A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2003 Suggestions?

Hi,

Haven't been on for a few days.

I'd appreciate any suggestions y'all have for a backdrop plant for one of my garden areas.

Light shade, needs to be fairly tall, will be planted up against a side wall of my house, about a 10' length.

I thought of columbines, but I can't get a real sense of how full, and tall, they get.

Stargazer lily? But I don't want to have to stake them.

I thought of daylillies, but I don't like how untidy they begin to look as the season progresses.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ronni

As well as I like my Columbines I don't consider them to be a good background planting, myself. They usually form a clump about 18" in diameter and 12" tall (without flowers).
How wide is the planting area that you want to fill? What minimum height do you need? Are flowers a requirement or would cool foliage work for you?

Morning, Bill.

The entire planting area is only about 4 feet wide, and 15 feet long. But the last 4-5 feet is constantly damp, because it's where the air conditioner drips into that part of the garden. So the useable space is about 4 x 10.

I'd prefer flowers to foliage. There's not much color there currently.

I was thinking about 2 feet minimum height. But nothing that spreads too wide because I have so little width in that area as it is. That's why I thought of stargazers, they get tall but don't get wide.

Ronni

Hi Ronni,
It seems like your options would be endless! How about some Russian Sage? It gets tall though (3-4ft) and likes sun, but I favor it (even though I don't have any!). Just a thought.

--Bunny T.

Hey Bunny,

My options *would* be endless if where I wanted to plant was sunny. Unfortunately it's not. It's lightly shaded pretty much the whole day. From the research I've done, Russian sage wouldn't work because of the shade. Though I agree it's a stunning plant.

Ronni

Hi Ronni... If I were faced with the conditions that you've described I would utilize Sword Ferns (sorry, no flowers but the plants make a great background and are evergreen) and possibly a couple of the larger Hostas (at least you will get some flowers. Towards the wet end I would plant Ligularia....


Ligularia denata has 10-12 inch, kidney shaped leaves and 3-4' tall flower spikes.


Ligularia przewalskii has 6 inch serrated (sp?) edged leaves and 4-6' flower spikes

Hey Ronni
Your lucky, wish I had more of the shade area myself. I love all types of ferns and the hostas would work as well. My front entry is shady and so far I have a lot of different kinds of ferns which are beginning to fill in nicely. Maybe something trellised???? Do you really want to keep it wet that close to the house? Moisture promotes rot and termites. Catlover

What about something like Monkshood. The foliage is great...airy, and it has a late season purple bloom. Mix it in with some early blooming Jacob's ladder....and maybe some Astilbe for the wet area. Oh...don't foget some coral bells...pulmonaria and hosta.