More Shady Characters

Thanks for coming back to see more of my gardens! Last time, we left off with my favorite shade border. Right across from it is another shade bed, along the north foundation of the house.


I think of this one as a “working” bed—that is, it has a job to do besides just providing joy and beauty. It is charged with disguising the unattractive “mechanicals” of the house: the air conditioner, gas meter, PVC furnace vents, and basement window wells.

Four years ago, this area was overrun with invasive buckthorn and honeysuckle. Mr. Previous Owner had fettered the 12-foot beasts to the downspout with an old clothesline to keep them from snagging unsuspecting bypassers. (The old walkway was only two feet from the wall.) Someone buy that man a pair of loppers! Stat!

There was also a healthy patch of ferns in front of the gas meter. The buckthorn and honeysuckle got the boot immediately, but I kept the ferns. With a little reining in, they’ve done quite nicely. I’ve even relocated a few divisions elsewhere in the yard.

One well-behaved ornamental tree and several shrubs have replaced the ousted brutes, providing a nice framework for this bed. At the wider end, near the AC unit, is a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Red Emperor’). Three types of Viburnum make their home here as well (V. trilobum, V. plicatum ‘Summer Snowflake,’ and V. lantana ‘Mohican’).

For height on the bare brick wall, I added a clematis that was supposed to be ‘Niobe’ but isn’t. Its small, purple flowers are unspectacular except that there are hundreds of them. This mystery clematis is the best bloomer of the seven varieties scattered throughout the Suburban Sanctum. Go figure.

There’s also a climbing hydrangea (H. anomala petiolaris) on the chimney. After a typically slow start, it’s finally beginning to fill in nicely. The beautiful white lacecap flowers help to brighten this dark side of the house in summer. Another plus: It won't chisel away the mortar like some clinging vines can.

Perennials here include assorted hostas, Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla mollis), Ligularia, Globeflower (Trollius chinensis), Astilbe, and ferns (maidenhair, Japanese painted, and the unidentified existing ones).

Along the edge, I’ve planted golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’). I love the way it lights up this shady area, and it also softens the edge of the walkway.

However, a word of caution: The photos above were taken in May and October of last year. In just those few short months, Jenny had spread her fingers into every last bare inch of that bed. I would never plant her somewhere she did not have a hard and fast border. Fortunately, she’s easy to yank out when she goes places I don’t want her—plus, I have plenty of great, draping filler for summer containers. I just pull out a handful, stick it in the pot, and she roots readily.

Well, that’s it for this side of the Sanctum. Up next: a walk on the sunny side. Hope to see you again soon!

Creating a Shady Corner

Since I’m still in denial about our foot of snow and deep-freeze temps, I’ll continue the warm-weather tour of my gardens today.

Follow me past the berm I told you about in my last post, down the new paver pathway around the north side of the house, and here we are at my favorite shade bed. (Pardon my neighbor's temporary construction mess behind it!)

Four years ago, this area was a weedy patch of dirt, a real eyesore. It’s a low spot in the yard, under three white spruce. The trees are beautiful now, but back then a couple of half-dead branches sagged unattractively to the ground, and the roots were quite exposed. Mr. Previous Owner had piled a bunch of rocks and old lumber near the shed, and the space looked like little more than a dumping ground.

Our arborist neighbor encouraged us to remove the two dragging branches and cover the roots with a bit of topsoil—not more than a few inches, he warned, or it could smother the trees. He recommended tucking some shade-loving perennials among the roots—but no large shrubs, because they would compete with the trees for moisture and nutrients. Well, that was all the encouragement I needed!

In came the topsoil, followed by a few more perennials every year since. A variety of hostas provide a good foundation. They include several unknown variegated ones inherited from a neighbor making way for a home addition (perhaps ‘Albomarginata’?), a few solid green and solid blue ones, several gold varieties, and of course a couple of the “biggies” (‘Blue Angel’). Last year I added a ‘Fire and Ice,’ which is almost all white. I’m curious to see how it does next summer.

Other “gift plants” include ‘Dragon’s Blood’ sedum, from my mom, a gorgeously floppy blue geranium from a neighbor who moved to New Orleans just in time for Katrina, and a rhododendron from the same neighbor who gave me the hostas. (Don’t tell my arborist neighbor, but I snuck a few other rhodies along the back of the bed to help provide a little privacy here in the Sanctum.)

If you come back in the spring, I’ll show you all of the species tulips that are popping forth, along with white and pink Bleeding Heart (Dicentra), Columbine (Aquilegia), and Bergenia. Last year I added Hellebore and Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica).

Then you’ll see a summer-long parade of perennials, including Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla), yellow Corydalis, Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium), Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum), Spiderwort (Tradescantia), yellow foxglove (Digitalis), turtlehead (Chelone), and several varieties of Heuchera (pictured: ‘Snow Angel’).

Groundcovers include European Wild Ginger (Asarum), Sweet Woodruff (Galium odoratum), and Pulmonaria.

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with grasses. A couple years ago I planted two varieties of Hakonechloa, neither of which survived the winter. I am trying ‘Aureola’ again, with a little extra winter protection. I planted Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) last summer, and am hoping it will do well. Carex elata ‘Aurea’ is barely hanging on—I think it’s too dry under the trees. Astilbe and ferns have likewise found the conditions too dry.

I used Mr. P.O.’s pile of rocks to add little retaining walls here and there, which don’t actually retain much, but do add a little visual interest. Some old slate stepping stones (replaced by the new paver walkway) make a nice, meandering path through the bed. They provide for easy maintenance, and also give a little guidance to the feet of small visitors who love to wander through the garden.

I hope this tour has helped to warm up your corner of the world. As for me, I think I can almost feel my toes again!

Come back soon and we’ll take a stroll together through another part of my little Suburban Sanctum.

An Outdoor Makeover

It’s another snowy day around here. We’ve gotten a good eight or ten inches since yesterday, and it’s still coming down.

But enough about the cold stuff. Let me give you a glimpse of my garden in warmer times.

Before we even moved in to our home four years ago, we did a major overhaul on the yard. Our one-third acre suburban lot was home to some 30 trees at that time, and our arborist neighbor advised us to remove many of them, including eight large ones in the back yard. This not only relieved the overcrowded and unhealthy conditions, but also opened a nice view from our back windows.


I wish I had some good “before” shots to show you, but my camera must have been packed in a box somewhere. All I have are a couple nasty photocopies from the realtor’s brochure.

In the front, we evicted an ancient grove of junipers that loomed over the driveway and blocked the view of our home to approaching visitors. (A basketball backboard found lurking in the shadows was also sent unceremoniously on its way.)

Now we had a clear view of not only our house, but—lo and behold—our new neighbor, who happens to be just as rabid a gardener as I am! It was her suggestion that we replace the unfortunate junipers with a berm down the sunny property line, half on our side, half on hers. Within days, we had a load of soil delivered and have gardened (and chatted about gardening) quite happily ever since, I on my side, she on hers.

During that first year of settling in, I appointed a skeleton crew of shrubs to duty on my side of the 25- by 15-foot mound. There are three Clethra alnifolia ‘Ruby Spice’, chosen for their fabulous scent, as I mentioned in my first-ever post. There is also a Weigela florida ‘Variegata Nana’, chosen for its gorgeous green and white foliage and “compact” size (both of which proved to be a myth: With pruning, I have kept it to six feet across, rather than the promised three, and the leaves come back in green and yellow each spring). I also planted a Spirea japonica ‘Neon Flash’, purchased as a four-dollar space filler until I could afford something “better.”

Over the years I have added a mix of perennials and bulbs, until this year, it suddenly occurred to me that I am quite happy with the results. Most surprisingly, that four-dollar spirea has turned out to be the tone-setter for the entire berm! Its reblooming habit makes it a fairly constant burst of deep pink, which blends nicely with its neighbors, from spring to fall.

Perennials include Monarda ‘Gardenview Scarlet’, Liatris spicata ‘Kobold’, Leucanthemum x superbum ‘Becky’ (Do you have this one? It just never stops blooming!), Salvia nemorosa ‘East Friesland’, Sedum ‘Matrona’ (my favorite sedum, with its gorgeous red stems), and Coreopsis ‘Crème Brulee.’

Low-growers along the edge include Stachys byzantina ‘Silver Carpet’, several groundcover sedums, and Geranium macrorrhizum ‘Bevan’s Variety.’

I also get to enjoy the “borrowed” view of my neighbor’s side of the berm, as her lovely assortment peeks through between my own.

After four years, the berm is finally coming into its own. I apologize that I have no photos of it in the height of its summertime glory. (I guess I didn’t believe myself when I kept saying, “I’m going to start a blog…”) Stay tuned for follow-up postings this summer…

(Yes, summer will return. I promise.)