Shade Loving Shurbs

I have been trying to grow shrubs in a section of my garden and they will not live. It is mostly shaded (except in the winter when leaves fall) . I live in zone 6 and there are some mungo pines near the area where I want to plant some shurbs. They will be against a redwood fence.

Any suggestions.

thanks!!!

Witch Hazel does well in shade.

I'm not sure if all of these are hardy to your zone, but I know that most are.
Amelanchier =Shadbush
Azalea
Aronia melanocarpa= Chokeberry
Camellia
Clethra alnifolia= Summersweet
Cornus florida= Flowering dogwood
Cornus racemosa =Gray dogwood
Euonymus alatus =Winged euoonymus
Dictamnus albus= Burning bush
Forsythia suspensa =Weeping forsythia
Gaultheria= shallon Salal
Hamamelis =Witch hazel
Hydrangeas
Ilex verticillata= Winterberry
Japanese Aucuba
Japanese Kerria
Kalmia latifolia =Mountain laurel
Ligustrum =Privet
Lonicera =Honeysuckle
Mahonia aquifolium =Oregon grape
Myrica pensylvanica =Bayberry
Pittosporum tobira =Japanese pittosporum
Rhamnus frangula =Buckthorn
Rhododendron
Rhodotypos kerrioides =Jetbead
Rhus canadensis =Fragrant sumac
Ribes odoratum =Flowering currant
Symphoricarpos =Snowberry
Viburnum

I don't know if you consider Hydrangea a shrub, but it is easily my favorite "shrub." Here it is under a large pine - high, but deep shade. Looks right at home in the midst of those hosta, right? This is Annabelle - a long time winner - Dax

Weeding has a great list-here are a couple more-nandina, pieris- not a shrub, but will tolerate shade-Japanese maples

I also vote for Hydrangeas! Azaleas are pretty too! And Camellias!

Well, i agree with everyone, hydrangeas are great and they come in all sorts of colors and shapes, tree types, climbing types and shrubs, i have the pe geee white one, bush one, and then all sorts of colors from blue to pink. I even have a pussy willow growing, not lots of blooms, but has lived in my shady corner for 10 years! I also have a butterfly bush (purple), that has survived too for many years, although I have lost some of them. I also have a wild rose, i stole a cutting from the woods, and it loves shade and sun, go figure that, she blooms in the spring, Clemen

Also, don't forget that some of the more sun-loving plants will survive in shade, they will just grow more slowly and, perhaps, have a different form. Case in point, Variegated Chinese Privet, and extremely common "sun" shrub, grows beautifully in the shade. It maintains its variegation (well, as much as normal--this shrub is always trying to convert...), but instead of growing into a thick privet, it maintains an open and airy stature. It looks fantastic against a darker background, and needs no care. I'll try to post a pic when I get a chance..

Yes, I agree with yotedog - Here is an Agastache "Blue Fortune" which is LOVED by butterflies, and will tolerate about half shade, or high shade. In this pic it is on the far left, with the bottle brush shaped purple blooms. - Dax

Here is my buddleia (sun loving) doing well in the shade

Finally got time to take a pic. Unfortunately, not the best time of day, but I think you can at least see what I mean.....Chinese privet, variegated (sorry, forgot Latin name) growing in bright shade. Note the Solomon's Seal, Foxglove, Huechera and other shade-lovers in the foreground.

This message was edited May 2, 2008 5:47 PM

momtwins.... I got a keria japiconia last summer and it is doing great in the shade. Its very small yet but has some bright yellow ...single flowers on it!!! Its so cute. Cant wai for it to grow more.... Im always so impatient when it come to this fact!!! But Im very happy with it!!!

very pretty, yotedog and garden lady! clemen

If you choose a hydrangea, I would suggest 'Endless Summer' due to it's ability to bloom on new wood. Most hydrangeas bloom on last years' wood, and in your zone the buds would be killed by low winter temps. I also like fothergellia, a good three season shrub

Yep - Annabelle (picture above) blooms on new wood also, so can be cut back each year. Unfortunately, here in Zone 5a in Iowa, Endless Summer has been giving us fits because so many do not dependably bloom. It's been the #1 question on the local Hort Line for the last two years - Rats!! Dax

Does anybody have experience with Deutzia "Chardonnay Pearls"? I am thinking of combining it in a shady area with Clethra "Rosea."

Dax - that might explain why only one of my three Endless Summer's bloomed this year (bought them last spring in bloom). Bummer...

Anyone know of any flop-resistant hydrangeas? We frequently get thunderstorms which come with very heavy rains. My hydrangeas always end up plastered to the ground and never seem to really bouce back up. I love hydrangeas, but they look so awful after a heavy rain that I'm starting to avoid them. This year I only bought lacecaps because they seem to hold up better than the mopheads.

Lori, I have both Chardonnay Pearls and Clethra (Ruby Spice).
When they were initially planted, they were in partial shade setting,
but they are steadily becoming more shaded. Still a little sun.
But the flowering has cut down proportionally to the loss of sunlight.
The deutzia in particular is just a big mass of foliage w/ little flowering,
so I've been planning to move it to a sunnier location.
The clethra is doing a little better for me in the shade.

Thanks, Weerobin, for that advice. I really want something colorful in that area, and it just doesn't get much sun at all. Has anybody had success with something bright and colorful that keeps going in full-day shade? It's not really heavy shade, but the sunlight has to sneak in around large trees, so anything requiring direct or even dappled sun is probably not going to do much for me there.

Hydrangeas are hard to beat for ongoing color display throughout the summer.
Of course they would probably prefer somewhat more light,
but I have several performing admirably in pretty deep shade.

Otherwise 'colorful' and 'thrives in total darkness' aren't attributes I find linked together in many plant descriptions;
at least none that I can think of.

I was trying to think of a shade tolerant shrub w/ colorful foliage,
but the only ones I can think of would probably need light to bring out significant color in the foliage as well.

Sorry. Maybe someone else can think of better ideas.

Ok Guys, can you identify this shade loving shrub with a sweet smelling flower???? Cl;emen

Clemen, looks like Clethra, probably 'Ruby Spice'? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/150/

Lori, I've had the same experience as Weerobin with Chardonnay Pearls...a little too much shade = less flowers :( Kerria has been mentioned and if you could find Kerria japonica 'Picta' http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/76639/ it might work in your spot. The variegated foliage would be "bright and colorful" and the Kerrias we have planted in full shade bloom beautifully :)

I agree, Clethra Ruby Spice. I have a couple - aren't they wonderful smelling?

Yeap, the fragrance is divine! Thanks for helping id my bush! Clemen

Ronna how much has your Kerria grown since the pic in May? My wife planted one in a bed in full sun and I know it's going to get huge so we need to move it this fall. I didn't realize they would bloom in shade.

Doug

eee-ha! Smells divine? hummm...Clemen, could I trouble you for a cutting?
Rob

Roberta, no trouble, just dmail, or else I'll forget!!! Clemen
I have to tell you know as far as shade and fragrance, OMG, mmmmmmmmm so sweet just like Brugmansias are!

Intoxicatiing brugs tonight, mmmmmmmmmmnnnnnm love it!

I had no idea how prolific clethras could be. We made a very large raised bed for dahlias, butterfly bushes, etc. I had some clethra that was struggling elsewhere and DH planted it for me in this bed. Since we didn't want to deal with the many weeds that grow gloriously here, we put down landscape cloth and mulched. I'm attaching pics to show the clethra. The roots have run underneath the cloth and now they're coming up everywhere! Guess I need to move them to a shadier spot and make them into a hedge. First is the "mother" plant.

Here are the babies

actually, you mentioned that you had other shrubs planted there that died? what were they? It might be good to figure out why they died before planting a bunch of other stuff??? If they weren't hardy, well then that's easy. But, unless it's a really dark shade, there's a good chance that there's something else going on.

This message was edited Aug 2, 2008 3:54 AM

Clemen, you got dmail!
Rob

My MIL had a spice bush in fairly deep shade and it did wonderful. My mom has one in partial shade.