How to Select Perennials for Partial Shade Gardeners On a Budget
If you're gardening on a budget it's hard to fill in a flower bed if you're paying $8 to $15 per perennial plant. But if you choose the right plants you will easily fill not only your first garden, but have plants for years (and new garden areas) to come. Here is a list of 5 partial shade perennials that are pretty, plentiful and virtually indestructible. Does this Spark an idea?
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Hostas - sometimes called Plantain lilies - are shade loving plants. They come in a wide variety - variegated, light green, blue-green, extra large or tiny - and put up spikes of light purple or white flowers in late summer. They are easily divided virtually any time of year - when not actively flowering - so that one large clump becomes 3-4 plants that in a year or 2 each become several more.
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Daylilies - botanical name Hemerocallis - thrive most anywhere except deep shade. They come in a wide variety of colors and sizes - some even with double blooms. The trick with these trumpet-shaped flowers is that each bloom only lasts one day - but as each plant puts up many flowers over the season this is not usually a problem. Many varieties will bloom again later in the season if you cut back the flower stem when its flowers have faded. Once your plant is established it can be dug up and divided into many smaller plants. A good plant for beginning gardeners (as are most on this list) - very difficult to kill even if you are trying.
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Lilyturf - botanical name, Liriope - is a tough plant that is great for edging walkways or using as a groundcover. It puts up a spike of purple flowers that turn into attractive little black seedpods. It is semi-evergreen (looks a bit scruffy in late winter) and is cut back in early spring as new growth is emerging. Works in sun or shade. It spreads through roots and forms a thick carpet. Each established clump can be divided into 10-20 small plants every few years.
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Columbine - Botanical name, Aquilegia - These unusually shaped flowers spread easily by seed. Once the flowers have bloomed and faded they form cone-shaped seed pods that you can save to plant exactly where you want - or let the seeds dispurse naturally. This is how my colony of columbine was started -- a neighbor's plant seeded itself in my yard.
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Shasta Daisies - botanical name, Leucantheum - These classic flowers thrive in partial shade (tend to droop in afternoon sun) and quickly form thick colonies of cheerful flowers. Divide in early spring when plants are small for best results. These also spread by seed.
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Tips & Warnings
These plants are pretty reliable in most parts of the country. I have personally had success with all of these plants in both Michigan and Kentucky.
If you have friends, neighbors or family members with any of these plants, hit them up for a division or two - if they have established gardens, they're likely to have plenty to share. Just come armed with a shovel to dig them and a bucket or garbage bag to haul them home. If plants have been in place for several years, dividing can make the original plant bloom better.
When buying perennials at a garden shop smaller plants will look just like those bigger, more expensive ones by the end of the season.
Since perennials have relatively short bloom times, purchase plants that aren't in bloom -- you want flowers in your garden, not at the nursery center.
Keep your new divisions well watered. They may droop for a week or two - particularly if they are in afternoon sun.
Examine the roots of your divisions. Discard any that look rotted or diseased and pull out any hitch-hiking weeds.
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- Photo Credit Photos by Patty Reed
