Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Shade Gardening
I'm back with more questions!
I have 3 areas that receive shade most of the day or all day that I would like to plant in. Two of the areas are alongside the covered carport (we don't park here, it's the entrance to the rear apartment and my daughters play area) and the other is next to the walkway into the house.
This is area #1, it never gets sun. The cabinet at the back will be removed prior to planting. If I can find a shade loving climbing plant, I would like to put it here.
This is area #2, it get dappled sunlight in the early morning. The blocks at the base of the fence and the mesh wire that covers the bottom half of the fence will be removed prior to planting. We don't want any type of vine or shrub, flowers would be nice here.
This is area #3, it is shaded in the morning and gets a few hours of sun in the afternoon. I was thinking about putting a trellis up and growing sweet peas here but not sure if they will thrive.
Does anyone have any ideas what could be planted in these areas? I prefer something with color, flowers, nice scent, attracts butterflies, etc. You get the picture...
Re: Shade Gardening
Two Mommies Healing Hearts
I'm just starting to get into gardening (still to much snow around here to plant yet) but I've been doing a ton of shade research. We have a lot of flower beds full of weeds thanks to the previous owner and almost all of them have some if not all shade. Here's what I have planned for my tiered rock wall:
I deleted the larger hostas I had to the list. As you can probably see I love perennials, ferns, and native plants. I'm not sure where you are but these are all hardy to zone 4.
For your situation I'd suggest:
columbine, climbing vine with lots of different color options (some are better than others in shade)
astilbe to give some height and lots of color
ostrich ferns for some skinny but tall drama
some medium sized hostas in front of the ferns (they turn brown and go dormant late in the summer)
Virginia bluebells attract butterflies
plumonaria, aka lungwort, like hostas but with spotted leaves and better flowers
woodland poppy for a pop of yellow
helleborus, extremely long lasting shade flower but they take a 2-3 years to flower
fernleaf bleeding heart of burning bleeding heart, both are smaller than the old fashioned bleeding heart, the fernleaf has some nice foliage after it blooms
some type of primrose, poker primrose are pretty and taller than most but are only hardy to zone 5 or I would have them on my list
trillium, *swoon* this is my favorite shade flower, the gradiflorum (large white) starts out white and as it "ages" turns pink
blue mouse ear hosta or other mini hostas (there are so many) would be great in the very small areas and look good all year round
you could alway add annuals too like impatients or morning glories but be careful because most shade perennials don't do well when their shallow roots are distrubed
Oh and wild ginger (pretty heart shaped leaves), a ground cover like vinca minor (shinny dark green leaves with purple flowers), and lily of the valley (be careful they spread very easily) also love shade. They aren't on my list above because we already have them around our property.
HTH!