Phase II - Flowering Deciduous Shrubs For "The Wilderness"
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- JudyLowe
- Marge_Talt
- PattiS_2
- Marge_Talt
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» JudyLowe - Like you I fell in love with the Red Buckeye. It was in bloom a
Like you I fell in love with the Red Buckeye. It was in bloom and I was surrounded by horticulturists singing its praises. However (isn't there always a "but"?), before I could plant one I discovered that they start to lose their leaves (and look ugly) in August -- at least in zone 7 of Tennessee and North Carolina, anyway. Since it's usually put in such a prominent location because of its beauty in bloom, it also calls attention to itself as it begins to turn color and lose leaves. Besides, I don't want my leaf-raking to stretch from August to mid-December (which is when I usually hope to stop). So I passed. Bottlebrush buckeye, though, is a delight is my yard and everywhere else I've seen it..Marge, where do you live? Or, if you'd rather not say, in which USDA Zone do you garden? As I read the other gardening columns -- all of which are fascinating -- I often want to know when someone says this plant like these conditions, where she lives so I can adjust the advice for my part of the world. I suggested to Carol that we might include out USDA zone with our names at the top of our articles. But I don't know if that's practical.
Thanks for the inside look at your garden. Judy Lowe, Southern Gardening
-- posted by JudyLowe
» Marge_Talt - Judy, Thanks for the heads up on the Red Buckeye! Guess I'll
Judy,Thanks for the heads up on the Red Buckeye! Guess I'll have to think on that one again, or figure out how to put it behind something that comes on later. Good to know the Bottlebrush will behave itself. Leaf raking and blowing is continual for me from the first leaf drop and doesn't end until the spring clean up is done - I have so many trees! And some of the Oaks hold onto a good part of their leaves until their buds start to swell in the spring and then they drop them.
I'm in the cold part of USDA zone 7, in Maryland, outside of the District of Columbia - northwest of it. So, I don't think our conditions are all that much different - you're probably a bit hotter (if that is possible some Julys!) and probably don't get as cold as where I am - but it would be a marginal difference. Of course, this also depends on where you are in North Carolina / Tennessee, some of the more mountainous parts would be pretty much the same as where I am.
You have a good point about mentioning our zones. I did that in my first article and have a couple of times in others, but I think that if there is no way it can be continually posted, it would be good to put it in each article. It is so important to know just where someone is when they say a plant does such and such for them!
Bye the way, a big welcome to Suite101!
Marge
-- posted by Marge_Talt
» PattiS_2 - Hello Marge and Judy! I've just read your two notes here a
Hello Marge and Judy!I've just read your two notes here and thought, well, here are two brains that I can pick! Please do excuse me if I'm not using proper manners for this medium, but I'm relatively new to this whole Net thing and in all honesty, I have next to no time to surf and really dig for the things that I need to find.
Well, enough about that, this is the first year that I have been faced with shade gardening and for the most part, its been not too difficult, until I start to look for taller foundation plants and shrubs. I'm in Zone 4 (the northern shore of Lake Ontario just east of Toronto) and our season is quite short. I've planted two Purple leaf Sand cherries that seem to be doing quite well and a Purple Smoke Bush that is at least still alive if not growing rampantly. There is a fairly steep, grassy hill behind the bed, so I want something that will stand out against the green. Any suggestions as to what other kinds of shrubs I could put there?
Its fairly deep shade (thanks to my neighbours' two huge silver maples which drop ALL their leaves on my lawn!!!) and only gets full sun in the mid morning for about an hour and a half. Thanks in advance if you can help me.
Patti
-- posted by PattiS_2
» Marge_Talt - Hi Patti, and Welcome to Gardening In Shade. That's just what w
Hi Patti, and Welcome to Gardening In Shade. That's just what we're here for, to help you find what you need on or off the web!Because my garden is in a warmer climate than yours, I can't advise from experience, except to say I grow both the Purple Sand Cherry (Prunus x cistena) and Purple Smoke Tree (Cotinus coggygria) and love them. The Sand Cherry is rated hardy for even colder zones than yours, but the Smoke Tree is rated to USDA z. 4, preferably 5, so you may see some winter kill on it. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, because you can prune these plants quite severly for size and to increase the size of the leaves. You may want to keep it pruned anyway, because they can get pretty tall.
A bit of research suggests the following shrubs might work for you. All are rated hardy to at least USDA z. 4:
*Pieris floribunda (Mountain Pieris), evergreen, 2' to 6' (60 - 182 cm) tall, flowers in spring. I grow and love its relative Pieris japonica.
These plants really prefer shade.
*Rhododendron pericylymenoides (Pinxterbloom Azalea) - a stoloniferous, deciduous shrub averaging 4' to 6' (121 - 182 cm) tall with fragrant flowers in spring.
* Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper Euonymus) - tons of cultivars, many with either white/green or green/yellow variegations. Many will be either low shrubs or groundcover or climbing vines if given a chance. These are evergreen, at least for me.
* Euonymus alatus (Winged Euonymus), var. 'Compactus' or Burning Bush. Dark green foliage in summer turning bright shades of red in fall, good color even in shade.
* Various Cotoneasters, including: C. apiculatus (Cranberry Cotoneaster), C. adpressis (Creeping Cotoneaster), C. divaricatus (Spreading Cotoneaster). Some of these are short and some make huge shrubs. I've got a few in shade and they grow fine for me, don't berry and flower as well as in sun. You might need to take advice from a local nursery on them in heavy shade in your area.
The following web sites list some more that might be suitable for you:
I did a search for shrubs for shade in zone 4 on Gardening.com's plant encyclopedia -- here's the URL for the result of the search:
http://gardening.com/Encyclopedia/cgi-bi...
The only one listed by them that I disagree with is the Hydrangea macrophylla, unless the particular cultivar they are showing is extra hardy. You can see photos of the Burning Bush here, too.
If you plug in a plant name in the search box, the chances are good that they have a photo.
The MP Electric site at http://www.mpelectric.com/treebook/commo...
has a page of fact sheets on trees and some shrubs, among them Viburnum trilobum (American Cranberrybush Viburnum) and Viburnum dentatum (Arrowwood Viburnum) that are rated for your zone and produce berries and grow in shade.
I'm sure there are more out there, so if none of these appeal, let me know and I'll look some more.
One last thought, if the branches of your neighbor's maples are low to the ground and on your side of the property line, you may, legally, be able to prune them up to let in more light on your side. You would need to check your local ordinances on this one, tho'....don't want you getting in hot water :-)
Marge
-- posted by Marge_Talt
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