The New Shade Garden
Some Plants to Consider for a New Shade Garden
Native trees:
- Cercis and Halesia, Redbud and Silver Bells
- Eastern dogwood (Cornus florida)
- Eastern dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Urbaniana’)
- Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum)
- Dwarf baldcypress (Taxodium distichum ‘Peve Minaret’)
- Thornless honeylocust (Gleditsia triancanthos x inermis
- Honeylocust (Gleditsia triancanthos)
- Smaller trees with small leaves:
- Weeping Katsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum ‘Morioka Weeping’)
- Moosewood, snakebark maple (Acer pensylvanicum)
And bark:
- Manchurian snakebark maple (Acer tegmentosum)
- Paperbark maple (Acer griseum)
- American Beech (Fagus grandiflora)
- Yellow Birch (Betula alleghaniensis)
- Paper Birch (Betula papyrifera)
- Sycamore (Platanus occidentalis)
- Stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia)
- Crepe Myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica)
- Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides)
The layers of the forest:
- Shadblow, Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis)
- Pinxterbloom azalea (Rhododendron periclymenoides )
- Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)
Woodland plants:
- Dutchman’s breeches (Dicentra cucullaria )
- Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica)
- Columbine (Aquilegia canadensis)
- Wild sweet William, Wild blue phlox (Phlox divaricata)
- Starflower, starbead, starry false Solomon’s seal (Mianthemum stellata)
- False Solomon’s seal (Mianthemum racemosa)
- Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum x hybridum)
- Fairy bells (Disporum flavens)
- Disporum cantoniense ‘Night Heron’
- Spotted-mandarin (Disporum maculatum)
- Variegated wild oats (Uvularia sessilifolia)
- Uvularia grandiflora
- Uvularia perfoliata
- False hellebore (Veratrum nigrum)
- Omphaloides cappadocica ‘Cherry Ingram’
- Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans)
- Hydrastis canadensis
- Anemone demissa var. glabrescens
- Anemone nemerosa ‘Bracteata Pleniflora’
- Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia)
- Galax, wandflower (Galax aphylla ‘Watnong Form’
- Partridge berry (Mitchella repens)
- Bluets, Quaker ladies (Houstonia caerulea)
- Liverwort (Hepatica acutiloba)
- Hepatica japonica ‘Daishihou’ (Miller Garden)
- Woodland Poppy (Hylomecon japonicum)
- Adonis amurensis ‘Fukujukai’
- Adonis amurensis ‘Chichibu Shinku’
- Adonis brevistyla
- Yellow trillium (Trillium luteum)
- Whip-poor-will flower (Trillium cuneatum)
- Toad shade (Trillium sessile)
- Nodding trillium (Trillium erectum)
- Trillium erectum ‘Album’
- Trillium flexipes
- Trillium grandiflorum
- Trillium grandiflorum ‘Roseum’
- Trillium grandiflorum ‘Flore Pleno’
- Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)
- Double bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis ‘Multiplex’)
- Cousins, analogous species:
- European wild ginger (Asarum europeum)
- Wild ginger (Asarum canadense)
- Chinese wild ginger (Asarum splendens)
- (Hexastylis shuttleworthii)
- (Hexastylis sp.)
- Mayapple (Podophyllum peltatum)
- Podophyllum hexandrum
- Podophyllum versipelle
- Wild bleedingheart, fringed bleedingheart (Dicentra eximia)
- White old-fashioned bleeding heart
- (Lamprocampos spectabilis ‘Alba’)
- Appalachian false goat’s-beard (Astilbe biternata)
- Chinese astilbe (Astilbe chinensis var. taquetii ‘Superba’)
- Astilbe ‘Color Flash’
- Twinleaf (Jeffersonia diphylla)
- Asian twinleaf (Jeffersonia dubia)
- Variegated Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis ‘Variegata’)
- Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens)
- Shiny Pachysandra (Pachysandra terminalis ‘Green Sheen’)
Shrubs for varying degrees of shade, evergreen:
- Camellia japonica ‘Korean Fire’
- Leucothoe fontanesiana ‘Rainbow’
- Goldspot acuba (Acuba japonica ‘Picturata’)
- Mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia)
- American boxwood (Buxus sempervirens)
- Mahonia japonica
- Mahonia hybrid
- Mahonia x media ‘Charity’
- Cherry laurel (Prunus laurocerasus)
- Sacred lily (Rohdea japonica)
- Shrubs for varying degrees of shade, deciduous:
- Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica)
- Smooth hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’)
- Snowflake oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia ‘Snowflake’)
- Chinese snowball (Viburnum macrocephalum)
- Weigela canary (Weigela subsessilis ‘Canary’)
- Japanese kerria (Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora’)
- Flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa ‘Cameo’)
- Carolina spicebush (Calycanthus floridus)
- Athens Carolina spicebush (Calycanthus floridus ‘Athens’)
- Wintersweet (Winter hazel (Corylopsis sinensis)
Herbaceous plants for varying degrees of shade:
- Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum)
- Lathyrus vernus
- Lathyrus vernus ‘Alboroseus’
- Strawberry begonia (Saxifraga stolonifera)
- Common goatsbeard (Aruncus dioicus)
- Bugbane (Actaea racemosa)
- Doll’s eyes (Actaea pachypoda)
- Umbrella plant (Syneilesis aconitifolia)
- Bigleaf Ligularia (Ligularia ‘Britt Marie Crawford’)
- Ligularia species
- Himalayan primrose, candelabra hybrids (Primula x bulleesiana )
- Hairy alumroot, giant alumroot (Heuchera villosa)
- Hairy alumroot, giant alumroot (Heuchera villosa ‘Caramel’)
- Japanese wood poppy (Glaucidium palmatum ‘Alba’)
- Species peony (Paeonia japonica)
- Bear’s breeches (Acanthus hungaricus)
- (Digitalis lutea)
- (Digitalis grandiflora)
- Yellow wax bells (Kirengeshoma palmata)
- (Saruma henryi)
- Bergenia ciliata
- Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta)
- Corydalis ochreleuca
Grasses and grasslike plants:
- Pennsylvania sedge (Carex pensylvanica)
- Golden forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’)
- Japanese sedge (Carex morrow var. temnolepis ‘Silk Tassel’)
Bulbs, etc.:
- Ramps, spring onion, ramson, wild leek (Allium tricoccum)
- Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium)
- Flowering onion (Allium ‘Mount Everest’)
- Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa sardensis ?)
- Autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale)
- Arum italicum ‘Pamela Harper’
- Trout lily (Erythronium americanum)
- Galnthus nivalis
- Galanthus nivalis ‘Blewbury Tart’
- Yellow Canada lily (Lilium canadense var. flavum)
- Formosa lily (Lilium formosanum)
- Martagon lily (Lilium martagon ‘Album’
Large leaf plants:
- Umbrella plant (Darmera peltata)
- Umbrella leaf (Dyphilea cymosa)
- Hosta sieboldiana ‘Elegans’
- Hosta ‘Great Expectations’
- Hosta ‘Spilt Milk’
- Hosta ‘Striptease’
- Hosta Nigrescens
- Hosta clausa
- Hosta plantaginaea
Ground covers, covering the ground and dry shade:
- Ebony spleenwort (Blechnum spicant)
- Foam flower (Tiarella wherryi )
- Epimedium, barrenwort (Epidemedium x cantabrigiense)
- Epimedium, barrenwort (Epidemedium grandiflorum [Lilac seedling])
- Polygonatum humile
- Dwarf goatsbeard (Aruncus aethusifolius)
- Moneywort (Lysimachia nummilaria)
- Bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Alba’)
- Muckdenia rossi ‘Karasuba’
- Hellebores (Helleborus x hybridus ‘Yellow Mix’)
- Double hybrid hellebore (Helleborus x hybridus ‘Winter Jewels’)
- Hellebore hybrid (Helleborus Ashwood Garden hybrid, slatey grey)
- Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris)
Variegated and gold plants:
- Variegated Andromeda (Pieris japonica ‘Flaming Silver’
- Grace Barker Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum x hybridum ‘Grace Barker’)
- Striped lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis ‘Albostriata’)
- Creeping broadleaf sedge (Carex sideroschia ‘Variegata’)
- Lungwort (Pulmonaria ‘Mrs. Moon’)
- Majeste lungwort (Pulmonaria ‘Majeste’)
- Siberian bugloss, perennial forget-me-not (Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’)
- Liverwort and Siberian bugloss (Hepatica spp. and B. macrophylla ‘Looking Glass’)
- Gold alpine strawberry (Fragaria vesca ‘Golden Alexander’)
- Begonia luxurians
A few more things, propagation:
- Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum)
- Arisaema fargesii
- Arisaema candidissimum