hi does anyone know of any perennials that will suit my shady clay area, that holds water for a long time
Hi Takana, I don't know where Mwndon, Il is and couldn't find it through a search. Without your hardiness zone and the sun conditions it would be difficult to say what you can grow. Here's a zip code zone finder. http://www.gardenweb.com/zones/zip.cgi I'm guessing that the area is boggy and you need plants that can tolerate being in wet conditions. Full sun is 6 hours or more, part sun is 4 to 6 hours, part shade is 2 to 4 hours and shade is 2 hours or less. Newt
Thanks for the correction, but without the info I stated earlier I still can't help you. Now that we both know where you live you can find your hardiness zone with the zip code zone finder. :) Then you'll need to know the rest of the info to find plants for the right site with it's sun and soil conditions. Newt
I've got an area in my garden like that. In the summer it gets a couple of hours of sunlight in the evening, but nothing in winter. I worked in a little sandy topsoil and manure and put in a couple of skimmia japonica (a small evergreen shrub) last fall. I've just put in some solomon's seal (polygonatum), and hardy geraniums. I'll see how they do this year. Some kind of blue bell has made its home in a corner, and I've left them. I love shade plants -- there is so much variety, as long as you are not looking for flashy flowers. It would also help if we knew what kind of plant you are intersted in -- flowers, colourful leaves, size? In other areas where the soil isn't as heavy, I've got astilbe, violets, hostas, astrantia, heucheras, convallaria (lily of the valley). I'm looking for a shade vine now -- I've got a couple that I'm considering. I think most of Illinois is probably hotter in the summer and colder in the winter than here, so you'll have to figure out which of these plants can survive in your climate zone.
