canada, and Chionodoxa is from alpine areas in the Eastern Mediterranean. Although you wouldn’t find them growing together in the wild, they should make a terrific duo in my garden.