I'd like to find a vine that will grow in deep shade. Maybe flower? Even an annual would be okay. My son bought me a pretty wrought iron trellis for this new bed between the house and carport. The photo shows the amount of sun it gets in June/July, about an hour in morning and evening, but none against the house.
I have clematis Etiole Rose growing in that much shade and it blooms but the trellis is probably too short for it. You could grow it up the trellis and let it drape down though which is very effective. Etoile Violet would be good too and is not as prone to mildew as Etiole Rose.
I once ordered a five-leaf akebia plantlet which I received at a busy time and stuck temporarily in an out-of-the-way bed in 3/4 shade and promptly forgot about it.
Four years later it has grown to 5 feet tall and is VERY healthy. I'm going to have to cut it back severely this year.
Thank you doss and Don. I will surf both your suggestions. I'm surprised and intrigued to learn that some clematis will grow in shade. For the akebia I would plant in a pot I think to keep it from spreading?
I've got a better idea! How about an espalliered camellia. It would be perfect there.
Wow! doss, that never would have occured to me! I'll check it out. Would I start with a very small shrub and prune and train carefully?
Yes, and you need a camellia that won't get too big. Some of the sasanquas stay shorter and are easier to grow than the japonicas. Some of the Japonicas can get 20 feet tall!
katymac your colombines are beautiful dont you wish they would flower all saeson long? what is the blue flower in the front? it hard to make out with shadows behind it. Is it mostly shadey there where it is very nice photo.
Okay doss, I'll gather my pennies and trot off to the nursery to check out camellias.
gardenlady, those are more columbines in the front. All of them are from a single plant. I didn't deadhead the first two years I lived here when this bed this bed was just day lilies and hosta, in fact I shook the seed pods all over. I took out the day lilies last fall.
Is espalliering (sp?) tricky? doss just solved a problem area I have, too.
I misspelled it too. It's espaliering. I suggest that you get a book on pruning from the library with a section on how to espalier. It's not tricky, you just have to be bold. :-)
The bell-shaped clematis, or "leatherflowers", can take quite a bit of shade. They are often described as needing a woodland condition. Mine only get filtered light, and bloom.
There is a clematis lutea that has nice foliage, and grows nearly in the dark, lol...mine is growing in only filtered light, also.
Climbing hydrangea can take quite a bit of shade, too, but might be too large for your trellis...
-T
There is an evergreen climbing hydrangea that would look beautiful against your house but whose eventual size is about 20 feet. It's a very slow grower though. Mine is blooming now. They've been in the ground for about 5 years and are only 3 feet tall.
http://www.hydrangeasplus.com/product.php?productid=443&cat=0&page=1
Here's a photo of mine starting to bloom now but it will need a larger support eventually. My guess is that you could keep it in line with good pruning right after the flowers bloom however.
Edited to say that the place that sells them says that they will support themselves.
This message was edited Jun 4, 2007 6:50 PM
Ooo...l might have to get one of those, myself. :0)
-T
Oh my, decisions, decisions, decisions. I would love a clematis there, especially if it would bloom. But, I love the hydrangea too!
lol Maybe I could get both, the clematis for the trellis and the hydrangea at the back going up the lattice?
Or let the clematis climb up the hydrangea. :-)
KatyMac, you will be well pleased with the 5 leaf Akebia (chocolate vine). I have one in rather deep shade and it is so full and lush. The tiny little blooms even have a smell of chocolate, YUMMMMMM. It is a very interesting and pretty vine. I am wondering about the Silver lace vine for myself. I too, have so much shade, but really like vines too.
seedy1 my husband also is a vine lover. we do have the silverlace vine in kind of a dappled shade and its growing like a weed. in the fall it gets very pretty white flowers on it. we also have honeysuckle vine just planted those lasy year they havent blossomed yet. but growing very well. i have a shade clemitas also just got it this spring but it has really grown since ive recieved them. but it hasnt blossomed yet, i havent had them long enough yet. we also have a very large clemitas that needs part shade it blossomes in the fall but the tag told a lie it never blossoms its to much in the shad i wish it would casue boy yhe flowers would be beautiful where it is planted oh well he loves the vines. they are a nice hieght addition if nothing else. Doss i noticed in your photo you have ligulara in the front of you hydrangea i love those and have two my self. they are wonderful i love how big the leaves are and they only get better every year. the flowers are only an added bonus.
I cut the flowers off of my ligularias. LOL Somehow daisies in the shade don't do it for me. But I agree, they are fabulous plants and should be used more. In warmer climates we can also grow farfugiums which are related but evergreen and more tender.
I have a Sweet Autumn Clematis growing in the shade on a trellis. It has tripled in size in one season. Blooms with nice white flowers in autumn.
Here is link to plant on DG http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/683/
Here is a photo of mine in its shady place. Won't bloom until Autumn
MsMaati, I went to all the sites that sell it in the DG link. Only one appears not to be sold out. I really like that vine!
Glad I could help, hope you get some going. This just the second year on mine and it was only a small pot.
Katie
I think you would love the Clematis I took two a Perkins and jackomi ( I know I didnt spell them right) They get a little morning sun, I have a bench trellis and have them growing over it. I love purple this area I started 3 yrs ago and I call it purple haze, everything in the front is purple the back of is a stair step to the back yard which is mostly purple or blue I can't tell the diff.
I think that this in the pic would be awesome there, but I lost the tags and don't remember who's who. this one is a dark purple and gets the most shade and more fuller, the other one is lighter and blooms sooner.
It's spelled Jackmanii and it's a wonderful vine.
Thank you all! I have a Niobe in a quart pot and a Jackmanii in a gallon pot, both are twining around their own little trellises. I'm assuming I will need to wait for fall or spring to plant them. They seem so fragile, I broke a couple little vines on the Jackmanii already just seeing if it could be un-twined a bit.
Clematis are really pretty tough. The ones that you broke won't hurt a thing and it will come back next spring just fine. At some of the mail order nurseries they cut them all back to 1 foot to ship.
For such a small structure though I might suggest durandii. You have to tie it up but Jackmanii is a pretty big vine.
Okay, I'm still kind of confused. The pruning guide lists durandii as Group 3, but Jackmanii is listed in both groups 2 and 3. So if I prune the Jackmanii back to the first bud wouldn't that keep it manageable?
Yes but it will grow 8-10 feet from being pruned back to the first buds. I guess that it would be fine to let it ramble. If you already have one you might as well try it.
Doss: Do some clematis need to be tied up, and others not?
Yes, some are herbacious and not climbing. Rooguchi and durandii are two that don't climb. Rooguchi has purple bell flowers and durandii had blue flowers with yellow centers.
Poison Ivy? bad joke, sorry......lol
Dicentra scandens, or Bleeding Heart Vine grows to about 12 feet, available at LazyS, might be a good choice. It is listed as part shade.
