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What is your best shade grower?
monica197
Posts: 542 ✭✭✭
It is always a goal of mine to look for things I can grow in the shade. Lately I have found that wintergreen likes an understory set-up with moisture...at least that is what this particular thing that I was reading was saying. I did find some on etsy and they came beautifully. I have them in the ground and now the waiting begins...
So I am wondering, what have you found that grows well in the shade?
Comments
I love my maples. They give shade, sap, food, medicine and decorate my yard with color in the fall. Firewood and lumber are the end product of a life well lived.
They grow quickly and you can find the saplings so many places for free.
My poleo (Aloysia polystachya) loves shade. I almost lost it when I put it in full sun. It's a type of verbena and smells awesome. Maybe other verbenas would do well in shade, too.
Hydrangea is the go-to plant for shade areas that need some color!
I have a large shade garden. Dappled sunlight gets through for about 2-3 hours during the peak of summer.
My best performers are dogwoods (both trees and shrubs), Gunnera and Astillbe. And the saxifraga ground cover is amazing! Also if you want a nice filler woodruff smells sweet and looks pretty.
The Hostas love shade but it’s a battle with slugs and my hydrangeas do well but the ones in sun do better and my rhododendrons are GORGEOUS but the bloom time is short. The crab apple does well but the fall color is not as intense.
I also have lily of the valley and Solomon seal that is getting established and look good but are not yet show stoppers. For a pop of color I grow begonias and water lillies in the summer but I have to protect them in winter so I don’t know if I will bother with them as I get older.
Other shrubs I love in my shade garden that make up a lot of structure are twin berries, escallonia, viburnums, salal and huckleberry.
My property is surrounded by Centennial evergreens mixed with birch trees so I get a lot of shade. There are more shade lovers out there and I have a few of them but these listed are my favorites.
That is good to know. Are verbenas in the mint family?
I just picked up some sweet woodruff - I am glad to hear this
Do you huckleberry bushes get very big? @herbantherapy
@monica197 Verbenas and mints are in the same order, but not the same family. It's a huge family by itself, and they are often known as butterfly or bee bushes because of their ability to attract pollinators.
@frogvalley I took a beautiful little maple sapling and planted it as a bonsai in our bedroom. I kept it outside for summer and then brought it indoors before first freezing. It started losing some leaves about a week or so ago and now only has a few left. Then, I noticed new little leaf buds are already starting to form. I do find so many little shoots, and this has been such a beautiful gift from nature for us to appreciate as the seasons change.
@herbantherapy which kind of twin berry do you mean?
@monica197 herb sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum, sometimes called Asperula odorata, known in Germany as Waldmeister--used to make May wine. It does well especially in dappled sunlight. It takes a surprising amount of shade below bushes and trees quite well and you may want to give it a try. Let us know your most valuable experiments please.
@monica197 @herbantherapy please include me in any advice about huckleberries. I have tried it out as a largely shade bearing plant. It has remained robust, and exhibited new growth this summer but after two years still remains quite tiny. I'd read they grow quicker in the shade. What is your experience growing them with respect to size? When I picked huckleberries in the wild I remember like five to six foot high plants that also grew very broad. Any help greatly appreciated thank you!
great questions @aprilbbrinkman
@herbantherapy do you have any help in this respect - thank you!!
This is great to know - I will post
My mints do best in shade and moist soil.
@aprilbbrinkman A maple bonsai? Well if that don't beat everything. I've been looking for a way to monetize our property to pay the taxes so am saving the trees seedlings to pot and sell. I think bonsai maple trees would be a better item as they wouldn't take as much space as regular size trees. There are several attractive things about them. Thank you for the idea.
Now I know why my mint that is in full sun is struggling, and the one on my window sill is doing great.
@monica197 @aprilbbrinkman
as @Tave mentioned verbena is in the Verbenaceae family but it has similar traits as the mint family. Meaning it will take sun but does well in shade and can be invasive so planting in a pot is recommended.
My huckleberries are well established and about 6-8 feet tall. The ones that produce the most get dappled sun and have wet feet. They all live on the upper crest of a creek bank in Sandy soil. This has been my only experience with them and they were living here in my property before I moved in.
The twin berry I have is Lonicera invulculata. It is a native Pacific NW shrub.
For the first time, I am growing achocha (Cyclanthera pedata), also know as slipper gourd or stuffing cucumber. The poor thing was really suffering in full sun, so I've moved it where it only gets sun in the morning. It's a vine, and I need to look for a place where it can climb. The food and medicinal qualities of this plant are impressive. It's native to the Andes Mountains, but there are a few seed companies in North America that sell the seeds.
It will be interesting to see how it does in the shade now. I have never heard of this. Does it taste similar to the cakes we know?
I am going to have to look into huckleberries. My space is much more conducive to berries than fruit trees due to size. I am interested. Thank you for sharing!!
@monica197 If picked when still tender, you can eat it like cucumber. If you let it mature, it becomes hollow, and you can remove the seeds, then cook it like summer squash or stuff it. This guy explains it well.
I am really intrigued! I am in Zone 9A. It should grow well here. I have a shady area where it can trellis too. DO you have seeds you could share? I will trade you some stevia seeds...? @Tave
@monica197 Are you in the States? I'm in South America and my trip home was cancelled due to the pandemic. If you don't want to wait until I can make it back to the States, Terroir Seeds has them. John from Growing Your Greens may know where to get seeds, too. I tried to find how to contact him, and it looks like Facebook would be easiest.
@Tave Ahhh, yes I am. I will send you a PM...
Azaleas!
I have heard that azaleas are not friendly to bees...is that what you have heard?
That's not my experience. Got more Bee's and Azaleas around here that I can't stir 'em with a stick! Especially Carpenter Bee's! Dang things are thicker than thieves in the springtime!
I did go crazy and planted a hybrid Azalea that blooms twice a year-Spring and Fall.
They are in bloom right now (Nov 22, 2020) (Mean ol' rednecks like flowers too y'a know!)
If the shaded area has room for understory trees I love Paw Paws. The young seedlings really suffer if out in direct sunlight. Fruit production is considerably better if the maturing tree can get more sun.
Great suggestion!