Mother Nature has decided that the bright, colorful flowers are reserved for places that are bright and sunny and that in the shade things will be more muted, more pastel. Therefore designing plantings for the shade garden requires more emphasis on form, texture, foliage color and other more subtle plant characteristics. Plants with variegated leaves such as hostas, hydrangea and ivies add brightness to dark areas. The myriad shades of green and varied textures of their frond make ferns good choices. Many shade loving plants develop spectacular fall foliage color. Fothergilla, witchhazel, oakleaf hydrangea and Henry抯 Garnet sweetspire are a few examples.

Because plants require energy from the sun to produce seeds, it is the strategy of many shade loving plants in temperate climates to bloom and develop seeds either before the leaves of the trees emerge and block out the sun (lenten rose) or late in the season when the trees are ready to shed their leaves in fall (toad lily or anemone). So most of the summer flowering plants that thrive in shade come from tropical environments. Impatients, coleus, begonias grow and flower well in shady gardens but do not survive the winter in Georgia. It is particularly important in the shade garden to plan the structure well so that there is interest in the winter as well. Plants such as the native beautyberry, some hollies and viburnums provide interest through the presence of berries which are colorful in their own right and also attract many interesting birds.

Garden embellishments such as fountains, statuary, sculpture and even natural ones such as boulders and old logs are important elements in the shade garden that enrich and excite. To me those are the things that personalize a garden and make it truly ones?own. To see a well place piece of art or a colorful urn and hear the story behind it is always a very satisfying experience.

?The Urban Gardener, Inc. 2005

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