Best Plants for Shady Garden

My backyard garden is in the shade most of the time so I need some ideas for plants and flowers that will do okay in that environment. Thanks.

scoop69

in Garden Design and Maintenance 13 years and 9 months ago

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honeycut | 13 years and 9 months ago

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hellebores do well in shade/part shade. they are absolutely beautiful and bloom very early spring and come in many varieties/colours. Central Park has some lovely ones to view and I wasn’t able to find any nurseries who had them in Brooklyn but you may purchase them online (I ordered from here: http://www.davidlculp.com/gallery.htm

blowfish | 13 years and 9 months ago

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some good shade ground covers: leptinella, corsican mint, moss
wintercreeper is another good shade ground cover– it can also climb walls, or be a shrub
azaleas (shrub) are good in partial shade and burst with flowers– they suffer in direct sun

caragreenberg | 13 years and 9 months ago

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All good advice, above; you can also go here for more Brooklyn-specific suggestions for shady backyards: http://casacara.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/garden-voyeur-foolproof-plants-for-brooklyn-backyards/

BedstuyMaven | 13 years and 9 months ago

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columbine, bleading heart, ferns, begonia, coral bell, virgina blue bells, lily of the valley

parkslopemom | 13 years and 9 months ago

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Call or better yet, walk over to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.  Their resource center offers free expert advice.  Sketch out your space and note direction it faces (North, South, etc), how many hours of light you get and think about your preferences: low maintenance, little water, flowering, annuals or perennials?, etc.  Each shade garden is a little different, and for best long lasting results, give them as much information as you can.  One plant does not fit all 🙂

minard | 13 years and 9 months ago

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rhododendrons, japanese holly, oak leaf hydrangea, dogwoods, astilbe, ferns, hostas, perennial geranium, pachysandra.
annuals: begonias, violas, impatiens, fuchsias, coleus, foxgloves

things that will not grow: roses, grass, vegetables.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 9 months ago

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Daffodils are a mst

get them from john scheepers online

shahnandersen

in Garden Design and Maintenance 13 years and 9 months ago

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If your shade comes primarily from trees, you might also want to look at early spring flowering plants (crocus, daffodils, early tulips, day lilies, etc) that finish flowering before the trees leaf out.

Impatiens and hydrangia also do well in partial shade.

daveinbedstuy | 13 years and 9 months ago

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hostas & astilbe

spring hill nursery has some very good prices for both online

thay have other shade plants too

Petebklyn | 13 years and 9 months ago

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