Hello. I have an area in my yard that is mostly shade but does get a little bit of sun through out the day. The area is about 4ft wide and 20ft long. I like colourful and fragrant flowers and I was thinking to plant some perenials in this area. I would appreciate any suggestions on shade tolerant flowering perenials that people have. I live up a mountain and i get quite a bit a rain. Thanks
Heliotropium arborescens (Cherry Pie) is a lovely shade-tolerant perennial that also copes with quite a bit of rain. Plus the flowers are a lovely colour and the smell is irresistable. There are several cultivars, mostly in shades of purple, but there is also a white one (H. arborescens 'alba' I think.)
Hello, If you are into reading books about gardening and plants I would suggest these two great books you may find in your local library or your own book shelf: Got Shade by Carolyn Harstad The Complete Shade Gardener by George Schenk And these as well: Timber Press Pocket Guide to Shade Perennials by W. George Schmid Making the Most of Shade by Larry Hodgson Shade: Planting Solutions For Shady Gardens by Keith Wiley Best, PP
Although Heliotropium arborescens is a wonderful plant with amazing fragrance - it is not perennial nor suitable for a shade garden in this climate! Good luck!
This sounds like a wonderful setting for a shady border. PPennypacker's reading list is great, and remember you can also check your local library, or just flip through garden books and magazines wherever you find them. Some flowering shade-lovers that do well for me here in the Maine woods are foxgloves (Digitalis), Aconitum, Campanula, Astilbe, meadow rue (Thalictrum) which provides a nice tall accent, Filipendula, snakeroot (Cimicifuga) which can also grow tall when flowering, columbines (Aquilegia), lady's mantle (Alchemilla), catmint (Nepeta), hellebores, and perennial geraniums. I think the most satisfying shade gardens are those that include plants grown mainly for the texture and color and sheer lushness of the foliage. These would include hostas (which also produce flowers), ferns, maybe some woody plants like mountain laurel (Kalmia) or azalea or hydrangea, a shade-loving bamboo like Fargesia, and maybe a giant-leaved specimen like umbrella plant (Darmera) just to amaze your weekend guests from the city.
