More Plants That Will Grow in the Shade

As you can see, the black lily is not truly black, but a deep purple.It has a surprising number of alternative names, including but not limited to Dragon Arum, Black Arum, Voodoo Lily, Snake Lily, Stink Lily, and Dragonwort.

Stink lily? Stink lily? Why "stink" lily? Regrettably, this epithet is accurate - it does have a distinctly unpleasant smell. And that's not the only disadvantage - it actually flowers for only a few days.

So why bother to give it valuable space? Because it is spectacularly beautiful in full bloom, it looks almost eerie in an oppressive sort of way and the leaves have an architectural majesty which give shape and definition to a dark corner of the garden which might otherwise look bland. And, as the flower dies, there is a short burst of reddish-yellow seedpods before the whole thing wilts, collapses and looks awful. Work it out - three or four months of pleasure and anticipation as the sculptured leaves develop, a burst of glory for a week, followed by a month of ignominy, and then it's gone till the following year, when it is likely to have slightly multiplied.

I think it's worth it. My mother-in-law gave me my first Black Lily fifty years ago, and I am still growing them, my children grow black lilies too, and no doubt so will my grandchildren, if I have a say in it.

Did you know that English Bluebells (as opposed to the more common Spanish Bluebells) are dying out and are a protected species? It's partly to do with the reduction of forest land, as bluebells are woodland plants, and maybe partly because of the global warming and environmental effect. They are becoming hybridized with the Spanish type, and losing some of their characteristics. According to Wikipedia, "Hybrids show a great range of characteristics and any one of the following features indicates some hybridisation:

Stems upright and not nodding
Flowers borne on more than one side of the flowing stem
The flower is more open and bell-shaped and does not have a long and more-or-less parallel sided tube
The anthers, at least when young, are blue or cyan and not white or cream
The leaves are broader
The scent is less strong and less sweet."

So, in a way, we have a duty to encourage them where we can. I have always had bluebells in my garden but have only just identified them as English Bluebells, so I occupy the moral high ground there. It would be socially responsible to grow them if you have a shady border - I recently even planted some round the tree which grows in our road, outside my house.

Bluebells grow to about 9" (22 cm) high and flower in late Spring for a couple of months. They come in a range of blue tones, from white to pale and bright blue and have a strong sweet smell. The plants die back in early summer, so you can plant them close to later flowering plants which will grow up around them, and conceal the dying leaves.

Hydrangeas do well in dappled shade.

They bear large heads of multiple florets in white, pink, or blue, and you can actually change their colouring by the addition of chemicals. They have quite a long flowering period throughout summer and well into autumn, so are what I would call "good value" plants.

There are many types of primrose, from the tiny wild ones, to the great big F1 Hybrid primroses, which sometime revert to smaller types in later flowering years.

I have some tiny wild purple primroses, which grow in my rockery, but the ones shown here are F1 Hybrids.

They come up in Spring, and flower for about two months. The are perennials and come up year after year, as long as you don't let them dry out.

Cotoneaster likes half shade or dappled shade

It bears red berries for much of the year, and the tiny leaves are evergreen.

The plant has an attractive branching habit - you can shape and train it to spread up and along a wall, so it looks good at the back of a border.

They start off red in Spring and then later turn green and shiny and they have tiny rather insignificant flowers.

They like dappled shade. My Pieris has never grown more than about 2 ft tall and 3 ft across, but I have seen other plants which are a lot larger than this.

Virginia Creeper is a vigorous climbing vine which starts off green and turns a brilliant shade of red in Autumn.

You can see it sometimes climbing right up the side of a house and swarming over the roof. It looks wonderful for a couple of months, but heaven help you if you don't like pruning things - this little rascal can strangle a tree, block gutters and cause damp to your walls.

So why do I mention it at all?

(a) because it grows in the shade, and therefore has a place here, and

(b) because it is very beautiful, and, provided you have the energy and right equipment (tall ladder, shears), you can keep it under control.

Image Source:Wikipedia: Mick Stephenson

I grow several different types of fern in my garden -

They look so cool and refreshing in the shade when the sun is blazing down and everything else is looking a bit bleached and dry.

I grow Maidenhair Fern as well as this more unusual one, whose name escapes me - any ideas from readers gratefully accepted!

Buddleias come in many shades of purple, from white through to dark heliotrope purple set against silvery green leaves.

They grow prolifically, and in the building where I used to work, I have seen them growing where they have seeded themselves in cracks in the garage cement. They will grow happily in dappled shade, and need to be cut back every year, to flower on the new wood, otherwise they grow very tall and woody.

Best of all, they are fairly long-flowering - over most of the summer and into autumn.

I love pansies - their little faces always seem so welcoming.

You can get winter-flowering pansies, so it is possible to have pansies in pots flowering nearly all year round.