A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 New Shaded Perennial Plantings

I just planted about a month ago a variety of shade loving plants under a 15 year old Bradford pear tree; approximately a 100 sq foot area.
The planting groups were as follows:
Qty.
Lady Fern's 4
lily of the Valley 6
Violet(etain) 4
Corydalis(lutea) 4
Hosta(fortunei) 3
Astible(japonica) 3
Astilble(visions) 3
The Astilble seem to be dying;had to cut of blooms and dead foliage. Currently deep watering and hoping for recovery. Any help comments?

heres a site might help.


http://www.botany.com/astilbe.html

Astilbes like to be kept moist, but they don't like to have their feet standing in water, so the soil needs to drain well. My Astilbes are planted under the shade of trees with dappled sun peeking in, off and on, throughout the day.

Thanks for the tip. They did well for about a month and now the temperature is in the high 90's.
I think that what sunlight they get may be too much for them.

Hi Neighbor!

Geesh, I just noticed when reading your post that you're from Illinois and in zone 5, too! It's so nice to meet you!

You're welcome! You may be right because I know mine look a little stressed when they get this hotter sun on them even though it's infrequent.

It's been a couple of weeks now and I'm starting to see new growth emerging from the base of the Astibles. I think the 90+ degree heat period and maybe too much direct afternoon sunlight was the problem. I deep watered with a bubbler on the end of a garden hose around the whole tree for about an hour every other evening for about a week and a half. All of the new plantings look healthier. Thanks for the help!

I'm so glad to hear that!

Actually this morning from about 10:30 up to about 1:30 pm there was a steady light rain out here. Then the sun came out and all the clouds went away. Won't need to water anything today!
Hope some of the rain made it to you.

That's great! Unfortunately, we didn't get any rain here. There is some coming in tomorrow and there's a slight chance we might get some; but right now, it looks like it may go south of us! We got the hot temperatures again today with a high of 99, but I'm hoping the storm front will cool things off again.

Ok, I just joined Photobucket and I am going to attempt to post 3 pictures of the pear tree plantings!



Never done this before so here go's!

Well i didn't mean for it to go in the middle of my message. I'll try the other 2 photo's.

I think I'm getting the hang of it! Anyway as they say a picture is worth a thousand words and this is probably the best way to convey a description of future forum discussions. Please let me add one more view of this scene.

Hey, that really looks great and your Astilbe look very healthy and seem to be doing well now! You did a good job posting your pictures and it doesn't really matter if they show up in the middle of your message.

Here is a picture of my shade garden.

Very nice pictures, ladies. I love gardening in the shade and surprisingly, lots of "sun" lovers do almost as well in a shaded bed. And there are always the lovely jewel tones of the many Coleus to add lots of color.

Very nice pictures, ladies. I love gardening in the shade and surprisingly, lots of "sun" lovers do almost as well in a shaded bed. And there are always the lovely jewel tones of the many Coleus to add lots of color.

Edit Note:

Sorry for the double post...I don't know how that happened but I've seen several other cases of it this morning in other posts. May be a glitch in the system?

Rosie, I have a lot of shady areas that need to be filled. What sun lovers do you recommend for the shadier spots? We have everything from bright shade to deep shade and I hope to wintersow enough plants to get them at least partially filled.

Merrill and Patches, your beds look fantastic! How much shade do your beds get and what are the plants in your picture Patches? Merrill listed hers above and it has been a help in deciding which plants I want to use for my own shade beds. Thanks!!

Joanne

Joanne, just off the top of my head, I can think of quite a few. They are in heavy shade from 10am on.

Sedum Autumn Joy, a variety of Four O'clocks, Malva Zebrina, Solidaster Lemore (Goldenrod), Purple and White Coneflowers, Spiderwort, Lantana, Hardy Ageratum...

Don't be afraid to experiment with sunlovers in the shade. If they don't seem to thrive that season, move them to a sunnier spot in the fall.

I know I'm forgetting some but that will give you an idea for a little variety. Shoot, I even have some Daylilies in the shade that bloom beautifully. Granted, they are the old type "Ditch lily" Hemerocallis fulva, but they have done very well. Due to the cross-polination there are singles, doubles and a few triples now. You have to LOVE orange to appreciate these lilies. Toss them in with a bunch of Mexican Petunias (purple blooming) and gold or yellow Lantana and you have a great combo.
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Thanks Rosie! My seed list for winter sowing has just doubled. I've been afraid to experiment with expensive nursery plants so home grown should do the trick. This is going to be lots of fun!

Joanne

thats really pretty Rosie!

Beautiful garden patti; I love your choice of sculpture as a focal point! I want to see how the plants do before I decide on something. The Bearded Iris is something I planted 3years ago and if I had thought it out more I would have planted them in a circle much closer to the center. Ah just one of many planting mistakes :rolleyes:

To Joanne
I know my name is generic;butI'm a male

I seem to be having a gender problem; Merrillzone5 is a male.

Joanne, in that bed I have about 8 varieties of hosta, 6 ferns, 5 Astilbe, 2 Coral Bells, some lily of the Valley, Sweet Woodruff, and 2 Bleeding Hearts. The bed gets some dappled sun, off and on, throughout the day, so it's really never in full shade! I do plant a few Impatiens to add some color but that picture was taken in the spring and I add those later. I hope this helps.

To Joanne
From this view looking east; I would say that plants on the right side of the tree get about 50% more sun than the plants on the left side.
During a typical "now" summer day the right side could see a 40% exposure to direct sun. The point being is that I would try to plant the more sun tolerant plants to a southern exposure and the more sensitive to the northern side. Doe's that make sense? Good luck

Sorry Merrill!!

Thanks for the list Patches. Most of the plants were on my list and I'm glad to see how nice they look together.

Merrill, I hadn't considered which side of the shade areas might get more light. I'll have to start taking notice and place the plants accordingly. Great tip!

Joanne