Northern Shade Gardening

Viola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Morpheus’ pansy in pot

The pots on my front steps were looking tired by fall, as the tender plants and annuals that I planted in spring deteriorated. Back in the middle of September, I removed most of the plants and substituted some perky pansies. The fresh colours of ‘Matrix Morpheus’ in the planters cheer me up as I enter and exit my house.

cheery matrix morpheus pansies in pot

I picked the cheery bi-coloured yellow and blue pansies, Viola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Morpheus’, because they have a wonderfully  soft spring look. The top petals are a deep blue, and the bottom petals are a lovely yellow, with strong blue lines radiating from the centre out through the yellow. The flowers are large, and have many blooms per plant.The blue and yellow colours partner well with the cobalt blue containers. The plants are only 20 cm (8 in) tall, but are very showy in a pot.

Matrix Morpheus pansy and lobelia in pot

There weren’t enough of ‘Matrix Morpheus’ available, so I also added some solid purplish blue and solid yellow Matrix pansies in the fourth planter. Some of the lobelia were still looking good, so I left them in the one pot out front. The pretty blue lobelia flowers have already survived the first light frost, and they give the planter a more full look by tumbling down the sides. Since our summers don’t get too hot, this lobelia has done well right from spring to late fall.

Vola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Morpheus’ pansies in planter

The pansies have a lively look, and being super hardy, will tough out the fall frosts. Since they are on my porch, they are partially sheltered. I can move the containers back so they don’t get as much direct snow on them, and see how long the plants manage to survive. Pansies are frost tolerant, but not zone 3 tolerant. I might move the planters into my unheated garage when the severe cold comes, to avoid being  a pansy meanie. They won’t look so sunny in -35° C  ( -32° F).

cute little pansy matrix morpheus

I know that gardeners in warmer zones frequently put out pansies for their winter garden, but you rarely see pansies being offered here in fall, because we often go from a fall garden right to a blanket of white that covers everything. There are fall mums offered everywhere, but I wanted some cheery little pansy faces to greet me at the front door. They are fresh and spring-like, so I guess I am ignoring the seasons in between summer and spring.

1 Viola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Morpheus’ pansy flower

What is better than one happy little pansy face? …

2 Viola x wittrockiana ‘Matrix Morpheus’ pansy flowers

…Two happy little pansy faces.

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.

I’m planting over 500 of the smaller crocus in my lawn for early spring flowers. These are Crocus chrysanthus (snow crocus), Crocus tommasianus, and Crocus sieberi, which all bloom before the larger Dutch crocus. I chose them as their foliage is one of the first to die back, so I will be able to mow the lawn later in May without interfering with the crocus leaves’ ability to replenish the bulb. I’m looking forward to seeing the charming crocus blooms of purple and yellow rising up from the grass next spring.

As I was doing the planting in the evening, it was hard to get good shots to clearly show the crocus corms, without shadows,  blur, or bright spots from the flash.

I’m planting these in a sunnier patch on my lawn, as they do better in the light. The warmth of the bright sunlight causes their petals to open, instead of staying tightly closed. I have some small crocus in my garden in part shade. They are usually closed in the morning, but open up for the sunny afternoon and early evening, as do the larger Crocus vernus.

Crocus packages for arranging

I tried out colour combinations by arranging  the crocus packages on my floor, in the order that I wanted to planted them in the lawn. 140 Crocus sieberi subsp sublimus ‘Tricolor’ are in the middle, since they have the snazziest colour mix in bands of purple, gold and white. Their combination of both purple and gold should anchor the other purple or yellow flowers around them. In front are 140 medium yellow Crocus chrysanthus ‘Gipsy Girl’, which have maroon stripes. To the right in the front are 30 Crocus sieberi  ‘Spring Beauty’, a really good looking purple crocus with darker purple on the outer petals. 50 Crocus ‘Yalta’ are on the left. They are a cross between C. tommasinianus and C. vernus, with larger flowers like the Dutch crocus, and a pretty two-toned purple blue colour. Since they are larger, I used fewer of them. At the back are 100 Crocus chrysanthus ‘Prins Claus’ (Prince Claus), which is white with dark purple patches on the outside. In the back right corner are 60 Crocus chrysanthus ‘Romance’, a medium yellow crocus with a silvery exterior.

Crocus packages arranged on lawn for planting

Here are the crocus packages arranged out on the lawn. The sun was low and casting longer shadows, but you get the idea that they are arranged in an oval or egg shaped patch. I staggered the packages up and down a bit as I planted them. The two patio steps are not there permanently. I just placed them there during planting to avoid putting any bulbs in a few spots, so I would have some places to step across the grass without squishing crocus flowers next spring. Of course, if they naturalize and spread, those bare spots won’t last anyways.

Crocus being planted under grass by lifting flap

It was a lot of fun planting the corms, and rather easy. I just dug a flap in the lawn by cutting on 3 sides, and then folded it back on the 4th side like a hinge. The holes were about 30 cm (1 ft) square, because that size was easy to work with, and about the right size to plant around 20 of the small corms. If the flap ended up shallow, I just dug a little extra soil out, and threw it back on top of the bulbs, before closing the grass flap back over the bulbs. It was very simple, and I planted 520 bulbs in one evening. We’ve had perfect gardening weather, so this was an enjoyable gardening project.

Crocus being planted in lawn with grass peeled back

What slowed me down more than anything were the numerous ladybugs all over the lawn. I kept stopping to lift the little bugs off of the grass flaps or out of the holes before lowering the top back, and then carrying them over to place on plants in the garden. I spent more time saving ladybugs than snapping photos.

Crocus sieberi subsp atticus ‘Firefly’ being planted in lawn

To keep the planting centred where I wanted it on the lawn, I started with the Tricolor bulbs in the middle, and then worked my way to the outer edges.

It was getting dark in the twilight as I finished, and for the last few packages I couldn’t really see which was the top of the corms, so I had to feel for the shoot  at the top of the bulb before planting them in the holes. It was fairly easy to feel the tops, but it’s possible than one or two may have to make a detour around to grow upwards. :)

I won’t mow the lawn until the crocus leaves have died back Because these are the earliest crocus, that should happen fairly soon in spring. The slender, strap-like foliage will blend into the grass. Perhaps it will look even better than my grass after they have finished blooming, since my lawn is more of a close cropped meadow.

I love digging, so this planting was fun. I also planted a number of  new Crocus in my garden, in between perennials last week. Some of the crocus in the lawn are the same as those I planted in the garden, and I’ve described them in that article, but I have 3 new types that are only planted in the lawn.

Crocus ‘Yalta’ package

Crocus ‘Yalta’ is a cross between C. tommassinianus and C. vernus, ending up with the larger sized blooms of  C. vernus.  ‘Yalta’ is a darker purple, with the outer petals a light greyish purple. I think it should look very showy when it pops up, so I’m anxious to see it in flower.

Crocus sieberi ‘Spring Beauty’

Crocus sieberi ‘Spring Beauty’ is similar to the little snow crocus. ‘Spring Beauty’ has an especially pretty combination of light purple with darker purple marks in the middle of the petals on the exterior. I would have planted more ‘Spring Beauty’, but I could only find a few packages.

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Romance’ package

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Romance’ is a medium yellow, small early crocus. The outer petals are a paler yellow. ‘Romance’  has a more subtle two toned colour combination than the yellow ‘Gipsy Girl’.

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Gipsy Girl’ with yellow petals

Crocus chrysanthus ‘Gipsy Girl’ is the one type of crocus from this new planting that  I already grow. I planted these bulbs because I wanted some yellow, and I was able to get these locally at a good price. ‘Gipsy Girl’ have a bolder colour scheme with maroon stripes, and are extra cheery when the sun is shining through the petals.

With the big spring payoff, it is very rewarding to plant little crocus corms in fall. You can tuck them into so many spots, between perennials, under shrubs, or even in the lawn. Then in the earliest spring, right after the snow melts, the hardy bulbs send up the first green shoots, followed so quickly by the bright flowers. My little snow crocus frequently live up to their name, and flower at the very edges of the melting snow. More and more blooms appear as the snow and ice retreat. Sometimes the snow crocus appear to be chasing away the last of the ice blanket. Plus, they persevere so well through any late snow storms. They simply close up their petals, and then open up again when the new snow melts and the sun returns. In a northern garden, such cheery and tenacious flowers are the perfect antidote to a long winter.

You can see how the crocus flowering in the lawn looked the next spring in this article.