Be amazed at many options for shade gardens

By Pam Baytos

OSU Extension master gardener volunteer

Whether you’re starting new or just updating your shade garden, you’ll be amazed at the options of new foliage plants.

Understanding the light exposure in your garden means smarter landscape design. Some factors to consider are the degree of shade and if you have dry or moist shade.

Partial shade means a few hours of sun each day, usually at the beginning or end of the day. The north side of your home may be considered partial shade. Light or dappled shade created by shifting leaves may get no direct sun at all, but it gets filtered light. Deep shade is an area where even indirect light rarely penetrates.

Once you’ve determined your site’s needs, it’s time to start layering in your area by planting understory trees and shrubs. A few great tree choices would be eastern redbud, dogwood, serviceberry, Japanese maple and stewartia. Some different shrubs might include beautyberry, kerria, false spirea, fotheigilla, sweetspire and hydrangeas.

After these foundation plants are in place, it’s time to add a seating area.

Moving on to perennial plants, you’ll find that today’s selection of colorful, textured and shaped foliage allows us to use them as we would blossoms, creating combinations that last all season. My favorite would be the heuchera with its wide variety of colors. Even ferns have left behind their green color.

Check out the silver and burgundy Japanese painted fern, or the Lady in Red with its lacy fronds and blood-red stems, or the autumn fern Brilliance, which starts out coppery pink in spring, turns green for summer, then colors up again for the fall.

Columbine, astilbe, bleeding heart, pulmonaria, primrose, tiarella, variegated Solomon’s seal, white trillium, caladium, trachystemon, Japanese forest grass and even today’s new hostas will add some color and texture to your bed.

It’s easy to get carried away and come home with one of everything, but instead of throwing them all together, give your new colorful foliage stars room to stand out beside quieter companions.