Shade Flowers and Shade Loving Plants

Here is the lovely shade tolerant "Snow on the Mountain" plants that I promised to publish some time ago. The delays were caused by my inability to upload them from my camera to my computer. Then when I got ready to upload to this site the program told me the image was too large to publish. I had to do some quick compression with Microsoft Picture Manager.

Hope you enjoy. They are really big now, and I have about five blooms that look sort of like dill plant blooms but whiter and prettier.

These are no-maintenance perennials that tolerate partial to "full shade". They grow in all areas of the US except for the Northwestern US. "Snow on the Mountain" is a great ground cover. My plants are under a huge Maple tree whose roots are close to the ground, but the snow on the mountains still grows heartily where the grass is struggling.

In the fall I mulch the leaves from the tree and put them on the snow-on-the-mountain plants. That keeps them from winter burn and provide nutrients to the plants. In the spring I lightly rake the decayed leaves and the snow plants peep through as if they are waking from a long restful slumber. Then they start to grow like wildfire if there is enough rain.

This petite beauty offers bright sunny color in a hardy variety that returns every spring. You"ll love the huge bloom clusters in an attractive array of colors. These primrose brighten a breakfast nook.
b> "Ful shade"l to "partial shade"
Blooms: Spring
Height: 6 - 12"
Zones: 3 -8
Size: Potted

Impatiens are my favorite shade flower. They are bright and colorful. If you feed them right they will award your with large blooms that last all growing season There are many kinds of impatiens flowers (sometimes misspelled as "impatience" or "impatients"). Plant taxonomy classifies one of the more popular groups of impatiens flowers as Impatiens walleriana, which includes the series of 'Super Elfin' cultivars.

Plant Type for Impatiens Flowers:
The impatiens flowers commonly sold at nurseries in North America are hybrids and treated as annual plants. They are native to tropical Africa and easily damaged by frosts.

Characteristics of Impatiens Flowers:
The widely grown cultivars of impatiens flowers are typically short plants, attaining a height of not more than 1 foot. Some, such as the 'Super Elfin' series, stay much shorter (thus their popularity -- and their name!). Impatiens flowers come in a variety of colors, including white, red, pink, violet, coral and purple. Even a yellow cultivar has recently been developed.

Sun and Soil Requirements for Impatiens Flowers:
Grow impatiens flowers in well-drained soil enriched by humus. Although impatiens flowers can, with sufficient water, be grown in partial sun in northerly regions, their great virtue is that they thrive in the shade.
Care for Impatiens Flowers:
If they start looking leggy late in the summer, trim off the top third of their vegetation. This will promote the emergence of new impatiens flowers, plus the plants will look better overall.

Interesting Fact
Impatiens flowers take their name from the Latin, impatiens, "impatient." They are so called because their ripe seed pods will sometimes burst open from even a light touch (as if they were "impatient" to open).

Source: About.com

Cyclamen is a genus of 23 species of flowering shade tolerant plants, Other names occasionally used include sowbread and sometimes, confusingly, Persian violet (it is not related to the violets), or primrose (neither is it a primrose).

Cyclamen are native to the Mediterranean region from Spain east to Iran, and also in northeast Africa south to Somalia. They are perennial herbaceous plants, with a surface or underground tuber (derived from the hypocotyl) 4-12 cm diameter, which produces leaves in late winter, and flowers in the autumn; the leaves die down during the hottest part of the Mediterranean summer drought to conserve water. Each leaf or flower grows on its own stem, which shoots up from the hypocotyl. The variegation is thought by some botanists to be a form of natural disruptive camouflage to reduce grazing damage by animals.

The hypocotyl grows leaves and flowers on stems, either one flower or one leaf per stem. The stem for leaves and flowers appears identical except in height. The leaves grow on stems of around 6 cm - 9 cm height.

The fruit is a five-chambered capsule 1-2 cm diameter, containing numerous sticky seeds about 2 mm diameter. Natural seed dispersal is by ants, which eat the sticky covering and then discard the seeds.

Cyclamen are commonly grown for their flowers, both outdoors and indoors in pots. Several species are hardy and can be grown outdoors in mild climates such as northwest Europe and the Pacific Northwest of North America.

The cyclamen commonly sold by florists is C. persicum, which is frost-tender. Selected cyclamen cultivars can have white, bright pink, red or purple flowers. While flowering, florists' cyclamens should be kept below 20 °C (68 °F), with the night time temperatures preferably between 6.5 °C to 15 °C (44 °F to 59 °F). Temperatures above 20 °C (68 °F) may induce the plant to go dormant.

In many areas within the native range, cyclamen populations have been severely depleted by collection from the wild, often illegally, for the horticultural trade; some species are now endangered as a result. However, in a few areas, plant conservation charities have educated local people to control the harvest carefully at a sustainable level, including sowing seed for future crops, both sustaining the wild populations and producing a reliable long-term income. Many cyclamen are also propagated in nurseries without harm to the wild plants.

The Cyclamen species are known for its delicate taste and people from all over the world have been known to eat it. People worldwide have also been known to pick off the petals and use them in tea.

Source: Wikipedia

Exacum affine is grown either as an outdoor annual or indoor potted plant. It is a small bushy plant with small oval leaves, and fragrant blue or white star-shaped flowers. Requires moist, rich soil, part to full shade. Does not tolerate drafts very well. Sow indoors mid winter for summer bloom.

Bloomtime Range: Early Summer to Late Summer
USDA Hardiness Zone: 11 to 11
AHS Heat Zone: Not defined for this plant
Light Range: Deep Shade to Part Shade
pH Range: 5.5 to 7.5
Soil Range: Sandy Loam to Clay Loam
Water Range: Normal to Moist

This bushy eastern native shrub, which is grown for its showy flowers, is best suited in an informal border or woodland setting. Leaves are oval, dark green, glossy, to 5 inches long. Pink cup-shaped flowers are held in large corymbs 3 to 4 inches across open from May to June. Other flower colors may range from red to white too. Loves moist, acid soil as other members of the Ericaceae family. 'Kaleidoscope' buds are dark red, with a large white lip and blooms a bright burgundy giving a bicolor effect. Very similar to the cultivar, 'Hearts Desire'.

Bloomtime Range: Late Spring to Mid Summer
USDA Hardiness Zone: 5 to 8
AHS Heat Zone: 4 to 8
Light Range: Deep Shade to Full Sun
pH Range: 4 to 6.5
Soil Range: Some Sand to Clay Loam
Water Range: Normal to Moist