Shady characters - a permanent home for shade garden suggestions!

[shovetheholly]

Because we get the question about what will grow in the shade so often, posts about it sometimes don't get many answers. So I thought I'd make a permanent thread that we can point people to when this comes up. I know some of you have written the same thing 10 or 20 times before, so hopefully this will save the repetition!

I'm hoping we can post some pictures of shade plants here so that people can see what they look like. A lot of them aren't all that familiar. Plus, I love pictures!!

I've found quite a few varieties here ginge, there's quite a selection, altough I do love the classical looking cream one...

Roscoea - I love them!!

Long Acre Plants have an amazing selection, including some lovely deep purple ones.

I think they will be one of the big trendy things of the next 10 years... especially if it keeps raining as much as it has this winter!

Oh, shove!That's where I saw them first! I've been scouring me lists trying to see where I'd first seen them.

Please feel free to put a pic up can't do it on my chromebook

Here we go!

Aren't they beautiful?

And Long Acre Plants are one of my favourite places to buy from. Everything from there I've had is triffic!

They are stunning. Everything seems to look much better in large clumps.

How are the new plants getting along?

I'm going to be growing some Nicotiana sylvestris from seed, a lovely night-scented flower growing happily in shade. I've grown them from seed before, hope they'll take OK this time

The new plants are doing well! I am protecting them from slugs with some assiduity, to the point that in slug legend I will probably go down as some kind of monster like Grendel.

I love the smell of nicotiana. One of the most lovely scents in the garden! They look smashing in that picture - white really gleams in shade.

Challenge from another thread: can we help chishnfips with really zingy, colourful but shady pairings? They need to be things where plants really trail wildly over each other in a sort of abundant deshabille!!

I have variegated hakonochlea next to verbena rigida. However, it's probably a bit clumpy. I also have deschampsia with allium christophii and purple sensation, which might work better!! Any other ideas?

Thanks for this Shovetheholly
I'm very much an amateur finding herself with a garden for the first time - north facing but large so sunny too with some shady bits.

I'm currently randomly planting things to see what takes/survives/goes together and enjoying every minute even the never ending weeding!

Borders change from well draining soil to clumpy clay. Lawn is mossy and attracting daisy, plantain, buttercups, clover and I'm quite taken with the colour it all brings (despite them being weeds!)

We have an area under a large tree which is shallow planting due to the roots - ideas for low level colour would be welcomed too - I've put some alpines in to try and get on top of the weeds, there's a lot of fern and I think garlic mustard???

What about Vinca varieties?

I do think a lot of plants which thrive in shade tend to have rather recessive coloured flowers - most brightly coloured flowers are on plants which insist on sun. Vinca can have nice variegated leaves and flowers in shades of blue and purple...

I might be talking rubbish though

Yep, generally under trees it's dryer shade, so something like vinca might work well. Also cyclamen give lovely colour -make sure they are hederifolium, and not the other kind! Alchemilla mollis is a stalwart in those conditions, brunneras too and epimediums and tiarellas. Some of the dry shade geraniums are stunning - I like Bevans for a shot of the brightest pink.

I'm getting really into the natural-looking anemones. Simply wood anemones are so lovely, but there are gorgeous doubles (check out 'vestal').

Interesting point about colours, noodles. I don't know anything about the genetics, but there do seem to be fewer orange/red flowered shade plants than there are sun plants. Though there are always exceptions - rudbeckias, trilliums etc.

Brunneras are fabulous, I have 'Jack Frost' and want some more.

They are so bright in a dark space and the flowers just glow. I often get a second later flowering in the year. 'Hadspen Cream' has green and cream variegation, 'Looking Glass' has almost silver covered leaves, and 'Betty Bowring' has white flowers.

They are really easy to grow too. (A necessity in my garden!)

Been busy deciphering the names (need pictures to identify!!)
Vinca I know as periwinkle and I've seen some under the tree, discovered once the weeds came out :-) I've grown this before so am very happy to see it
Alchemilla has been spotted and I also bought some last year only due to cheapness rather than good guessing and I've seen it reappearing so that seems to be a winner :-)
Cyclamen look nice, have added those to the list along with the other suggestions - thank you so much!

Yes, I forgot Trollius, I've always liked "Alabaster" which is cream, but they also have varieties in bright yellow and oranges, like Orange Princess and Dancing Queen. I'm not sure how much they like/tolerate shade. Cyclamen hederafolium are unrivalled for dry shade under trees, cracking idea Shove.

I forgot trilliums too, they look totally surreal:

I really, really love trilliums. I've not got ANY at the moment! I think the high entry price for some of them puts me off. Maybe I should get some seed?

Marking my place. I've got a shady border I need to sort out.

I'd give it a go if you find any seed on sale shove, got to be worth a pop I don't know how they spread or are propagated commercially. They might be tricky so-and-sos, seeing as there's no tendency to see them in garden centres...

I love my shaded garden. In it I have acers (red, orange and green), a dutch honeysuckle, tiarellas, heucheras and heucherellas. I've put in some foxgloves that I grew from seed but they haven't really got going. Plus, my gardener gave me some sweet violets, which I hope will get going over the summer.

For some reason, a couple of buddleia have started themselves off in there as well, although I don't think of buddleia as a shade plant.

I like Plantagogo for shady plants - they sell at the RHS shows (think I first bought from them at the Autumn show in Pimlico).

That's so lovely Cru. Your acer looks majestic! And I am of your lovely stone wall.

Thanks! It is going to need rebuilding at some point but we're putting it off as long as we can.

Well, it looks just fine to me!!

Just realised I have seen Plantagogo at various shows - they are the heuchera hoodlums!

They are! Although I think they sell other perennials too.

I visited three gardens this weekend and saw the same plant in all of them... this stunner.

It's ranunculus actinofolius flore pleno!

It's now at the top of my want list.