I recently bought some new shade plants for an expansion to the shade garden, Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady In Red’ (lady in red lady fern), Pulmonaria ‘Samourai’ (Samourai lungwort) and Asarum europaeum ( European ginger). This area is under a maple tree and behind the area is a Philadelphus virginalis (mockorange) that is about 2 metres tall (6 feet). Last year I had some double flowering impatiens in front of the shrub, but there was a big jump between the two in height. This year I’m digging it out a little wider and adding some woodland perennials. These are still in their pots. You can see more woodland flowers in my garden here, as well as Sanguinaria canadensis.
I’m planting this Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady In Red’ (lady in red lady fern) in front of the P. virginalis. You can see how it got the variety name by the striking red stems. They make a rich contrast to the lush green fronds. I find my other regular lady ferns, which volunteered in the cracks of my old patio, to be very hardy. Last year I was moving them in the spring and they accidentally landed upside down, breaking many of their fronds. While they were upside down, I just whacked them in half with the shovel and replanted both mangled pieces. By the middle of summer they were lush and full. You have to love a plant that thrives in the shade, survives a severely cold winter, and bounces back from mishaps.
I also bought some Pulmonaria ‘Samourai’ (Samourai lungwort), which is a cross between P. ‘Majeste’ (Majeste lungwort) and another Pulmonaria. I was actually looking for P. ‘Majeste’, when I saw these. They are very similar, except the ‘Samourai’ leaves are longer and thinner, which I found appealing. These have a stronger silver colour to the leaves than this photo shows. You can see how the new baby leaves and leaves on the flower stalk have the typical spotted pattern of Pulmonaria, before developing the silver cast of the mature leaves. They also have the typical pretty blue flowers of Pulmonaria, but start off pinkish.
I have been waiting to get some Asarum europaeum ( European ginger) for awhile. I have seen A. canadensis (wild ginger) around, but I was looking for A. europaeum, because the leaves are much glossier, as you can see in this photo of one of my new ones. The dark green, shiny, heart shaped leaves of this perennial should contrast nicely with the matte, elongated silver leaves of the Pulmonaria.
I’ll need to dig and reshape the bed in order to plant these perennials. I’ll post pictures later of how the new plantings looks. I think they should do well under the maple shade, and the foliage should look interesting together. You can see some other shade perennials in my garden in this post.
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ (Siberian Bugloss) is the most beautiful and versatile plant in my garden. It is blooming its little blue heart out right now, when very little else has started to flower.
This plant has so many positive attributes. The beautiful sky blue flowers resemble forget-me-nots, and are held in airy sprays above the plant. The blooms of ‘Jack Frost’ are fairly long lasting for a perennial. It blooms early in the spring, and is the first plant, other than bulbs, to flower in my garden. I appreciate the early bloomers, after a long winter, more than any other plants in the garden.
The leaves are exquisite, each one a stained glass painting in silver and green. As they grow through the season, the leaves become more silvery, more heart shaped, and the dark green veining patterns more distinct. Its foliage really stands out in the shade. It is one of the last plants to be visible at dusk as I glance out my window for that final look at the garden before dark.
It’s incredible that such a beautiful plant could be so hardy and versatile. Every one of my B. macrophylla survived over the winter in our zone 3 cold climate. It also adapts very well to shade. I have this plant in 3 different aspects, from semi-shade to medium deep shade and it has no problems. One area gets only an hour of light in the very early morning, yet they are blooming right now. I’ve been surprised at how well they handle the competition from willow roots too. I squeezed a few plants into tight pockets between roots, and they are doing just fine.
I heartily recommend Brunner macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ for its beauty and versatility in the garden. You can get away with buying the smaller less expensive sizes, since they grow quickly over the summer.
While in the garden centre recently, I saw the newly introduced B. macrophylla ‘Mr Morse’. The leaves are very similar to ‘Jack Frost’, but the flowers are white instead of the sky blue flowers of ‘Jack Frost’. If you if you would like the foliage effects of this plant, but with white flowers, then you might want to check out ‘Mr. Morse’. Here is a post I wrote on 3 silver toned Brunnera macrophylla plants, including ‘Jack Frost’. You can see pictures of ‘Mr. Morse’, along with ‘Looking Glass’, an even more silvery Brunnera that I’ve planted. You can see how great Brunnera still looks after the first frosts here.
I find the new fern fronds to be fascinating as they emerge in the garden. They are tightly rolled at first, and within days their fiddleheads unroll to reveal the new foliage. The shapes of the newly risen fronds are intriguing, standing tall with the curled end holding what will eventually become long fronds. These are the fiddleheads of Matteuccia struthiopteris (ostrich ferns).
It won’t take them long to stretch 90 to 120 cm tall (3 to 4 feet). The plants I have in the deep shade under a willow against the north side of a fence tend to be a little shorter, about 60 cm tall (2 feet). My tallest ones are on the northern side of a fence, but get an hour or 2 of sun in the early morning. They are also next to a birdbath and may get a little extra water. The blades are about 30 cm wide (1 foot) at the broadest part, tapering to a narrow rounded tip and very narrow base.
The ostrich fern’s overall shape is very distinctive, narrow at the bottom and wide at the top. I appreciate this fern’s height for the back of the shade border, and the way it makes an excellent backdrop for other perennials in the garden. They look great with woodland flowers planted around their base.
They spread slowly in my garden, with a few new M. struthiopteris coming up each spring a little ways out from the parent plants. For such a lush looking fern, these are very easy care and have no problems with a cold climate nor the shade. They die back quickly in the fall with the first frosts, but their dark fertile fronds are decorative so I leave them on until spring.
Aren’t the new fiddleheads fascinating? You can see the miniature versions of the leaflets in the curl as it uncoils upwards and then out. If you click on the bottom photo you can enlarge it and see the perfect leaflets emerging and the beads of water. When I look at this, I forget that I live on the prairies.
You can find some more information and lots of photos about these and other ferns I grow in zone 3 in this post, and here is a post about Athyrium ferns in the garden.
I’m planting this Athyrium filix-femina ‘Lady In Red’ (lady in red lady fern) in front of the P. virginalis. You can see how it got the variety name by the striking red stems. They make a rich contrast to the lush green fronds. I find my other regular lady ferns, which volunteered in the cracks of my old patio, to be very hardy. Last year I was moving them in the spring and they accidentally landed upside down, breaking many of their fronds. While they were upside down, I just whacked them in half with the shovel and replanted both mangled pieces. By the middle of summer they were lush and full. You have to love a plant that thrives in the shade, survives a severely cold winter, and bounces back from mishaps.
