Another Example of a Beautiful Shade Garden

I think I struck a cord with my last post highlighting a small suburban shade garden. Obviously gardeners are hungry for planting suggestions for shade. In this post, I am featuring plantings from the shady sections of a large private garden in rural Ontario called Garden Canadensis. The blog post has detailed planting notes with links to even more information:
http://threedogsinagarden.blogspot.ca/2014/03/garden-canadensis-part-2-planting.html
You can check out the rest of the garden in this blog post:http://threedogsinagarden.blogspot.ca/2014/03/garden-canadensis-this-is-one-garden.html
Throughout the garden, and especially along its outer perimeter, mature trees cast pockets of 'Garden Canadensis' into shade and part shade.
Heuchera Flower
A mix of Heuchera and the green mounded plant is a 10 yr. old Buxus microphylla 'Kingsville'. See the blog post for details.
What I think will surprise and delight you is just how vibrant shady areas in a garden can be.
Dicentra 'Stuart Boothman' and Hosta 'Dancing in the Rain'
Planting Combination: On the top left is Hosta 'Sagae'. Below it is lime colored Hosta ' Blaze of Glory'. With tiny white flowers in the centre is Corydallis ochroleuca. See the blog post for more info.
Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum 'Shigitasu sawa'
Plant Combination: Brunnera 'Jack Frost' (left) with Heuchera 'Silver Scroll' (in the foreground) and Hosta 'Fire and Ice' (in the upper right).
The blue-green Hosta 'Regal Splendor'. The lime colored hosta in foreground is Hosta 'Silk Kimono'.
Three Dogs in a Garden
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
3 of 4 questions
  • Suzanne Suzanne on May 21, 2016
    Do you know what type of Japanese maple is in the 7th (and background of the 6th) photo? Thank you.
  • Tru13031718 Tru13031718 on Oct 11, 2016
    I have a area with big trees there is grass but the grass do not want to grow. I have paving around the grass what must i do in that area of the grass
  • Maria Cid Maria Cid on Jan 23, 2020

    Hi. I live in Seattle, WA, and I got into plants and gardening last year. I want to create a small area similar to the one showing above, but I'm having a hard time choosing frost resistant plants . I recently purchased bulbs for Caladiums and Elephant ears are they good choices? Do you have any more sugestions?

    Thank you

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  • TheHoneycombHome TheHoneycombHome on Mar 18, 2015
    Beautiful!!
  • Carol Massie Carol Massie on Jul 26, 2015
    I live in the southwest corner of Wyoming, zones 4 & 5. What shade plants & deer resistant plants can I grow with either purple or white flowers? That's my color scheme.
    • Three Dogs in a Garden Three Dogs in a Garden on Jul 28, 2015
      @Carol Massie Canada is a long way from Wyoming, but I am guessing we are talking about deer resistant plants for dry shade. You would want to avoid plants that like moist shade like hostas and astilbe. A few suggestions: Heuchera or Coral Bells, Lady's Mantle, Valerian (nice fragrance), Solomon Seal. Check out this book: Planting the Dry Shade Garden by Graham Rice.
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