Comments for Northern Shade Gardening

Comment on My Garden Plants by Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:41:33 +0000

Jane, you’re welcome. Edmonton does have a long planning season, and a shorter digging season. At this time of year, I’m anxious for the real spring to arrive. Our unexpected warm spell of the last few weeks, and a few bare patches between the snow, has me eagerly scanning for the sight of new green foliage, even though I know it is still too early.

Comment on My Garden Plants by Jane

Jane — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 01:21:49 +0000

Thank you for all your info. I am learning Edmonton gardening after many years of gardening on Vancouver Island, and I am having fun, although, of course, I find the season a tad short. Winter definitely rules six months of the year here.

Comment on Shade Plants by Birdbath by Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 14:45:33 +0000

Hortoris, The birdbath helps make a better habitat for the birds, while I enjoy watching the wildlife.

Comment on Shade Plants by Birdbath by hortoris

hortoris — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:13:51 +0000

British birds need feeding and protection and I like the idea of the ferns.

Comment on Protecting Perennials for Winter by Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:16:28 +0000

Rebecca, I’ve been thinking about trying some Platycodon, and the double blue sounds beautiful.

We’ve had some warmer weather lately, and although I know that spring is still a way off, I can’t wait for the first green leaves and little bulb flowers.

Comment on Blue and Lavender Blooms by Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 19:11:50 +0000

Elaine, I’m glad the information was useful for you. I like looking at photos of perennials in different gardens too. It’s fun to see how other gardeners are combining their plants, and read about how they have performed.

Comment on Protecting Perennials for Winter by Rebecca @ In The Garden

Rebecca @ In The Garden — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:46:07 +0000

Hi Northern! I hope you’re having a good winter, not much longer til growing season (I hope). I just received some seeds in the mail that I would be happy to share with you, ‘Platycodon Hakone Blue’, it’s a beautiful double flower http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.com/gardeninghelp/PlantFinder/plant.asp?code=A797 Since you have my email address, if you send me your mailing address I’d be happy to put 20 in an envelope for you. :) Rebecca

Comment on Blue and Lavender Blooms by Elaine McEwen

Elaine McEwen — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:30:44 +0000

What a wonderful site. I read every page! Currently I am working on an article for our blog http://www.ridgetownhorticulturalsociety.blog.ca Your site was a terrific resource for information and your pictures are great.

Comment on My Garden Plants by Northern Shade

Northern Shade — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:56:11 +0000

Darlyn, thanks, I’m glad it helped you identify your perennials. There are quite a few plants that do well in the shade in Alberta, although a few of these don’t have as many blooms in the shade.

You had an adventurous beginning to your garden, with so many new perennials. It’s fun to see how the plants grow, and what they look like as they mature. If you take pictures of them, it gives you a visual for planning over the winter too. It’s especially fun to take before and after shots of your garden beds, as you rearrange them.

Good luck with your garden. Maybe I’ll be seeing how it grows on your garden blog someday. :)

Comment on My Garden Plants by Darlyn

Darlyn — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:04:42 +0000

What a wonderful site..I was searching for shade perennials in Alberta and yours was, by far, the best search result. Your photos are exceptional and have inspired me to take pix of my flowers, now that I know what many of them are, lol.
A few years ago, I joined a website called Freecycle, where folks can offer up all sort of items in order to recycle and reduce the dumping in landfills. I then donated a selection of ’stuff’ and shortly thereafter put out my own call for perennials to help start my own yard transformation. I figured avid gardeners would prefer to see their thinned out perennials go to a new home rather than get dumped or composted.

My boys were very little and I wanted to get them interested in gardening and digging in the dirt, not a difficult objective with wee boys. Once I put out the request, I received several dozen offers for perennials.
All I had to do was go and get them, and that was the fun part. I got to visit with so many wonderful gardeners. As a fairly new gardener, I learned a wealth of info, heard lots of interesting stories and met some great people.

I was surprised and pleased to find that I have a good percentage of the perennials you listed in your shade presentation. Your site was very helpful to me in identifying all these plants that I had and no idea what they were….amazing that they survive, considering I didn’t know too much about them, haha.

Last fall we added some new trees and are hoping for the best.

Today my garden is a work in progress, as is the case with many gardeners, (of course it’s dormant right now)and my boys are enthusiastic participants. We are already planning the veggie garden.

Thank you very much for all of your info and taking the time to create such a wonderful site. I will be visiting it often.
Darlyn