Plants for Shade Gardening

Growing an attractive shade garden may at first appear challenging for some. After all, successful shade gardening comes with it's own set of rules, and plants that flourish in sunny areas simply, well.....don't in shady ones. But don't be afraid of the shade. On even the hottest and most humid of days, a walk through the shade garden can help calm and cool your senses, and even help relieve stress. And while a shade garden may not pack the same powerhouse of color as their sunnier counterparts, shady nooks can be far from dark and drab. At Garden Supply Co, we have hundreds of beautiful plants for shade gardening that will provide interest and light in the shade garden through use of color, texture, and foliage.

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As you stroll through the garden center, you may have overlooked our quiet back corner under the arbor. Here you will find our huge selection of plants for shade gardening. And one quick glance will show you that shade plants can be far from boring. Quite the contrary, in fact. Shade plants can still provide the flowers you may crave, and provide interest through an amazing variety of foliage color and texture. 

If it's flowers you want, impatiens and New Guinea impatiens will provide non-stop summer blossoms in a wide range of colors.

Impatiens- Garden Supply Co

Or there are many varieties of blooming begonias, including Tuberous, Dragon Wings, and the new Whopper begonia, which provides extra large flowers up to 3 in. (7 cm) across from spring through fall.

Begonia

There are also, of course, many fabulous flowering shrub plants that thrive in shade, including azalea, rhododendron, gardenia, hydrangea, just to name a few.

hydrangeas- Garden Supply Co

However, don't rely solely on flowers for providing interest in shady corners. Look for shade plants that have colored foliage or interesting textures or leaf shapes. Focus on foliage and plant in mass. Cultivate interest with foliage. Create harmony through mass plantings. When a single specimen is planted it tends to be lost in the shade garden. Since many flowers on shade plants are small and delicate, large masses are more effective.

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As you can see, there is a huge variation of foliage color and texture available on shade perennials such as Heuchera, with colorful foliage ranging from yellows, reds, purples, & black.

Caladiums- Garden Supply Co

Or Caladiums, grown for their bold long-lasting and colorful foliage. Color combinations include various shades of red, pink, white, green, and yellow-green, with prominently colored midribs and contrasting margins.

Coleus- Garden Supply Co

Coleus plants glow with color, from soft and elegant to deep, bold tones—perfect for shady yards, gardens and terraces.

Hosta- Garden Supply Co

Hostas are extremely popular, hardy herbaceous perennials grown primarily for their beautiful foliage. Leaves come in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures and may be solid in color or variegated in different combinations of blue, green, white, and gold.

For powerhouse interest, contrast the elliptical long leaf of a Hosta with the feathery leaf of a fern.

Ferns- Garden Supply Co

Gardening in the woods should be a pleasure, rather than a challenge. The lack of a lot of sun can overwhelm or even frighten some gardeners instead of what it really is -- an excuse to grow a lot of great plants some would have never attempted before. For more tips on selecting the perfect plants for shade gardening, stop by the garden center. Our friendly experts are on hand seven days a week with answers to all your gardening questions.

Lamium "White Nancy" & Heucherella "Brass Lantern"

Create interest in the garden through use of color and foliage, like with this pairing of Lamium "White Nancy" and Heucherella "Brass Lantern".

Even a combination of just two types of plants can add instant drama to the landscape through the play of highlights and low-lights created when mixing foliage. Plants with red or purple foliage recede to the eye, while white foliage jumps forward. When planted together, contrasting foliage will add an instant sense of depth and lushness to any bed or border.

Mother's Day Weekend

Hello everyone and happy Sunday to you! All of us at Garden Supply want to wish you mothers out there a very wonderful Mother's Day.  How fortunate we are to have these special women in our lives! If you are lucky enough to have your mom in town with you, plan on a visit today and let her stroll through the gardens at leisure. And if you're a mom yourself, take a few minutes to unwind here.  It's so beautiful right now.  I hear so many times from you how nice it is just to "come and wander around".... I agree! I am one of the lucky ones to have my mother visiting, and for Mother's Day this year, we spent our time together at Garden Supply.  Of all the activities we could have planned for the weekend, we both chose to spend some quality time together strolling the gardens.  The excitement of all the beautiful plants in bloom is absolutely contagious.  Mom and I want to make a "Mother's Day Garden" in my backyard that we can watch flourish and grow in the years to come.  I can't think of a better Mother's Day gift.  Now I will have a constant reminder of Mom every time I look out my windows.

I would like to share with you our creative journey of  this garden to perhaps inspire you if you have a similar area at your home that could use a little special touch.  I am working with a border area up against the back foundation of my house.  The area receives a bit of morning sun, but for most of the day, this zone is in the shade.  So step one was to head to the shade plant area at Garden Supply, where there are so many gorgeous plants to choose from.  We decided on Hostas as our main focus. Hostas are extremely popular, hardy herbaceous perennials grown primarily for their beautiful foliage. They are easy to grow, shade-tolerant plants. Leaves come in a wide range of shapes, colors, sizes, and textures and may be solid in color or variegated in different combinations of blue, green, white, and gold. The plants are low maintenance and with the huge selection of choices at Garden Supply, your options are boundless.

After weighing all the choices, we decided to go with a variety of hostas in a chartreuse-green color palette.  Chartreuse foliage is highly visible, even from a distance, and brings light to low-light areas. Choosing a variety of cultivars brings some interest to the border, while sticking to a chartreuse color palette unites the border into a cohesive planting.

Our hosta selection included: Great Expectations, Stained Glass, Atlantis, Fragrant Bouquet, Guacamole, and Sum & Substance.  We then decided on a few companion plants for our border to add more depth and interest, sticking to the shade area plantings at the garden center. We paired the hostas with the dark purple foliage of the 'Plum Pudding' Heuchera (Coral Bells) which do well in sun or light shade, and the light and airy foliage of the 'Cinnamon' Fern.  The contrast of these 3 plants provides a ton of visual interest.

For my 20-foot border, we selected 9 hostas, 3 coral bells, and 4 cinnamon ferns. Allowing for adequate planting space, this was the perfect number of plants to fill the area.

I hope this has given you some ideas for those of you with similar planting opportunities in your yards.  Come back and visit soon to see our completed Mother's Day Garden.  And in the meantime, we'll see you down at Garden Supply.

Happy Mother's Day!

Perennial Sale

So, what do you do when you have more perennials than can fit on your tables?  When you receive so many plants in one week that they are spilling over onto the ground? You have a SALE, that's what you do!  All this weekend, purchase 10 perennials and receive 10% off, 20 perennials and receive 20% off, 30 or more perennials and receive 30% off. Now that's a sale! We have so many gorgeous perennials currently in stock. It is a pure joy to walk the grounds.  I am truly amazed at the huge selection of plants available, from drought tolerant species to shade lovers to ground covers to succulents to tall spires of blossoms, and everything in between.

Besides having a stunning array of plants to choose from, Garden Supply also offers a huge variety among species.  Take the lovely shade tolerant perennial commonly known as Coral Bells, for example.  I counted approximately 15 varieties of Heuchera alone, in a wide range of color options, foliage size and venation, and preferred growing conditions. Take a look at what I mean.

We have Heuchera 'Velvet Night', 'Miracle', 'Marmalade', 'Midnight Rose', 'Palace Purple', 'Montrose Ruby', 'Obsidian', 'Snow Angel', 'Plum Pudding', 'Berry Smoothie', 'Blackout PPAF', and 'Silver Scrolls'.  I brought home this variety called 'Tapestry' and planted it in a pot under my deck in an area that receives a lot of shade.

'Tapestry' has stunning multicolored and veined foliage with free flowering stems of warm pink flowers.  The dark-centered leaves are colored blue green in spring and summer, changing to green in the fall and winter.

And of course we have many, many more plants to choose from.  How about some Artemisia, Asclepias, Platycodon, Gypsophila, Penstemon, Agapanthus, Lavandula, Nepeta, Leucanthemum, or Silene?

Silene, commonly referred to as Catchfly, has narrow, strap-like leaves with dark green centers and wide creamy gold margins.  Their single pink flowers are attractive to butterflies.

Or maybe you would prefer some Lobelia, Coreopsis, Dianthus, Euphorbia, Lysimachia, Echinacea, Baptista, Scabiosa, Linum, Verbascum, or Centaurea?

Centaurea has deep purplish-blue flowers with thistle-like centers over foliage that is lightly covered in silver hairs.  It will self-seed and attracts butterflies.  Centaurea is deer resistant.

Yet still we have Phlox, Salvia, Veronica, Armeria, Tickseed, Papaver, Cerastium, Achillea, Sedum, Monarda, Helianthemum, Gazania, Eryngium, Gallardia, Foxgloves, and Columbines.  Just to name a few!

I'm out of breath!  How about you?

Make sure to stop by the garden center this weekend and take advantage of this wonderful sale.  You'll have your gardens looking amazing with brand new plants fresh off the truck while enjoying some serious savings at the same time!

We'll see you soon!