All gardens, regardless of where they are, will have shady areas, whether under the canopy of trees or along a solid structure. Even in my south-facing backyard, I have shade along the back fence. And my whole front yard is in shade most of the day.
For those that like variety in the garden, there are shade-loving choices besides hostas and ostrich ferns. Don't get me wrong; those two are the workhorses in most shade gardens. Hostas come in many sizes (as small as a couple of inches to as large as two feet tall and wide) and in a variety of leaf colour (shades of blue, green, gold, and striped and various combinations of white, gold, green, blue). But they all have the same general mound shape. And ostrich ferns, once established, need to be corralled regularly as they like to spread themselves around.
My favourite hosta alternative is elephant ear or ligularia. It is a bold herbaceous perennial with large, dark green, toothy-edged, heart-shaped leaves. Plants can reach over two feet tall with flowers overtopping the plant by an additional 12 to 24 inches in mid-July to August. Definitely not for full sun. Nor is this plant drought tolerant, preferring moist feet in rich well-drained soil. There are two similar species grown on the prairies. One is Ligularia dentata (e.g. 'Othello') with showy, bright yellow, daisy-like flowers, about two to four inches across. The other species is L. stenocephala (e.g. 'The Rocket') with tall, densely-packed spikes of small yellow flowers.
Another great shade lover is snakeroot (aka black bugbane; Actaea racemosa syn. Cimicifuga racemosa). This perennial makes a statement in the garden, forming a large mound of dramatic, dark green to chocolate-purple, coarse, deeply cut leaves. Expect mature specimens to reach two to three feet tall and wide with creamy white (pink undertones), fragrant flower spikes that can add another 18 to 36 inches in height in mid-summer. Moist soil is a must but unlike ligularia, it performs equally well in shade or full sun.
A native plant, highbush cranberry (Viburnum trilobum) is one of a number of shade tolerant viburnums. It is typically found as an understory shrub in moist woodlands or in open moist meadows in full sun (clues to where to place it in your garden). Depending on the cultivar, high bush cranberry ranges from five to 15 feet tall by five to 10 feet wide. The shorter cultivars are compact shrubs; the taller ones tend to be open structured, multi-stemmed tall shrubs that can be trained to a single- or few-stemmed small tree. The large (two to four inches across), dark green, three lobed leaves turn bright red in fall. Large white flower clusters appear in early spring followed by edible fruit ripening from yellow to orange to red.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention red-osier dogwood (Cornus sericea syn. C. stolonifera; similar species - C. alba and C. siberica). It requires evenly moist soil but will otherwise grow anywhere with light levels ranging from full sun to dense (75 per cent) shade. Depending on the cultivar, this shrub can be relativly small (two to three feet tall and wide) to moderately large (six to eight feet). There are cultivars with variegated leaves (white/green or yellow/green). If growing one of the cultivars prized for its brightly coloured late winter/early spring branches (coral red, bright yellow or purple), prune out one third of the oldest branches every year in late fall; these will be the branches with the darkest, roughest bark.
These are just a few of the many shade tolerant perennials that can be grown in a prairie garden.
- This column is courtesy of the Saskatchewan Perennial Society (www14.brinkster.com/saskperrennial; [email protected]).
