Transcript Shade perennial gardening

Perennial Shade Gardening
By Susan Albert
Washington Co. Master Gardener
Astilbe
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Part to full shade
Prefers moist, fertile
soils but will tolerate
less
Finely dissected dark
green leaves
Tiny flowers on
arching plumes
Divide every 3-4
years
Astilbe
Lenten Rose
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Blooms in winter
Dark green, leathery
foliage
Mound up to 16-18
inches
Rich, woodsy soil
Heavy to light shade
Slow grower, do not
disturb
Helleborus hybridus ‘Pink lady’
Woodland Phlox
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Part or dappled shade
Blooms early spring
Perennial native but
reseeds freely
Rich, moist soils
Lovely cloud of blue in
garden
Phlox divaricata
Native Columbine
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Light shade
Hummingbird magnet
Blooms mid-spring to
early summer
Foliage dies back in
summer
Dark green, ferny
foliage
Aquilegia canadensis
Native Skullcap
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Blooms late summer
Spikes of bluish-purple
tubular flowers
Two to three feet tall
Sun to ¾ shade
Average to moist soil
Scutellaria incana
Hydrangea
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Large, rounded,
deciduous shrub
Afternoon shade
Flowers are large, ballshaped clusters, pH
sensitive
Moist, well drained soil
Variegated leaf, oak leaf
Hydrangea macrophylla
Toad Lily
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Moist soil in
woodland garden
Lots of colors,
varieties, blooms
summer
Arching stems,
leaves may have
darker spots
Multiplies easily
Tricyrtis
Kerria Japonica
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Single or double
yellow flowers bloom
en masse in spring on
6 ft. shrub
Variegated variety
available
Stems stay evergreen
in winter
Grows fast, trouble
free, part shade
Kerria japonica
Bleeding Heart
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Part to full shade
Heart-shaped
flowers hanging in
rows from arching
stems in late spring
Water regularly in
hot weather; foliage
may disappear
Native favorite
Dicentra spectabilis
Hosta
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Shade to part sun
Moist, rich soil
Divide every 3-5 years
More than a thousand
cultivars and hybrids
Slugs like lower leaves
Hosta spp.
Canary Feathers
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Woodland garden
or container
Yellow spikes all
summer
Gray green ferny
foliage
Moist soil, part
shade
Easy care
Corydalis
Turtlehead
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Snapdragon-like
blooms in late
summer
Moist soil in part
to full shade
Host plant for
Buckeye butterfly
North American
native
Chelone oblique
Native Virginia Bluebells
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Blooms in spring
Blue-green foliage
12 to 24 “ tall
Rich, moist
environment
Goes dormant in
summer – don’t forget
where it’s planted!
Mertensia virginica
Variegated Solomon’s Seal
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Part shade to
shade
Moist, well
drained soil
Bell-shaped
white flowers
appear in spring
on arching
stems to 2 feet
Polygonatum odoratum ‘variegatum’
Japanese Painted Fern
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Named 2004 Perennial
Plant of the Year by
Perennial Plant
Association
Part to full shade
Moist, fertile soil
Colorful foliage
18” tall by 2 feet wide
Athyrium niponicum var. pictum
Autumn Fern
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Evergreen
Woodland setting
Coppery new growth
in spring, ages to
bronze green
Prefers rich, moist
acid soil in full to
part sun
Dryopteris erythrosora ‘Brilliance’
Periwinkle
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Sun to full shade
Evergreen
groundcover, only
inches tall
Moist soil
Showy purple blooms
in early spring
Grows fast
Vinca minor
Ajuga
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Thrives in sun or
shade
Spreads rapidly
Several varieties
including a multicolor.
Purple spikes arise
in spring
Ajuga reptans
Liriope
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10 to 18” tall
Grass-like clump
Variegated forms
Divide to propagate
Spikes of violet
blossoms in summer
Will grow almost
anywhere in sun to
shade
Liriope muscari
Lily of the Valley
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Shade or sun
Six inches tall
Pefers moist soil but
will tolerate dry
Blooms April, May
Transplants easily
Slow spreader
Convallaria majalis
Native Sources
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Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
www.mowildflowers.net
Clear Creek Farm and Gardens, Peggs, OK
(918) 598-3782
Wild Things Nursery, Seminole, OK
(405) 382-8540, www.wildthingsnursery.com
Pine Ridge Gardens, London, AR
www.pineridgegardens.com