Shade garden inspiration II

Let's continue this thread as we enter a new spring season!

We came from here:
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/959311/

I'm first here!!!!!

Very beautiful, doss! It's going to be a while before I have anything to post. Most of what I see right now in my shade garden is dirt. :)

Thanks for starting the new thread. I look forward to seeing everyone's shady spots.

My shade garden doesnt look like much now. June will be the beautiful picture

marti, yes the Hardy Begonia will grow for you in a shady area. They readily reseed and come back up every year. Mildly aggressive spreader too. Are you ever up this way? I know you come to Campbellsville sometime. If you wait until later on in the year I can dig some up for you.

Doug

I'd love that. Just let me know when and I'm headed for Bardstown. I'll have to get a map. I get bored and than I'm looking to take a drive and check out the area, and I love just driving around.

That is actually a very nice drive for a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Should be about 1.5 - 2 hours.

Doug

Got it planned just need to know when. And Thank You!! We went for a drive today, don't know exactly were, someplace out by Eubanks and discovered a family owned business with greenhouses etc. They have some very reasonable prices and will be getting in some hydrangeas, hibiscus and fruit trees in another month. I HAVE TO GO BACK THERE AND SHOP!!!!!
I did buy two coleus, and 4 plants of Oxheart tomato and 4 plants of a purple tomato. Something new to try.

Kentucky is a beautiful place to do those 'Sunday Afternoon Drives' any day of the week, especially this time of year. The Spring wildflowers are gorgeous. Get out of the car and walk...

Doug

You bet!! Plus they have Bloodroot growing wild on their property and said I can dig some the next time I come for a visit. I also left them with information on DG and other site. I'm going to take at least 1 day a week and just drive around and see some of Ky.

doss - What variety of Japanese maple is in the photo? I've been pining for a new one but have to take climate zones into consideration.

Both Japanese Maples are seedling maples and not a specific type. Both of these trees get full sun and wind and seedlings are the hardiest forms of Japanese Maples. I tried several cultivars here and they didn't make it. The only trouble with seedlings is that you don't know what you are going to get including how big. Here are two more in my yard. I have a lot of cultivars but even so these are some of my favorites, perhaps because they are so mature.

Gorgeous trees! So many are hardy to zone 6 and I'm in a 5. I have one A. palmatum and it's never spawned any seedlings, probably because it's in almost full shade.

I haven't had much time to check out the forums lately but thought I'd pop in quick.

Cindy, I planted 'Crimson Queen' (Acer dissectum) and 'Glowing Embers' (Acer palmatum) at my daughter's home in Maine last year, also Zone 5, and they both successfully made it through the winter! There are some which are reliably more hardy than others and if you check out the Japanese Maple forum there are some members there who could give you advice on what might succeed in your area :) Actually there's an old thread which lists varieties which made it through a Zone 5b winter: http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/594350/ - hope this helps :)

What a beautiful garden and a lovely porch to sit on warm days.

Love the porch too.

Thank you - I think the porch was what sold my daughter on the house :) They moved in last February and her father did some work on the porch in May and I arrived in June to do the landscaping. One long week working in the miserable rain but we were able to get everything accomplished in the plan I had been working on for months! This is what it looked like last spring before we got started....

I love Maine,my cousin lives in Rockland.
Is that a new house?
What a transformation!! Beautiful.

rcn - nice to "see" you again. Thanks for the reference on the JMs. Every time I see one when I'm out and about, I crave it. There are some beautiful (and pricey) specimens at a local nursery but, the more they cost, the more insecure I become about successfully growing it. That transformation really added some personality.

Michigan gardens just starting to wake up. My bleeding hearts are going to be huge this year wow. Love those in the spring... Hostas are appearing and primroses are out. AAAHHHH spring. Happy. Ronna

Gosh Ronna, you been hibernating?

Doug

North is North Dough. New York State doesnt gat spring until late. It seems to come just as suicide from the horrible endless winter seems to be a good idea.
Glad you have some signs fo spring Ronna

ge1836, I'd love to see that bed when everything is completly unfurled. I hope you will post a pic at that time.

rcn, I'm once again in awe at the transformation you pulled off at your daughter's house. The before picture certainly tells the tale.

I sure do enjoy looking at everyone's pics. When things wake up a bit more here, I must get out the camera and join the fun on this thread.

Sandy

Mayapples I planted last year. They are not native here. I used to have them in the woods where I lived as a child. So glad to have them back.
Aquilegia Clementine Blue from seed. Lost the name of the phlox. Underneath Quercus frainetto. I'll do more work on design later. I'm mainly at the nursing stage here. :-)

Very nice Blue selection.

Found the name: Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon'.

Oooo - a P. divaricata that I don't have. I have other named varieties but a lot of them have "spawned" and I have a lot of blue ones that have naturalized. Who's carrying 'Blue Moon'?

Hey killdawabbit, according the USDA; Mayapples are native to your area.

http://plants.usda.gov/java/county?state_name=Tennessee&statefips=47&symbol=PODOP

Doug

Sorry, been away for a few days! JoAnn, yes the house was new - I'm pleased from my daughter's reports it looks like almost everything we planted made it through its first winter :) I'm heading north again in June and can't wait to see what it looks like this year!

Cindy, good to "see" you again too! I was so busy over the winter that I hadn't been posting much but I'm trying to catch up. Good luck finding a Japanese Maple that's a match for your zone :)

Sandy!!!! Any plans to travel to Richmond this year? I've got a new area I just planted, hope to have it completed by the end of the week and should be posting pictures soon.

killdawabbit, the color of your 'Blue Moon' is lovely! We have a lot of Mayapple growing in our woods and I've been looking at some that are fairly close and trying to decide where I'd like to plant them in the gardens.

Hey Doug. Technically they are native...out there in the woods somewhere. I meant on my property. I should have clarified that. Sorry. I am hoping these will naturalize in my garden. Does anyone know if that's possible?
I bought the Phlox at a local garden center about 3 years ago.

Yes they should naturalize there. I planted some dormant roots last fall and they are already beginning to spread a little.

Doug

Cool :-)

Hosta Blue Angel, Alchemilla mollis, Geranium sanguineum (lost variety name-Striata?), Heuchera Snow Angel underneath Quercus alba.
The hosta I bought as Blue Angel but I'm not sure it was correctly identified.
Still working on design.

How's this for naturlizing? This is a picture I took just down the road from my house. There is a nature walk area protected by the Corp of Engineers. It's a great place for a walk on a wooden pathway thru the area. You also see Trilliums, wild violets, special trees and other interesting plants.

I posted pictures of my walk there on General discussion forum. Check it out!!

nice

Very nice, Marti. I wonder how long it will take for my lonely little plant to do that?

Just planted 5 giant hostas here, on the far left. Needless to say this is open for inspiration right now.

This message was edited Apr 29, 2010 5:45 AM

That's a nice start. Great potential. Are the hostas the same variety or are you going for eclectic? I could think of probably a couple of dozen different groundcovers for that area.
What are the cages for? What are the trees?

The hastas are all dif. giants
Blue Mammoth
Drinking Gourd
Elegans
and the bonus was Great Arrival
There are tall astilbes at the back and a Rheinland in the front.I am planning pink and white Impatiens and Caladiums in there until I can think of perennials.I am seeing a low spreading evergreen of some sort at the edge but not definate yet.

ge - Nice color scheme going there. Re: evergreen - what about some of the small evergreen azaleas? Or do you want a conifer? I always wanted to try Microbiota decussata because it's supposed to take shade but have never gotten around to it.