here is one side of my yard. I'm thinking this was summer of 07
you can barely see the hummer feeder - on the left in the back by a pine tree.
but this gives you an idea of what i'm dealing with. I've added a few more plants ... BUT i dont think too much on this side.
thanks Mona... i do have some on that list... many of which i did not know would do well in shade.
by this summer those bed should be a lot fuller its amazing how hostas can fill up a space in a couple of years
your welcome, I have so much shade that I have actually done some research and kept them list so I can landscape some of the woodlands around my house
Neal had a thread going for yellow and orange annuals growing in shade maybe you can get some ideas out of that tcs :)
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/933723/
I knew you would understand about the space bar Meredith lol I took mine off to clean under it and found out you can't take the keys off of a lap top! Not me anyway lol It will never work right again!
I found some seeds that had sprouted to my white dogwood tree under the leaves by the irises under the tree, I marked them I hope they continue to grow, I may have an extra if they do tcs :) Those suckers take forever to grow though, I planted a seedling about four years ago and it's still only about five inches high in the shade garden lol It's not dead though :) I planted it in January like I was instructed to and worried myself silly over it croaking lol
here's the other side of my yard ... this gets a bit of morning sun, but not much.
this is the side where the Coral Bells went.
I've added quite a few more hostas too.
that is nice I need to do something at the front of the house I have a long bed and then its steep and as it flatens out its all woods mostly maples and birch we have started to get rid of all the underbrush got about twenty feet in last fall so I will start planting some stuff this spring and we will have to keep on the clearing since it was not done for many years its full of hawthorns that make it impossible for the kids or anyone else to go into the woods
here is a pic of the area
this the retaining wall we built last summer about 80 feet of it and about 40 to go for this year
the section between the wall and the fence will be covered with columbines that is why I seeded over three hundred plants this winter but I will not see them bloom this year it will be next year before they give me what I want which is absolute spring color
white, pink five different shades, red, yellow, blue three different shades, purple, burgundy, I seeded mckanas, bonnets, barlows, and wild ones
here is the other end of the wall
inside the fence is mostly done with astilbe, hostas, heuchera and closer to the pool which is in the sun I planted forget me nots in pink,blue, and pink for early spring and then I add annuals that I have been growing inside zannias, gazanias, love lies bleeding, annual hibiscus, and others
we left just enough space at the bottom of the wall to make a path way so about three feet which is still my property the only jack a////// in the area happens to live in the next house just my luck hahahahah but when the trees leaf out I dont see him anymore till november when the leaves drop and by then I am inside so I really dont care ahahhaha
tcs, remember you talking about that area last year didn't you plant some columbine in it too, seems like you did, your last picture, how about some ferns? I have a start to a painted fern that would go there or your other place too, I wonder how much sun an orstrich fern needs but they spread a lot.I have those too but they don't seem to multiply a lot in my shade garden they get very little sun. The shade might be a good place to plant them so they don't take over but they do need moisture which they don't get much of in my shade garden either, I usually forget to water it :) I'm guilty :) Jack in the Pulpits would do good there or either area, they need a lot of rain or water in the early spring though. I have some in an area where it's dry and the only water they get is from the spring, if it doesn't rain a lot in the spring I just water them a lot.
Some of those little mini irises that grow wild in the woods would probably be alright but how dry is it in those two areas? I know you don't want to be watering all the time while you go from place to place :) Plenty of compost is the answer I think for not watering all the time I haven't reached that point in my shade garden yet almost there :)
ferns do great in dample sun to full shade but they like it moist they are deep rooted but in an area that get little rain for many months they would have a hard time and they like rich soil, I know that there are no wild ferns in my area and that means that mine will have to be babied to do well
Lea ... actually , i do have a lot of ferns up there. they are a long the lattice work in the first image.
yes, i did plant the Columbines, hope they bloom this year.... it does seem, when i plant, most of it goes along closer to the fence line. I have to leave some areas plant free though... Buddy loves to run, and does trample some of my stuff.
He has a few areas he loves to dig... I've moved some hostas, but need to move a few more. they are only albomarginatas though... dime a dozen.
I did just order 4 more Japanese Painted Ferns from the Co-Op. I currently only have one... but i have a lot of the Ostrich ferns at home .. and they are getting invasive.... so i may move some more.
OH my ostrich ferns are pretty much full shade ... they may get a bit in teh morning and a bit in the late afternoon, depending on where they are in the bed - which is 55' long...so some get none and still grow like weeds.
I have great sandy soil up there [Wisc] , so planting is so easy.
I'm adding a bit every year ... this will be our 3rd full year, as we bought in early Sept of 06.
I'm moving things and I do add a few annuals... this year i'm growing 2 coleus Limelight and Palasandra [sp?]
also some balsam impatiens. and Purple Knight Alternanthera.
I did get some Firefly Heuchera from someone, and they are being WS'ed this year. I have 3 Heuchera Plum Puddings at home - i could bring one up there.... Hmmm, they may be white flowers. Could divide my Peppermint Spice... those are red.
Looking at Mona's list.....
I have Nasty seeds, Red Hot Poker and Red Cardinal
a few others on the list, but they are not red flowers.
I'll work at it.
thanks for all the input though.
I noticed last year that the hummer goes for red first then pink and purple and then what ever has what he needs they went to the yellow and white also since my petunias got lots of attention and they are mostly white, the shape of the flower is part of it to they really like my bleeding hearts I have huge ones by the side of the shed and they always go there first it seems that they show up just as they are starting to bloom
my bleeding hearts are still quite young and are not really blooming much.
I have a dwarf at home, and it blooms almost all season.
I have not notice them going after the fern bleeding hearts but the huge ones it is funny how will do each bloom on each branch in succession without missing one single bloom
Fairy, my dwarf goat's beard is coming up :) That golden grass too I forgot what it was, lemon zest maybe? I had a few of them, I left my lables in the ground but it flooded there and don't see them.
I just took a walk outside and my Red Start Bergenia is blooming for the first time I've had this planted for at least four years lol It has the prettiest rose/mauve flowers on it, I was just wondering if it was ever going to bloom for me lol
And get this, one of my Pasque Flowers is blooming the rosea one and the red and wine one haven't even come up all the way yet and they are all planted in the same spot :)
I think I lost all of my bleeding hearts, not a sign of them and they are usually up with the columbines and blooming about the same time :( I got some seed from bluesprial I hope they germinate for me.
tcs, I think hummers go to red hot poker no matter what color they are I think they like the taller stalks of flowers. They don't bloom much for me in part sun though, the ones in full sun bloom like crazy!
I'm sure if I watered my shade garden more my ostrich ferns would multiply more too but where they are I really don't want them to lol Not go crazy anyway, I have some pretty old hosta close by and my 5" dogwood tree that I'm trying to get to grow :)
my dicentra (large bleeding heart) is just poking out of the ground since I notice on the weekend as I removed the leaves that there is ice in the ground so another week and they will be growing very quickly and when they are done blooming I am moving them since they are so big now that they block of the patch to the garden shed. I probably will not be able to get them all but they will then be smaller for a few years, I also ordered an alba a white one which will come this spring I love the white ones so pretty I think I will put a red on each side so the branches will cross each other mixing the red and white
Ready for a laugh??? This establishes that I am certifiably nuts.
Well, on Saturday morning I decided to start several types of seeds. I had read on DG that soaking seeds in a solution of one quart of water to 2 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide would be beneficial - so I soaked morning glory seeds (heavenly blue, and one that looks like grandpa otts, and moonflower) dwarf morning glory (blue ensign), red salvia, cherry profusion zinnias, orange profusion zinnias, lemon gem marigolds, and snowball marigolds.
After a couple of hours, all the seeds except the tall morning glory seeds were put in coffee filters dampened with the same water-hydrogen peroxide solution, then slipped into zip-lock baggies. I started LOTS of each kind of seed - especially the marigolds, because I seem to have only a 1 in 10 germination for marigolds.
The baggies were then placed upright in a large margarine tub and placed downstairs on the heating pads 'cause these seeds needed warmer temperatures than Our Old House can provide (thermostat is set at 60 degrees for daytime temperatures).
On Sunday morning, I put the morning glory seeds in coffee filters and into the zip-lock baggies and put them vertically in another large margarine container on the heat mats.
But I was concerned - the morning glory seeds seemed - well - very soft. So, later on Sunday I opened a grandpa otts mg baggie - and the darn things had already germinated!
By late Sunday afternoon all the morning glories, including the moonflowers and the dwarf blue ensign had germinated. But so had the zinnias AND the marigolds - and I am getting something ridiculous - like 95% germination! EGADS!!!!
I am getting up at 5 in the morning trying to get the seedlings into flats. So far I have done a flat of lemon gem marigolds, I have 6 moonflower vines, 18 grandpa otts mgs, 24 heavenly blue mgs, 21 cherry profusion zinnias - and I still have 100s of seeds to pot up!
Now I just have to keep them alive! (this could be a trick 'cause so far I have killed a lot of seedlings . . .)
I usually just use warm water and in about two to three hours they have a root so yes I would imagine with the peroxide and they heat that they would go nuts on you
my ensign I dont even soak just plant them and my house is at 68 F and they are up in two to three days on there own
seeds are amazing arent they I just love it that is why I am now buried under seedlings some up to two feet tall hahahhaha
but they will give such nice blooms in a couple of months
Hahahah Deandor. Welcoem to the club. I have done the sam ething think well this wil take so logn to germinate and this and this and have foudn myself starring at hundred s of seedling s all sprouted at onc e wanting their soil. And it always seems ot happen when yoru busy doign somethgin els e critical.
Lala. Well my Kiwi's finaly bti the dust. Throwing them out today and wil plant some new ones. Think the heat and the humidity in th egh wa s just to much for mine.
How yoru doing They still hanging in there?
New thread.... this one is getting hard to load for Dial-Up-ers
come on over....... http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/969595/
