Landscaping the north side

The side of my garage is about 55' long and aside from a few ferns, I do not have much there - and I think this is the year to get it done with perennials.

This area does not get much sun, the western end of it does get late afternoon sun and into the early evening - but not HOT sun.
at this end, I do have those orange "naturalizing" day lilies.

(I can't believe I do not have any photographs of this area either)

This is what I was thinking of doing;

equally spaced out, 3) white astilbe with 2 hostas (1 on each side -- sorta like the 3 plants making a triangle formation)
for the hostas, i was thinking the Loyalist -- though i wasn't sure there'd be too much white... but my siding is a blue/gray
that is one reason i didnt go with a blue-tinted hosta

then I was thinking of coleus and maybe some impatiens for added color, and to fill it all in.

that's my game plan -- any thought/comments

TIA,

terese

Hi tcs,

I found a picture of a shady part in my garden, perhaps it can give you some inspiration ?

bonitin, puuuurrrtttyyy. :)

I've got a simular situation, and in addition to hostas, coleus and impatiens I'm looking into bush honeysuckle (non-invasive kind), cast iron plant and gold dust plant. I'm afraid the last two aren't cold hardy enough for your area, but bush honeysuckle should do. http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/55622/

i guess i forgot to add.... the width of the area is only about 18-24" deep.
again - i wish i had a photo and it's all covered in snow now.

so - i dont have room for a bush, only plants

bonitin-What a beautiful choice of plants you have in the photo.

tcs, You are a zone colder then me but I can suggest a few of my favorite spring ephemerals. My all time favorite is rue -anemonone (Anemonella thalictroides), no more then 4" tall, small,delicate white flowers that only last a week or so, beautiful divided leaves, also a double pink cultivar.(Schoaf's pink). It takes deep shade in zones 3-8. Hepatica (liverwort), Erythronium (trout lily), ( Phlox divaricata) woodland phlox ,cultivar Montrose tricolor, green white and pink in the leaves. The gingers (asarum) also add nice leaf color all season. An annual I use in the shade for color is Tourenia (wishbone plant).
Your choice of white astilbes with hosta sounds pretty.

Here's a photo of the woodland phlox in flower.

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 6:56 AM

tcs, Here's the same phlox (Montrose tricolor) later in the season showing the 3 color leaf variegation with a double or rose impatien in bloom.

This message was edited Feb 14, 2007 8:48 AM

tcs, Two more plants I use are the variegated solomon seal and hellebores. The solomon seal is a nice back of the border plant but it does run a bit so don't place it too near smaller or more delicate plants.

thanks for the images. I love that Phlox. I will look into that.

I was on Dee's Garden site looking at Hostas, and found Lamium; 'Anne Greenaway' and 'Pink Pewter'
and Coral Bells; Plum Pudding

so if i went with the Lamium and Coral bells with the White Astilbe (3 of'em)
that could get me going for this year.

I still have to locate a site to get that Tricolor phlox.

I also was thinking of "wintergreen" as i like the lil red berries for the animals to munch, but I could also just get them for my summer home... which is mostly shade.

geeze -- this is gonna cost me a small fortune.....

hmmmmm.... i was thinking of the Coral bells, but now i have read they do best with sun,.

can i get away with these in full shade... i mean NO sun at all?
if not, that blows my above plan.

so far, i have 3 white astilbes ordered and 2 Polemonium (jacobs ladder) for the north side
where i already have orange naturalizing lilies and dwarf bleeding heart, and quite a few ferns.
I dont know how many as every year some die and ya get a bunch more sprouting all over.

i am planning on doing some coleus seeds later this Spring, and possibly buying some impatiens (red and white maybe)

semper -- i'm still gonna try to get that phlox... just need to find where i can get some.

terese

I had Heuchera "Palace Purple" in deep shade at my old place and it did well. I don't think it got any direct sun at all. I had it with lamium 'beacon silver' and some hosta. There's some purple heuchera at the house I've moved in to, though I'm not sure if it's the same or a related cultivar. It gets afternoon sun and the foliage is a much deeper color than the old house - I don't know if that's light or plant related. Peg

tcs1366-Welcome!

Have you considered some of the semi shade vines to break up the wall a bit? Some clematis do well in part shade. Here's a link to the Plantfiles search I just used. http://davesgarden.com/pf/search.php?search_text=clematis&Search=Search

Have you looked up the places you are ordering from in the GardenWatchdog? http://davesgarden.com/gwd/

Good Luck!

mg

Peg,

from a thread i read this evening, it seems the more sun it gets, the deeper the color. I want the deep colors, burgandy/maroon kind of colors.

mg,

yes, i do use the WatchDog.

I havent thought of vines, as i'd have to add a support for it, and not sure if i want to do that or not. but this area get NO sun at all for most of it...if any, very late afternoon, say 7pm.

found an online retailer, and watchdog gaveem 100% (4 positive reviews) Edelweiss in Oregon

$5 per plant. I"m gonna browse their site to see if there is anything else i need to cover shipping.

Here's a picture of palace purple in early June in deep shade - healthy, but not very purple.

thanks Peg,

what is the plant in front of it, the white-ish silver with green.

I'm also looking at Cyclamen Mostly Silver - but i dont know the spread rate.
that Edelweiss place does not have the cheapest shipping, so i'm looking for more plants,
and i dont like any of the hostas they have.

In front is lamium - 'Beacon silver', and there's a Brunnera ('Jack Frost', I think) to the back right. I liked the purplish tones of the heuchera next to the silvery things.

Peg,

yes, beacon silver... i knew i knew it ... it's nice, i like it.

anyhoo - the Edelweiss place's shipping is pretty high, so i found another place where they have a flat fee for s/h, though the Phlox is a tad higher. So, now i'm shopping for hostas.

think i'm going to dream about plants tonight....... i'm beat.

oh and Peg, this place had a really pretty heuchera that does well in shade -- Heuchera 'Peppermint Spice'

now only if all this dang snow would melt and Spring would get here.

terese

If you are Hosta shopping, I live right by Jim's Hostas in Dubuque, he has a listing in the WatchDog.

Have you visited the Hosta Forum? I just drool all over myself when I go in there, lol.

Thread in the Hosta Forum discussing online sources: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/689691/

mg

This message was edited Feb 18, 2007 11:57 PM

mg,

yes;, i browser the Hosta forum daily.... that is how i got interested in them. some are gorgeous.... but some are WAY pricy.
basically -- i'm a cheap-skate.

The site i'm shopping on now, Hallson Gardens -- they are on vacation now - not gonna be shipping til the first week of March -- so i still have some time.... and you really can't beat "flat shipping rate" - so i will most likely stick with this site - but ya never say never.

Terese

Terese,
I have the exact same situation as you......bed along the garage, north side, late afternoon sun from the west. Everything in that bed is painfully slow to emerge and my hostas there are about 2-3 weeks behind in growth but once they get going, they are fine.
I noticed that my Brunnera "Jack Frost" loves this spot and stays perky when it gets humid, unlike another my other Jack Frost that's in a lightly shaded, west-facing position.

The coleus and impatiens seem like a good idea and I may try that too as I need more colour for that bed.

Erynne

thanks for your comments -- that Jack Frost is very nice. the site i may shop from has it for $13USD
does that sound reasonable?

maybe i'll get those instead of the hostas.

Hi Terese,
That sounds about right in price for Jack Frost because I've seen them going for $15-$18 CDN around here, sometimes as high as $22.
Oh no! Don't dismiss hostas as an option! My hostas in the north bed were Plantaginea and I figured that one could've used more sunshine anyhow. Definitely plant some hostas there because if all else fails, you WILL have those hostas to fall back upon whether they're slow or not.

Erynne :o)

for anyone that was following this thread and helping me along -- here's the thread with my choices for this spring
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/694591/

thanks for all the assistance

Terese

Bonitin: In your Feb 12 photo, what's the plant with the small pointy leaves that's in and around the others?
Thanks,
Deb

Have you considered Sweet Woodruff? It's a beautiful low ground cover that has little white flowers in the Spring. It will fill in nicely in time, but is not invasive as the roots pull out very easily. And.....it does not do well if it gets sun.

marie,

yes, i did look at sweet woodruff too... it's very nice -- though i was looking at it for a different area.... that gets more sun.

terese

Brunnera Jack Frost isn't a big plant so it depends on what size you want when you order your hostas. Jack Frost is patented which is why it's so high.

Ligularia is a wonderful plant with great foliage if you have enough water in your strip.

Azaleas work very well in that situation in my garden.

thanks doss..... i'll look up those plants to see how they can work for me.

Oh, and don't forget hakone grass. Quite beautiful.

This is a strip that is entirely shade on the left and gets sun much of the day on the right but many of the plants that we talked about are here. The ligularia are the big round leaves.

You could put a climbing hydrangea on that wall.

very nice doss!! I wish i had that kind of room to "play".

doss........that is exactly the kind of stacked raised bed that I want. Did you do it yourself? What is the material? Spendy? Every time I think that I'll just do something easier in my new beds, I keep coming back to this look.

I hope you don't mind that I've printed a copy of your pic to show the guy at the stone yard.

Very 'spendy' I'm afraid. It's some sort of flagstone and I had to get an expert to do it. He had to do the whole wall by himself as everyone has their own way of stacking wall and no two do it alike. That planting is by no means mature by the way. The ligularias and ferns will get much bigger and their are climbing evergreen hydrangeas on the fence that are only about 4 feet high - they are the shrubby things - but not at all hardy.

How deep is your planting area tcs?

This is another very narrow strip that I did with ferns, hellebores, carex, kurume azalea, etc. You'd have to substitute plants in your area - but a few rocks every once in awhile breaks things up nicely.

Thanks doss......I wonder if I could do stacked flagstone beds by myself? That would help with the cost. Of course, after I'm done paying the chiropractor and massage therapist to get me back to normal it might not be cheaper. LOL

dos,

it's not a wide area at all, i'm guessing 2'

Terese

Hi, tcs1366 - Just happened on this thread, but we've talked on other forums, I believe. Just saw the pic of your space and location, and wanted you to know that I think your original plan would be beautiful, particularly since you don't have much width to work with. The astilbe will be beautiful in the spring, and you can pick the coleus and impatiens to carry the color theme through the summer into fall. The impatiens should get a nice fullness by August and will spill over the sides while the coleus should stand more upright to fill in the back. I would plant the impatiens in front of the coleus. By the third year, you probably won't have much space for the annuals as the hosta and astilbe will fill in. I think you've got a real feel for colors and spacing - sounds great! Send pics when you can - Dax

Since it's narrow you will have to make the variations in height and form and color without depth which is fine. I don't know how much sun astilbes can take but I have a bed that is mostly astilbes and ferns that is about that wide that I love a lot.

Here are directions for building a dry stacked wall.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1216/is_5_212/ai_n6038650

Hope that this helps. I think that a stacked wall may not be difficult but certainly takes time and muscle power!

Here is what's coming this Spring:

Brise d' Anjou Polemonium (2)
Deutschland Astilbe (3)
Woodland Phlox (montrose tricolor)
Heurchera, Plum Pudding (1)
Hosta, Paul's Glory & Ginko Craig

I think my ferns (Ostrich) will be pretty full this year... though i have a friend who wants ferns -- and i may dig some up for her.

I havent started my Coleus seeds yet -- i'm waiting on a heat mat -- then if i still have room, i'll add some impatiens.

I'm thinking it's gonna look really nice this year -- last year I really didnt do anything with it.

dax -- I'll certainly be posting pics.... thanks for your input.

doss -- what color are your astilbes? I pretty much chose white since the trim on my house is white.

terese

My astilbes are different heights and different colors. That means that they bloom at different times. If you want a massive bloom use the same type. White astilbe can really echo the variegated white and green or blue hostas. I do love some color in a white garden though. Just touches make quite a difference - perhaps hostas with purple flowers?

Here's an example. These are daylilies of course - but look at the photo and then put your hand over the color and look again. You can decide whether you want color in your white garden by seeing which you like better.

By the way, if you can grow nandina some of the dwarf highly colored cultivars look great in a sun/shade garden.