Category: Food

Perennial Flowers That Like Shade

Astilbe koblenz
Image via Wikipedia – Astilbe koblenz

I’d like to write about tall perennials that like shade, but I haven’t come across any. 

The best flower for shade is the astilbe (shown).  It has pretty leaves and shoots up tall, colorful and feathery-looking flowers.  It is available in many colors and I especially love the white.  But the flowers are tall and not necessarily the actual plant.

Other Shade-loving Perennials

Hostas are also well known as shade loving plants, but they grow close to the ground with tall shoots that hold their tiny flowers. This is a little “mouse ear” Hosta I planted.

mouse ear hosta plant
Mouse Ear Hosta

Another favorite for the shade is the bleeding heart.

Bleeding heart plant
Bleeding heart plant

Of course many hydrangeas can do well in partly shaded locations and I plan to try some in my front yard (New Hampshire).  The truth is that most flowering plants need a lot of sun to look good, but arranging the plants I have mentioned here in a grouping beneath trees, or in any shaded area, can be beautiful as well.

Planning a Garden Landscape That Includes Hydrangeas

Most people love to see a variety of color in a flower garden.  Along with the mix of sizes and shapes of shrubbery, getting colors to pop and draw the eye to a visual treat is most important.

This is not easy to do and you must know a bit about every type of flower being grown. Flower garden landscape design is very interesting.

(All photos on this page are courtesy of Pixabay.)

Cottage garden landscape with blooming flowers of all colors and sizes

Monarda, or Bee Balm, plants have tall, brightly colored flowers that attract bees.

monarda bee balm flower bright pink red

Hydrangeas can stand alone and be wonderful, but imagine them as the focal point in a diverse garden setting. 

When planting a tiered garden, with taller shrubs in the back, let hydrangeas be the mid-level plant (buy a type that doesn’t get super tall), with short annuals or perennials in front. 

garden path flowering landscape shrubs
Beautiful garden path

A word of caution about Monarda – it spreads, so if you don’t want it growing all over, plant it in a big pot to keep the roots contained.

tall flowering monarda bush with bright pink flowers
This Monarda was growing in my yard in New England

I also like the idea of adding interesting grasses beneath the hydrangea, but be careful you don’t disturb the roots and remember that the more you plant the more water the plants will drink.

Cosmos

Dainty, waving cosmos flowers are a wonderful addition to any garden. Their pink and white colors would offset a blue hydrangea nicely.

It will depend on where you live as to what you can plant. I now live in Florida so my one hydrangea plant grows beneath a large shrub near other tropical plantings.

Florida hydrangea garden perennial Spring
Hydrangea growing in my Florida yard

Planting a Garden In Tiers: Flowering Perennials For the Middle Section

I picture a tiered garden in three sections.  The tall, back section which will be the backdrop for the rest of the garden flowers;  the front area which will hold the ground cover plants and low growing annuals and / or perennials;  and the middle section which holds everything else!

It would be a bit more organized that a cottage garden where things of all sizes grow amongst each other.

flower garden landscape design

Filling in the central part of the garden may be the easiest task since finding perennials that are average in height may be the easiest.  Not only that, but mixing in a few taller varieties here is also okay. 

The middle area is a good place to add medium size hydrangeas or some day lilies. 

white flowering hydrangea
Blushing Bride white hydrangea (macrophylla)

Depending on how large your garden will be, or is, adding a central focal point such as a compact tree or larger bush would be a good idea.  I’ve never used tall, ornamental grass, but it can add character to the garden too.

Choose some type of garden ornament or giant pot to be the garden focal point or to add interest.

garden ornaments ornamental design focal point
Ornamental pots can be a garden focal point

The middle section could have some peonies (another favorite of mine) and stand alone asiatic lilies to add varying colors.  If you love roses, they could be planted in the middle section.

Just keep in mind the different needs of plants when you mix together a tiered garden, or any garden.  Roses need loads of sun, and good air circulation around their leaves.  They also need to be fertilized regularly.

When planting your tiered garden be sure to give everything room to grow.  It may look a little sparse the first year or two, but it can be filled in with annuals until the perennials grow up.

Taking a Lesson From An Old Garden

backyard garden
A Ready Made Garden

I was lucky to have bought a house that had at one time housed a gardener. The previous owners had already started gardens in the sunniest spot. They had planted an asparagus garden, many beautiful bulbs of tulips and daffodils, peonies, coneflowers and more. They had set up arbors and built a gazebo off the large deck to enjoy the outdoors, bug free. It really was great.

Along the edge of the yard near the road was a row of big forsythias that bloomed bright yellow in spring. The side yard was bordered by big purple rhododendron shrubs. That yard was fun to garden in. I expanded and added my own flowering shrubs to the already lovely landscape. When I moved in I really just needed to do some maintenance – like lots of weeding – to make the yard sparkle.

Unfortunately, instead of growing old in my home, disaster struck and I only had two years to enjoy that place. But it taught me a lot about what will grow in this area and I’ve longed for my own yard again to duplicate what I used to have.

I just moved into my own place over this past summer, and although I did plant a few things – daylilies, tulip bulbs, peonies, small hydrangeas and a rhododendron, I know the yard will be sparse come summer.

It’s sad for me to look at the photos from my the yard at my old house, and when I think of all the work I put into the place, I can only hope that the people living there are enjoying it as much.

My hope now is to transform this barren yard (where I now live) into something beautiful. The land is not as good. The yard is fairly small and surrounded by trees, which means less sun, so it will be a challenge. We’ll see what happens.

How did I take this photo? The house had a big skylight and I stuck my camera out to get this shot of the yard. 😉

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