In honor of all you gardening bloggers who are contending with the wicked winter weather, I’ve put up two snow photos in the spirit of empathy and esprit de corps. I hear things are easing up now, and I sure hope so. Nobody is kidding when they say that winter is brutal for man and beast.
Even here, in relatively mild Portland, Oregon, we had a whopper of a ten day hard frost in late December. I am still assessing the damage, but I know I lost a lot of plants. I’ve got my fingers crossed for some stunning dinner-plate dahlias that I don’t know if I could ever replace. They’ve been mulched like crazy, but I’m still worried. And as for the ordinary beds….well, see for yourself.
As you can see, this bed is looking beyond peaked. (One poor Heuchera is clinging to life and another—“Chocolate Ruffles—is threatening to walk out any day now.) Even my lovely European wild ginger groundcover has died back, it’s glossy leaves sticking their tongues out as if to say: Phooey, buy me a ticket outtahere.
Yet, this bed has been in trouble even before the freeze. A creeping, loss-of-sunshine-kind-of-trouble as the trees in our yard and in our neighbors’ yards have grown taller and wider after twenty years in this house.
It is for this reason, that I’m offering a pretty neat gift for the person who suggests a new plan for my front garden bed. Details and photos of the giveways will be at the end.
First of all, I’d like to place you at the scene, so you can see “the bones” of the house and the bed in question and the sheer volume of trees in the yard. If I were to show you a photo of the front of our house in any other season, you couldn’t see those bones for the leaves on the trees!
What you are looking at is the house from the street. See the arrow? That is the bed I need help with. Right in front. The house is set back quite far from the road. There is a creek running through the front right corner.
So here are some details: The house faces due north; all the best flowers and the veggie garden are in the back, which faces south and gets good sun exposure. The bed in question has been emptied out years ago and re-filled with high quality soil and sand, so the drainage is pretty good. That said, it still remains wet a lot of the time. The bed is about 20’ long and 10’ wide at the longest part, but it is irregularly shaped, kind of a skewed rectangle. From the east (left) there is morning sun, and from the west (right), some hot, filtered sun.
Our zone? Generally thought to be Zone 7, but sometimes I wonder if it isn’t changing. We also have a lot of micro climates and occasionally get a wicked wind that blows down from the Columbia River Gorge.
The very front strip of the garden bed does get more sun (it must be far enough out from the porch overhang) and that is where I have all my New Guinea impatiens, native Columbine, and five or six Heuchera, especially coral bells and chocolate ruffles. In the fall, I planted five Japanese Anenomes in this bed because they have done well here in the past. Will they survive? Drum roll please.
I used to have a Rhododendron in the center of that bed in purple—you can see it pictured in the long, stitched photograph—but it got some kind of disease and kicked the bucket two years ago. There is also a stunning Hydrangea….and if you check out an old post that shows the front yard, you’ll see how many hydrangeas live happily in the front yard all along the island beds between the sweeping lawns. Some of you may suggest that I have gone a little over-the-top with the Hydrangea bit—I plead the Fifth. I’m nuts for blue flowers.
But back to the job at hand, here are two other photos showing the perspective of the bed:
(Thanks to Tammy at Casa Mariposa for her suggestion that I put some kind of garden sculpture in the middle of that island bed: Tammy, I ended up putting in a bench for sitting and reading.)
Other plants in the bed—that is, if they haven’t died—are: at least five Hostas, including “Great Expectations”, one of the most gorgeous of the Hostas. The luscious foliage of Hostas are perfect for our Pacific Northwest gardens. There are also two Brunnera Macrophylla in light blue (Sea Heart?) in the far corner, but I think they are suffering in deep shade. Wherever there are empty spaces, I’ll stick large, hearty New Guinea impatiens in deep magenta or white. This is also a good spot for pots filled with annuals and bulbs in early spring.
So—whaddya think? And while we are at it, does anybody know of any attractive planters that can be hung over the porch railing that I can keep planted for bright summer color?
I should add that before anybody gets too exercised about getting rid of the grass, that we use our front lawn as a meeting site for our dog and the neighborhood dogs to play. Yes, I’ve read my Michael Pollan….I know grass is an environmental no-no, but being here in Portland is very similar to living in England. We have rain. Buckets of it. I was raised in the desert and now I feel like I want my sweeps of green grass, which can be achieved organically. You can try to shame me into getting rid of it, but all I can say is good luck with that. I know in the not-too-distant future, I’ll probably live in a Condo or something, so I plan to lie in the grass barefoot for the time being.
Now, for the goodies.
Wonderful gardener and all around human-being, Donna Donabella, at Gardens Eye View will choose the winner based on her knowledge of plants and gardening. Many of us know her and she is a real pro. We worked together on the seed giveaway last year and it worked well. The winner will be chosen one month from the date of this post. Here are the prizes, which will go together, designed to help get you going for spring starts:
I purchased these prizes myself, but I can not vouch for their name brand. I just used a Nursery nearby that I trust. If someone outside the U.S. is selected by Donna, please allow several extra weeks for the gift to be delivered to you, because of necessary customs declarations. I’ll mail them with care.
That’s it. Any questions?…..don’t hesitate to leave a comment and ask. If you spot something I’ve left out, chances are pretty good that somebody else will spot it too.
Thank you so much for sharing your garden expertise. With a garden bed smack in front of the house, it’s nice to have it look its best. Plus, I look out at it from the front porch swing…. I’ll raise a glass of lemonade to you this summer!
I thought Portland was warmer than a zone 7. Your hostas, heuchera, anemones, and brunnera will be just fine. They’re simply dormant or on their way. If hydrangea are thriving in your garden,then plant more. You could also consider a variegated one to brighten up the shade.
Itea virginica aka sweetspire ‘Little Henry’ is a beautiful shrub that has honey scented flowers in the spring and great fall color. It loves moisture and will quickly fill an empty spot. You could also try different rhodies. Just look for one with better disease resistance. Clethra has amazing fragrance and attracts pollinators and loves wet soil. The red twig dogwoods would do well, too, as would a buttonbush (cephalanthus).
Carex grass and ‘River Mist’ sea oats will add movement and both thrive in shade. ‘River Mist’ has stunning variegation. I’d take your pics to a local garden center with a smart staff and ask them for help. Please don’t enter me in the drawing. :o)
Oh boy, am I ever going to be busy reading about these suggestions. Thanks Tammy! Portland is generally considered to be Zone 8, except for elevated areas and places that get our Columbia River Gorge east winds–and that would be me. That’s why I gave it a Zone 7. But you are right, our summers are fabulous and can get quite hot. After all, Portland has–what Dulcy Mahar, our doyenne of all things green until she passed away recently–‘just about perfect growing weather.’ We are like England in many ways, mild with a long growing season and enough sun AND water. Also, Portland is the northern most part of the Willamette Valley, one of the most fertile farming valleys in the country. As for the hydrangeas, I have so many already, but what the heck. Check out http://www.life-change-compost.com/porch/
It looks like you have a lot of luscious mopheads. Have you thought about adding a few lacecaps or oak leaf hydrangeas with their panicles of flowers? They have amazing fall color and are really tough. I bet chelone (turtlehead) would thrive for you. It’s a tough streamside plant that attracts pollinators and thrives in partial shade. Aruncus would be really pretty, too. There are dwarf and full size varieties available. Sambuncus, especially the black leafed varieties, are really striking. Skimmia would also do really well for you. Plus, it’s evergreen. 🙂
I hope you will link into gardening memes Susan as I don’t know that Nature Note folk will have the info as many are from other countries. You have a beautiful yard….. Stay warm,,,,. Michelle
Thanks Michelle. For this post and giveaway, I’ve teamed up with Donna and she has a pretty big list of U.S. gardeners I think. There are actually many UK gardeners that would have a lot to offer me as our weather is very similar. It will be interesting to see who responds.
First, thanks to Tammy for alerting me to another fellow Oregon gardener/blogger! Nice to meet you, Susie. I live in north Albany, been gardening for 30 years. The longer I garden the more I appreciate shade. Our summers can be brutal on plants and wallets, with the cost of water these days. Shade plants don’t dry out so quickly which is nice. Also, one can never have too many hydrangeas! I love them and it’s obvious that they thrive in your gardens. As for lawn, enjoy it! No judgement from me.
On to important matters:
First, I would dig out the dahlias. If they are alive, which I suspect they are, they’re going to need more sun to flourish. Leave the hostas, heucheras and wild ginger.
Tall: I think you need some year-round height and structure in this bed since it’s so close to your front door. For height, I would recommend two plants: First, Fatsia japonica. It has large, palmate leaves and a tropical flair. If it gets too big, it doesn’t resent pruning. It’s evergreen so it will delight you all year. On the opposite side, I would place a Japanese Maple. ‘Ukigumo’ is a small cultivar with green and white foliage–very elegant in leaf and structure. Although it’s deciduous, the branching is a nice counterpoint to the leafy goodness of the Fatsia.
Medium height: Evergreen shrubs are my first pick. In one area, mid-border, I would plant a Sarcococca ruscifolia. It has an arching habit, glossy, evergreen foliage and blooms extremely fragrant tiny white flowers in January that eventually become shiny, round, black fruits that look really pretty.(I have a bouquet of the flowers on my desk right now–yum!) Opposite the Sarc. a fragrant, evergreen Daphne odora would look nice. It blooms in February as the Sarcococca is finishing up. For fragrance in March, consider Skimmia japonica. Look for a plant that has both male and female, extremely fragrant flowers and you’ll have red berries that last a full year. Also, dwarf Heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica ‘Monfar’) is not tall or invasive and has foliage that turns bright red in winter. I have it growing around my pond. For contrast to all this leafiness, plant several native sword ferns. They’re extremely easy to grow and only require an annual pruning of older foliage in late March before new foliage unfurls. Perennials: Astilbes would look great in this area but I can’t keep them going in my dry soil. Bleeding Hearts, Syneilesis aconitifolia, Mukdenia rossii ‘karasuba’, Spigelia marilandica, Solomon’s Seal’, Helleborus. You can find these with a Google search.
Low: I would keep as much of the wild ginger as you can. It makes a delightful ground cover and is so much nicer than bare dirt. Heucheras are nice and yours look like they survived the cold just fine. Pulmonaria or Lungwort is also a nice evergreen low-grower. It has similar coloring to the Brunnera so placing them nearby each other and the aforementioned Japanese maple will keep the green and white foliage color echo going. One of my favorite mid to low growers is Impatiens omeiana. I’m hoping mine survived the cold. If not it isn’t difficult to find at better nurseries. Other low-growers: Oxalis crassipes, Carex ssp., Japanese painted fern, Lathryus vernus, Primroses, Aquilegia (Columbine) ‘Woodside Strain.’
You mentioned a creek on your property. How awesome! I think it would cool if you could forage some rocks from it and place them in this area for a little inorganic counterpoint to all of the organic elements. If you take all my suggestions there might not be room for the bench. 🙂
I will follow you and see how this develops. Isn’t gardening fun? Cheers.
Welcome Grace! It’s very nice to meet a fellow Oregon gardener. I have to tell you though, you are far more sophisticated than me. It’s a pleasure to learn from someone who knows so much about our climate and zone. I like several of your suggestions a lot. I’ll have to give some thought about another Japanese Maple in that garden–even a small one. I don’t want anything obscuring my view from the porch swing where I spend a lot of time. You might have noticed that there is a lace leaf JM on the other side of the stairs. I have bleeding hearts and Daphne Odora in back, but they might be very nice in front–thanks for that idea. And I definitely want a lot of hellebores and Japanese Anenome, which should give me some good height. I’ll have to look up Soloman’s Seal…but don’t you love the wild ginger?? And the heuchera attract a lot of bees. Anyway, your comment is going to keep me busy for quite awhile. Many many thanks Grace. I enjoyed your blog by the way, you are a wonderful gardener.
Hi again Grace…several kind gardeners have expressed worry about my dinner plate dahlias thinking they were planted in this front bed. I only mentioned them in light of the freezing temps we had in early December, but ALL the dahlias are in the back yard where I have south facing, full sun. The dahlias get all the best! I can imagine that it’s hard to imagine but the front is very woodland-like, shady, green, curved lawn and woodland plants. The back has most of the flowers–a real perennial cutting bed. So I won’t need to dig up any dahlias for this new plan!
This looks like fun already Susie! Can’t wait to see all the suggestions.
Grace Pete from Gardening With Grace (PDX) wrote you a huge response about plants but it didn’t post to your blog. 🙁
Never mind!!!!
Yea, it’s confusing sometimes. I’ve got the comments section set up where I have to approve the first comment a person makes (that comment won’t appear until I see it); thereafter comments automatically post to the site when the software “knows” who you are…
Grace has lots and lots of wonderful shade suggestions. She’s been gardening in the PNW for a long time and is very knowledgeable. One plant I haven’t seen mentioned that I think is perfect for dry shade is Epimedium. They come in lots of colors, and interesting leaf colors as well. I have some in dry shade and it thrives.
Hi Alison, I wish I had dry shade, but i will still check out the plant, thanks. My ground in that location stays pretty wet…(north facing and lots of rain.) About Grace’s suggestions, yes, I am going to look into all of those. She seems VERY knowledgeable and her blog is great.
Following Donna over to help out with ideas though as a warm zone Londoner I’m hardly placed to advise (and obviously don’t want to be included in the draw) – my first thought with shade and that white railing was a moon garden – maybe add some rock/stones and water for reflection at night! Here’s a link – what do you think? https://suite101.com/a/the-white-garden-in-shade-a2596
Oh, I like this so much. There is a very pretty birdbath in that bed–water reflection? -:)) but the white you are proposing is a real plus. Given the house is set so far back, I need something like the white to pop. I love that link you sent. You are also the second person to recommend some hardscape interest, like rock. White and blue are also my favorite colors in the front, so thanks very much for your idea and for the link. (The backyard is a riot of color! Full sun–of course…..)
My first visit to your blog Susan. Inspired post. I lack in vision when it comes to planting schemes and in my garden (in Scotland)I am forever moving things around as they don’t grow in the ground the same way as they look in my head.
I’m not an experienced garden and lack the knowledge to provide you with tons of suggestions.
That said, I don’t think our weather is much different to what you experience there in Oregon. So would like to make a few suggestions with perennials I find do well in some shadier spots in my garden and are beneficial for pollinators. Astrantia – if chopped back as soon as the first flush of flowers grow back – they will flower here right up until the first frosts. Tellima grandiflora flowers over a long period and if your Heucheras do well then so should they. Polemonium (Jacob’s Ladder) Purple Rain looks particularly good with Japanese painted ferns and flowers twice in the year here. Candelabra Primula cope with some shade. Kirengeshoma palmatum will do well if you have lime free soil.
Providing your soil doesn’t dry out – an alternative shrub would be Leucothoe, also a lime hater it’s very inconspicuous in summer but in autumn the foliage is magnificent – it’s evergreen and there are many cultivars of differing sizes.
I find in my garden that Brunnera doesn’t always disappear in winter – if we have a wet summer it is semi evergreen.
An option for the planters to hang over the porch – maybe a local blacksmith could fashion some lovely wrought iron mangers or purpose made Hay feeders. They could be hooked over the rail and easily removed for cleaning or refilling.
Grace Peterson has given you a wonderful selection – the Soloman’s seal was one I was going to suggest, amongst others. Luckily I read all the comments first.
I doubt very much that my suggestions would make a short list but as I haven’t advanced to seeds yet (I have a phobia of tiny things)the prize would be wasted on me 😉 but thanks for allowing me to take part.
I also have wet shade. I’ve made myself a long list of native plants suitable for the conditions. I’ll pass it on to you later. Today I’m here to ask if I can post about your request and the response to it on my goodwill blog. Or if you are interested and willing you could write a guest post. I think it shows goodwill to open oneself up to a community as well as goodwill in responding. It also demonstrates how goodwill spreads as people get to hear about it, respond or like me benefit from the information. A whole lot of fun too.
Hi Susan, thanks so much for your message–on both subjects. I hope you received my email note sent to your blumoon farm address yesterday. I responded right away that I would be really honored and pleased to be part of your goodwill project. Let me know what I can do to help. It does make sense: not only are gardeners a generous bunch, but these blogs seem to cultivate a spirit of sharing too. Lucky us huh? There are some great suggestions coming through.
I did get your email and thank you for the permission. I love the suggestions in the comments. I had a moon/white garden at my last place,it was fun picking out the plants.
I don’t want the gift but do you have any idea about the type of garden you want there — traditional, cottage, bee-friendly, butterfly-friendly, or bird friendly, etc, or just any random style? For planters, check this one out and the site: http://www.simplyplanters.com/planters/wall-&-hanging-planters/resinwickerhangingbasketwithchainhanger.cfm
It’s seems like it’s a shade-bed, so how about trying Oregon Grapeholly, Pacific bleeding heart and Goatsbeard? They all like shade to partial shade and well drained to moist soil, and has nice flowers and textures.
Yes, this one bed is mostly shade. The front of the house faces north. In the back half acre–which faces south–are most of my flowers. And in the west, is where the veggie garden sits. It’s just that the trees everywhere are growing….not only ours, but our neighbors, and it is affecting the amount of sun reaching the beds.
KL, it is so cool of you to ask that question because no one else has….and it really is key, isn’t it? I would say English cottage garden is my favorite style for this period of my living in Oregon, although I’m not certain I can create it in the very shady front yard. In the back, I have old-fashioned roses, iris, peonies, hollyhocks, delphinium, phlox, daisies,lilies, and frankly it’s a lot of deadheading. But it’s a great cutting garden. I’m always thinking of the pollinators everywhere I can. Bleeding heart does well in my far back area, and could do well in the front too. There is Grapeholly growing wild! There are a lot of bird feeders on the front porch and the bees love the heuchera! I want to specifically thank you for the link on planters because they do show a few that hang from the railing of a porch (did you see the pic on Donna’s site–that white railing that goes all around the wraparound porch?). I will look into those to keep some color and easy access for changing the annuals. Thank you.
What a lovely idea Susie, sharing the challenge of the re-planting. I have a near identical (but smaller) area in my own front garden, and despite the different continent the same plants will work for both of us. Grace’s suggestions are wonderful, like you I have height issues in that the low silled laounge window looks out over this bed but Nandina domestica is still possibly on my own list, and I aim to get hold of some ginger for groundcover too. I am going for a limited palette of plants in my smaller area but tellima, evergreen ferns, aquilegias and foxgloves for spring floweing interest, brunnera and pulmonaria to keep the blue flowers going. I am using hakonechloa macra, a wonderful deciduous grass that produces lovely mopheads, a perfect foilf for astrantia – I am using the soft white ‘shaggy’. Alchemilla mollis for beautiful foliage that holds the raindrops and acid green flowers to admire and to bring indoors. A lot of forget-me-nots have self seeded around this bed for me, so if they remain happy they will be a very welcome addition, and of course bulbs, lots and lots of bulbs. Again, depends on colour scheme, but for me this means snowdrops, pale yellow and white crocuses, and eventually some shorter white and fragrant narcissus. I think, given your porch, having at least one if not more shurbs planted for scent would be perfect, scent is something I need to learn more about, not least because I frequently can’t smell the scent from plants other people rave about. If you have a section where you could plant something taller perhaps a viburnum, say “Dawn”, coul be rather magical. Can’t wait to watch your border develop over the coming year!
Hi Janet! So great to hear from you. I love your suggestions and am glad you are going to look into the European Ginger groundcover; it really is lovely. I love your suggestions about all the bulbs. That is an excellent idea, because it gets me thinking outside the box…or in this case…the pots. I have Parrot Tulips in all my pots with pansies planted at the top. When the tulips come through, it is fabulous. But I need to extend this, a big YES to more snowdrops, white and pale yellow crocus. I have so much viburnum and nandina out back, but I’m going to look into astrantia–“soft white shaggy.” (Anything called soft white shaggy has GOT to be good-:)) I also love that you mentioned adding scent into the mix. I’m chuffed at the idea -:)) Also blown away at how much more you all know than I do!
Hi again to all–everyone is wondering how this plan is coming along! Well. I’ve made lists of all your suggestions and am spending long hours with my Sunset Gardening book learning the common names of things, reading up on their growth habit and trying to reconcile the plant’s needs with what I can offer them. I’m getting a good idea–kind of a cross-mix of what is already going to come up, like the brunnera, the hostas, the heuchera, the big hydrangea on the east corner…..with your new ideas. This is going to be fun as the nurseries start to put out their spring picks. I did take Tammy’s idea and bought a number of anenomes because I love the way they have spread and clumped in the past and I am committed to finding native columbine for this bed. Thank those of you who have kept in mind the railing that is the elegant backdrop to this bed and the fact that i don’t want anything too tall so I can still look out from the porch swing! I’ll keep everybody in the loop as this develops….
Susan,
Since you like blue and bees and your area is that shade area, you can grow this rhododendron that we have in front of our house and that place is also like yours — no sun at all, complete shade and this plant thrives there. The bees — any sort of bees — big, small, fat, thin, native, non-native — all go crazy when this plant bloom. And, it has beautiful shade of blue and purple flowers. Here, you can see the pictures in my blog: http://boonton-newjersey.blogspot.com/2013/05/bee-hotel.html
Only problem I am thinking is that it likes acidic soil and you have alkaline. If you can somehow turn your soil into acidic, this plant will thrive — grows about 6 feet and about 2-3 feet spread or a bit more.
I don’t know if it a native in your place or not but I think it has become native or naturalized in NJ — can be seen in many places.
Hi again KL, Actually we do have acidic soil in most places which is why the Rhododendrons and azaleas do so well here. They ARE completely naturalized all over Oregon. The Rhodie in your yard is a real beauty–and huge! It looks quite happy. I used to have a purple/pink Rhododendron in that exact spot (you can see it in the long “stiched” photo), but I lost it to a virus. That one had a compact habit, so I could still see over it, so I’ll have to investigate if your variety would stay small.
Susie, that house and garden look so exotic to me! With our milder climate we would love ( I should say I would love) some snow. At the same time I understand all the challenges and hardships. Can’t say I’m such a great gardener, in fact I am a mad gardener trying one day to protect and feed the rabbits and then wondering why all my herbs are eaten!! So all I would say is follow your heart, plant colour and perfumed scents that will waft onto your front porch, all for your joy and happiness. X
Hi fellow Vision & Verb friend, I love your comment. Follow my heart and plant what I want….now there is a great idea. My place really would not be that exotic if you saw it in normal circumstances–these snow shots were from years ago. (I was empathizing with most of the rest of our country….) We have snow like this very rarely and are, in fact, more like Ireland than most places in the U.S. Very green and rainy. You would really relate to my back yard as I have foxglove all over the place–they self-seed, which is pretty fabulous. Thanks so much for visiting Catherine.
Susie, you’ve gotten some great suggestions. How about a camellia or two? I just love camellias and it seems that your deciduous trees would give them just the perfect conditions that they love. You can get autumn blooming or spring blooming, and sizes from small shrubs to small trees! I just love to see their blooms when everything else is beginning to go dormant. I don’t want the prize – in fact, I’m making notes of everything suggested to you, too! I don’t have much shade, so these areas are usually a puzzle to me. I’m amazed at all the different plant suggestions! How fun! Good luck deciding what to do in your area!
Wow Holley, why didn’t I think about camillias? I love camillas. This is why I’m doing this-:)) Now, I’ll have to educate myself about spring and autumn blooming and definitely keep the shrub small. Several folks have suggested very large shrubs, but that would detract from the beauty of the porch and from my view from it. It’s hard to give the full impression, but we have trees everywhere, so some clean spaces are very nice too. Plus I have animals and one of the suggestions–Skimmia I believe it was–are poisonous. Camellias. Yes. I’m going to do that for sure.
Astrantia should do very well in the site. I like to plant them behind Canadian wild ginger (Asarum canadense). Interplanted with epimediums to prolong the blooming season. The combined foliage of these two is lovely.
A chelone (turtle head) planted behind will give structure. Chelone slowly get large and don’t like to be moved so make sure you plant it where you want it. A swarth of astilbes running through is always nice. Beautiful blooms, lovely long lasting foliage. If several different types of astilbe are chosen, you can have early middle late bloomers for a long running show.
Hi Amy and welcome! I sure enjoyed looking at your site and subscribed to it. I love garden history, so your blog is right up my alley. Your suggestions are helpful and I’m definitely going to seek out the right hybrid of Astrancia. I’ve never been much for Astilbes though–I find them fussy, but that is a small thing. You have some really great photos on your site which I enjoyed so much. Thank you for contributing to my blog.
Having lived for many years with a yard that is primarily shade, from dry deep shade to wet deep shade, I’ve learned that over the years I have come to appreciate my shady areas more often than my sunnier areas. Here are some suggestions that I have in my yard that give me great pleasure and to a large degree, have been a great success. I think one of my favorites — Skimmia japonica – male and female plants. The female plants bear bright red berries, while the male plants have white flowers (1 male plant to multiple female plants is enough to bear fruit). The plants are evergreen, have beautiful glossy green leaves, prefer shade, are low maintenance and in the winter when we are at the grayest of gray, they offer a ‘pop’ of color. They would be a lovely backdrop to soften the batten board along the deck edge. Ferns, deer ferns, maidenhair ferns, japanese painted ferns, some evergreen, others not. The lacy, delicate foliage provides a soft texture to anything around/near them. Astilbe, flowers are plumelike, with soft colors, and the foliage is also delicate. Then there are the bold hostas (flowers are nondescript), but oh those leaves — mounding forms, with all the various shades of green from blue to chartreuse, small, large, variegated or not — choices, choices. Of course there are the hellebore in all the various colors from almost black to white, and shades of light pink. And the camellias – bright red, pink, and white flowers provide winter color and are also evergreen. Good luck with whatever you do and choose.
I’m so glad you wrote in Susan, because I know you really know your stuff in a shade garden. You were the first to introduce me to the magical look of Hostas, and I’ve never looked back. And I’m definitely going to introduce a few camellias. I bought six large pots of Helleborus Niger (Lenten or Christmas Rose) and it just remains for me to get them into the ground maybe in another week or so when there is less chance of a frost. As I wrote Amy above, I know everybody loves astilbe, but I find them fussy and annoying. It’s almost embarrassing to dislike a plant so…what have astilbe every done to me? -:)) They look like the Joan Rivers of flowers. I tried AGAIN to consider Skimmia Japonica, but I can’t get past the fact that every part of the plant is poisonous. (Although no self-respecting bird is going to touch them…) Anyway, thanks so much for your suggestions and good luck wishes. I’ve seen how well your Japanese Anenome do in both sun and shade and I’d like some like yours. Hey, wanna go to the Japanese Garden in a month or so and see the early spring growth??
Hi again Susan, This just goes to show how fickle gardeners can be (how fickle *I* can be!)–I was at the Nursery and saw the male Skimmia Japonica and fell in love with them. So yes….I bought three plants. I guess I just had to see them in person. Plus the nursery gal did a shameless sales job and I fell hard.
Thank you everyone who stopped by to help and add their ideas. I can only say it was a very difficult decision as I looked at so many ideas and entries, but a winner has been chosen. Grace Peterson will be receiving that wonderful prize Susie is providing. And Susie will be doing a follow up post soon. Thanks again Susie for asking me to be part of this wonderful project.
Hello there ! .. I was just at Gracie’s blog and saw she won your very generous thank you!
She is a lucky devil 😉
I couldn’t really offer advice on your problem because I am in such a different zone (5b)
Canadian EH ! haha … but I really like your garden area and I understand about the grass situation. You have buckets of rain to keep it going and with dogs you really do need that.
Just wanted to drop by and say hi from the Great White North and good luck with the garden change out .. I am doing the same type of thing with my front garden eventually. Glad I am not alone ! haha
Joy : )
Hey Joy, how great that you stopped by and said hello! I have a friend in the Great White North (Ontario) who is getting a bit tired of all that great white about now….but guess what? We have a major snow storm happening right now in Portland too–this weather is so NOT Portland, nobody knows quite what to make of it and certainly folks don’t know how to drive in it.-:)) There are cars abandoned all over town. I am really glad I waited to start any planting. The new plants I bought last weekend when it was very warm are nestled in the garage riding out this storm. Please check back now and again and let me know how *your* new garden is going! Also, I post about once or twice a month, and do giveaways every so often including a special “Writers in the Garden” contest. Canadians especially welcome!! -:))