By Bev Johnson

Master Gardener

Have you ever met a gardener who was happy with this year’s garden? Never happens. The gardener’s mantra is “it will look better/ different next year.” They can always find a corner that needs improving or re-doing. The biggest problem for many gardeners is shade. If it is in heavy shade, where it gets no sun any time of the day, forget planting any plants. They will simply turn up their leaves and die. There are options, though. How about an Oriental garden? Spread different colors of mulch in a pattern. Or sand that you can rake into designs. Add a few interesting rocks or driftwood, or a statue. Or maybe a bird bath. Birds are attracted to water if there is shelter nearby where they can hide from bigger birds and the neighbor’s cat. Maybe you have an interesting piece of machinery or a kid’s old trike or wagon—use your imagination. 

If you have partial or filtered shade, say under a mature tree, where the soil is thin, you can add about 2 to 3 inches of soil in the spaces between roots. This may be deep enough for shallow rooted plants like impatiens. Or wild violets. They are attractive when they bloom as are the leaves when they are done. Sillia bulbs will add spring color, or even crocus bulbs will brighten the area in the spring. If there is sun part of the day, morning is best, and you have several feet of soil, you have a whole nursery full of plants that will do well there. You can let your inner artist run wild. For a tall accent plant perennial astilbe. It gets about 18 to 24 feet tall. They have a feathery bloom in reds, pinks and white. Another tall gal is pink spike bugbane or Actoea. Foliage is deeply cut dark bronze-purple. The 4 to 5-foot-tall flowers are long bottlebrush-like and they smell good. Bleeding hearts will do well in part shade and add spring color. Coral bells come in many leaf colors. They add color and texture to shady spots. 

If you like a more natural look, native Solomon’s seal has white edged green leaves on elegantly arched stems. Ghost fern has apple green feathery fronds that have frosty overtones and dark purple stems. Plant an Alexander’s Great Brunnera with it. Its leaves are large, round, and silver with green veins. It will spread 30 inches and get a foot or more tall. Native ferns are nice, and you can usually dig them in a wooded area. Be aware that they tend to get out of control, which is fine in some places like a shady hill you can’t mow.  

Of course there are always hostas, the cast iron plant.  They come in many shades of green from chartreuses, yellow, bright green, almost blue and striped. Some like Madam Woo are shrub sized; others are more civilized. You can split hostas almost anytime during the growing season, but spring is best as it gives them all summer to recover. Surprisingly, some hostas will do well in full sun if it is only part of the day. They will even grow in slightly soggy soil.       

Want to try a pink border? Start with a dark pink astilbe fronted by a variegated Solomon’s seal. Add some impatiens, ¼ dark pink, ¼ light pink and ½ medium pink. To prevent it looking like it was planted in the dark by a drunk, stick to pinks with white and green accents. Shade isn’t always bad.