If you're thinking of trying houttuynia, a word of warning. This is a very rampant plant, traveling underground by strong white roots; particularly if the soil is consistently damp. The dry, rooty conditions under the yew hedge haven't slowed it much and it pops up all through the hedge. I rather like the effect, but this is not a plant to add to a border of precious darlings; it will eat them alive.
In another border is a group about which I have mixed emotions.
There are certainly contrasts here, and echoes, but perhaps too many of each. I'm beginning to wonder if the small Hosta 'Gold Drop' makes too much of a statement. Let me tell you what I was thinking when I put this lot together and then you tell me whether you think it works or needs re-doing.
The original impetus was finding a home and companions for Carex buchannii, the copper colored grass on the right behind the hosta. I wanted a group that would compliment this plant, who, if wrongly placed, simply looks dead.
As I looked around the garden for plants that might work, I kept in mind contrasts and echoes in foliage shape, but I was primarily concerned with finding suitable leaf colors.
Hardly visible in the large photograph, Heuchera 'Palace Purple' was, I considered, a foil for the Athyrium niponicum var pictum (Japanese painted fern). I also thought the heuchera would act as a bridge between C. buchannii, who has a warmer, more coppery tone than the wine in the fern, but an oddly cool, greenish cast at the base of the leaf which echoes some of the colors found in the fern.
C. buchannii's leaf yellows at the tip, which I felt would be emphasized by the hosta's color, while its warmer tints would enhance the rather dull purple hue of the heuchera, whose basic plum tone matches some of the wine in the fern.
I then added some Begonia grandis whose foliage has a yellowy-green tinge on the upper side, with rose touched veins (hinting of the bright rose/wine below) with the idea that it would pick up both the wine in the fern and the yellow tones of the hosta. This plant spreads fairly quickly, and I'm continually pulling bits out that threaten to smother everyone.
Almost hidden, now, by the fern is another sedge, Carex morrowii 'Aureovariegata'. This delightful plant was added to pull the yellow of the hosta across the front of the group, while the white in its variegation echoed the white in the fern. The fern has all but covered it and the poor carex will have to move.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Marge Talt's Shade Gardening topic, please visit the Discussions page.