Beautiful photos and great descriptions! Thanks to your post, I now have some new ideas for our north bed which is in need of some plants to weave around other plantings and cover the ground. We have a hosta there and some dark-leaved heuchera along with a columbine that likes the shade. Our area also supports growing hellebores and we have 5 of them. I don't dare look at the selection our nursery offers or I will buy some more. :-)
I am thinking one of the epimediums might be a good choice to weave around the plants. I checked the online catalog for our fantastic local nursery, Fraser's Thimble Farms, and they have a huge selection. It might be hard to choose - although the rubrum and the perralchicum looked very appealing. Hmmm... lots to think about. Thanks!
Thanks Ruth Anne! Well that was exactly my intention -- to give ideas about how anyone might tweak their own garden, especially in voids where there is nothing but bare soil...your shade garden sounds much like mine as hellebore is also one of my favourites and I have used a lot of them. I have the same fetish about getting the newest and best - sigh. And yes epimediums are great for this purpose as they grow easily and reliably in dry shade and don't seem to have any pests or diseases that mar their appearance. I am jealous of your local nursery! Fraser's Thimble Farms is one of Canada's very best rare plant nurseries; you'll certainly have trouble choosing! http://www.thimblefarms.com/
Beautiful photos and great descriptions! Thanks to your post, I now have some new ideas for our north bed which is in need of some plants to weave around other plantings and cover the ground. We have a hosta there and some dark-leaved heuchera along with a columbine that likes the shade. Our area also supports growing hellebores and we have 5 of them. I don't dare look at the selection our nursery offers or I will buy some more. :-)
I am thinking one of the epimediums might be a good choice to weave around the plants. I checked the online catalog for our fantastic local nursery, Fraser's Thimble Farms, and they have a huge selection. It might be hard to choose - although the rubrum and the perralchicum looked very appealing. Hmmm... lots to think about. Thanks!
Thanks Ruth Anne! Well that was exactly my intention -- to give ideas about how anyone might tweak their own garden, especially in voids where there is nothing but bare soil...your shade garden sounds much like mine as hellebore is also one of my favourites and I have used a lot of them. I have the same fetish about getting the newest and best - sigh. And yes epimediums are great for this purpose as they grow easily and reliably in dry shade and don't seem to have any pests or diseases that mar their appearance. I am jealous of your local nursery! Fraser's Thimble Farms is one of Canada's very best rare plant nurseries; you'll certainly have trouble choosing! http://www.thimblefarms.com/