Favorite Plants for Shade

Mophead Hydrangeas-These are supposed to bloom pink in akaline soil and blue in acid soil, but in my gardens they tend toward lavenders and greens.

Variegated Hydrangea-Grown for their strinking foliage, but I love the delicate lacecap blooms.

Oakleaf Hydrangea-Green leaves with white blossoms in the spring give way to flowers that fade to muted pastels and firery foliage in the fall.

Blue Ginger-This is not a true ginger, but prefers the same growing conditions.

Butterfly Ginger

Ajuga-low growing, spreading evergreen ground cover. Blue flowers in spring-whats not to love?

Favorite Plants for Sun/Shade Combo

Foxglove-I grow this biennial from seed. It needs enough light to grow it's stalk upright, but too much sun will cause it to wilt.

Alostromeria-This plant likes a lot of light, but not too much afternoon sun. It did well for me in a pot, this year I'm trying it in the ground.

Joseph's Coat-This is a short plant that spreads so well that I use it as ground cover in some areas. It is nothing special during the summer, but in the fall it begins to glow with stained glass colors.

Firespike-This blooms in October here and the hummingbirds and butterflies love it.

Beautyberry-I love this shrub and there are dozens on the property and I didn't plant any of them. The birds love it and reseed it everywhere. One day, on a bush outside my kitchen window, there were six birds of various varieties gorging themselves on it's ripe berries. The berries are preceeded by lovely lavender blossoms.

Coleus-prefers afternoon shade here.

Favorite Plants for Sun

Zinnia

Dahlias

Canna

Sunflower

Amaryllis

Calla Lily

Glads

Agapanthus

Butterfly Bush

Snapdragons

The Lay of the Land

This is a rather large island in one of a few full sun areas that I laid out for my sun lovers. Among the plants here are Dahlias, Glads, Plumbago, Daylilies, Salvias, Verbascum, Snapdragons, Zinnias, and Amayrllis.


This is the west side of the house, between the woodsheds and the vegetable garden.

This is an area under the Sweetgums, between the backyard and side yard.

This is the east side of the house. Tucked on the front of the mudroom, just outside the french doors of the bedroom is a small waterlily pond. Mostly azaleas, hydrangeas, jacobina and caladiums-all shade lovers planted here.

The backyard. I started ferns in the shade of the back, and have planted Azaleas, Camillias, Gingers, and Impatiens forward of the trees. Vinca and Ajuga are ground covers here.

This is the front of the house, with a swing on the porch that I never have time to sit on. The verbena in the bottom photo makes a great ground cover and thrives in the heat of the driveway it edges.

This is the vegetable garden planted on the west side of the house. It stays in production year round. In the fall I plant spinach, lettuce, carrots, onions, cabbage and greens. Second crops of these are planted in January, adding potatoes and sugar snap peas. By the end of December I have started tomatoes, peppers and various flowers from seed. These are put in the ground by the first or second week in March (keeping the frost cloth handy). At this time I plant directly into the ground from seed; squash, cucumbers, corn and bush beans. This year I snuck in a late February planting of corn and beans as I like to succsessively plant these in three or four 10 day intervals. I had to cover them twice, but they are thriving. By July the only vegetables growing are peppers, bush limas and sweet potatoes-giving me a bit of a rest until October.