I like the look of the fern leafed bleeding hearts. They have interesting foilage and seem to have a longer bloom time than traditional bleeding hearts.
Hosta are very neat plants. I want to add a variety of colors and textures to my garden with both the foilage and the flowers on my plants. This looks like a nice, bright, cheery color. When choosing hosta I don't generally look at what the blooms end up looking like since they don't bloom long anyway. Their leaves are spectacular though!
Okay, I need to make sure to add that this plant is one that deer like. I'm still leaving the picture here because I'm still pondering getting it for my garden anyway....
Ivy are fun plants that seem to stay green most of the year even in colder climates like mine. I like the shiny gleem these have!
I can't very well have a flower garden without flowers now, can I? I chose these because they have larger flowers than the others and they have a differnt bloom time than the bleeding hearts and lily of the valley.
Can you truly have a shade garden without the bell of the ball? I love the fragrance you get from these plants. While they don't last long they are a very sweet addition to any garden hideaway.
I would also throw in some annuals such as coleus (for the fabulous leaves) and lobelia and impatiens to keep flowers blooming all summer long.
18 comments:
It looks like you have a wonderful start, those are all great choices. There is a new bleeding heart that's white with red in it, I almost bought one last year, it's beautiful. I have many hosta's, they are so hearty in our climate. There are so many varieties to choose from and try to find a Canadian rose too, you'll be surprised, I was just looking at mine today, it's still green and looks good! :)
Looks like you'll have a wonderful shade garden. Got to love the ivies and wonderful colored Hostas.
I have a thing for s few hosta too .. mainly blue ones .. so Blue Mouse Ears is on the top of my list.
I don't have much on the Lily of the Valley .. only a few 'ears" of them .. hope they multiply !
Nice shade posts !
Joy
Joy and vanilalotus- Thanks for stopping by!
Thanks all for your input. It sure is hard to find plants that fit all of the criteria I need them to.
Kathi- There are red bleeding hearts now? GORGEOUS! I've only seen pink and white varieties. Maybe they'll filter this way soon!
Cinj, all those plants are beautiful, easy to grow and will multiply nicely for you. One thing about the Hosta, deer think they are candy. I don't have deer here but I've heard that lament over and over again.
A lot of gardeners I know use milorganite to keep the deer away. It's a fertilizer so you are doing something good for your garden at the same time. Home Depot carries it around here, probably at Lowes too (maybe I'll get there tomorrow).
cinj,
Hello...beautiful plants...don't know about the deer problems, they haven't come into my yard yet. But lambs ear and other plants that have fuzzy leaves aren't attractive to them.
be careful with the ivy, first it sleeps, then it creeps, then it leaps...not sure about up north though!
gail
Melanie- You're right of course, I guess I was looking at the plant under the hosta on my list. I don't know if I will remove it from my garden though, it's SO pretty. I may have to make up some deer repellant for it.
Gail- I'll keep that in mind. Maybe a nice container to curb the growth? I've never had ivy before so I don't know if it acts any differently around here.
cinj
You are picking lovely shade garden flowers. Please straighten me out, though. Are you planting around the house you're trying to sell, or the one to which you're moving?
Anyway, in addition to those you've picked (you know deer love hosta!), try pulmonaria (lungwort), hellobores, tricyrtis (toad lily), tiarella, heucherella, ferns of many types, lilyturf, brunnera...
Check back for a few others. ;-) Try Doug's at http://www.gardening-tips-perennials.com/ for tips, too. Best wishes! Spring weather will soon be here!
Shady- Thanks for stopping by! I am planning for my new garden, the home I moved from has plants-a-plenty. I was hoping to be able to grab a few of them from there so I can help save my gardening budget to buy plants I don't already have.
We have many ferns here in the woods already although I was thinking about the Japanese painted fern just for the splash of color in the foiliage!
Thanks for the tips. We're pretty chilly up here, so I'll have to check hardiness of any plants I plan on purchasing!
I really like the Japanese painted fern! I have a couple and they're beautiful. There are a couple of new varieties that I don't have, yet. You might check those out (I'm going to give them another look!) ;-)
I look forward to your being able to move to Wisconsin. We're in Iowa... but you're further north. You're right about checking the zones!!
Thanks. I already live in Wisconsin, we just haven't been able to sell our house in MN STILL. We've lived her for almost 2 years now. GRRR. Oh well, I suppose the banks are taking their sweet time to allow me the opportunity to go back and dig up a few plants once the ground unthaws?
Those are all beautimus!!! I must have hosta!! We didn't get any of the plants above yet into the nurseries where I stock. I do love astilbe too. A bench in that kind of setting seems so peacful and cool. Sometimes it gets too hot here and I might have to add a ceiling fan over mine. I could dangle it from a near by limb and have dh peddle a generator bike to supply the electricity.
Oh, have him serve you some nice cold grapes too!
I couldn't imagine how hot it must get there. It gets hot here too, but not bad in morning or evening usually. Sometimes it gets pretty humid though, that's what really kills you around these parts.
I'm not a huge hosta fan, but I adore the goat's beard, lily of the valley, bleeding heart. Although my red bleeding heart looked awfully pink.
Hey Syl! Glad you finally discovered my blogger blog. I guess I've been blogging more here than at my space lately. I like the hostas for the leaves, their flowers leave much to be desired though.
Greetings from Vermont where the snow is deep and spring is only in our wishes.
Curious about the picture of the astilbes. I'm always looking for good suppliers/growers/wholesalers. Can you suggest any from out your way?
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com
Hey GA, thanks for stopping by. I know what you mean about wishing for spring. SIGH!
To answer your question, this is a picture from the 4 seasons nursery website. While some have complained about the quality of the plants they have gotten from them I have always had pretty good luck with the things I have ordered from them. In fact, the only complaint I really have in that my 3 in 1 flowering crab didn't make it. Well, that AND the roses, but I kill every rose I ever plant so I'm not sure that I can really blame them for that.... Unfortunately I didn't have the shipping label so I wasn't able to get replacements for my one year guarantee.
Best of luck on your gardening ventures!
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