When my husband, Michael, and I moved from a mobile home into our first real house, the nearly three-quarter acre property was a mess of wild morning glory vines, thorny blackberries, and weedy buttercups. Alder saplings and willow sprouts grew so thickly that I had to squeeze through them to get to the back of the property. Despite the fact that we lived in the urban area of Everett, Washington, the woodsy ground and pools of runoff from a local river gave our yard a rural look.
Though I dove into the work, it took nearly three years of pruning, weeding, and mulching before I could walk completely around my big yard. Despite the hard work, I loved the woodsy feel of my new property. In the spring, hundreds of tiny tree frogs sang us to sleep. Even winter was colorful as dozens of bird species visited the feeders I set out.
As I gardened, I uncovered new treasures every day, some of which were a five-in-one pear tree that had somehow survived after being covered with morning glory vines, a red raspberry bush that bore fruit despite being planted at the edge of the swampy ground and a rhododendron with variegated leaves that bloomed beneath a tangle of blackberries.
Once I’d tackled the weeds, I realized that my yard held one more challenge. Though I found a few sunny spots for favorite flowers such as roses and lilacs, over half of my yard received sunlight less than half of the day. I wondered if I could make an interesting garden out of shade-loving plants.
As I studied seed and nursery catalogs, Internet sites and visited local nurseries, I thought I’d be limited to green plants with small blooms, which would be okay, but I so love big, showy flowers! I was surprised at how many choices I had.
Some, like the lovely purple and pink hydrangeas, were plants that I’d admired in other peoples’ yards but hadn’t tried. Others, like rhododendrons and azaleas, were favorites that I didn’t realize grew well in the shade.
As I warmed to the idea of a shady garden, I learned of pulmonaria, toad lilies, variegated mugworts, Himalayan blue poppies, lobelia, ferns, delphinium, narcissus, coleus and impatiens that grew well in dappled sun. In the deep shady areas, ostrich plume ferns, heucheras and hostas made striking arrangements. I even discovered several varieties of shade-loving tulips, crocusmia with fiery orange flowers and a lovely silver sedum that thrived beneath my Japanese maples.
I’ve learned a lot about shade-loving plants in the eight years that we’ve lived in Everett. Each year I discover something new to add. This year I’m trying my hand at growing black cohosh, a double-duty plant that produces medicinal roots and lovely white flowers. It turns out that having a shady garden isn’t such a dark prospect after all!
