A Rather Shady Affair

Article by: Donna Evans

One of the most challenging tasks for any homeowner is finding those perfect plants , How to Grow Organic Roses for the shade garden , How to Grow Hydrangeas or north side of the house. , Gardeners Gift Ideas Whenever teaching home , How to Attract Birds to Your Backyard Paradise For Less Than $100 landscape design , My Spring Bulbs Won't Bloom - Why? classes I am always bombarded with requests to suggest a few plants , Put Your Lawn On a Diet that are not only attractive but will flourish in shady areas and woodland sites.

Here come those fabulous Brunnera to the rescue. They tend to form 12 inch to 18 inch high mounds that are 18 inches 24 inches wide with baby blue , Aluminum Strap Patio Furniture for the Poolside to lavender forget-me-not type flowers , The Rich History of Wild Roses occurring in late spring , Gardening Soil to early summer , Aluminum Strap Patio Furniture for the Poolside and lasting up to four weeks. They typically have heart shaped shaped leaves, some with yellow margins, some with silver spots and still others with silverfish overlays. They all have one thing in common, they are attractive not only when blooming but all season , How to Grow Hydrangeas long. They are capable of making a statement as an accent plant , How To Check If Cut Flowers Are Fresh or as a solid groundcover, and best of all they handle a lot of shade. I have grown them under our Jack Pines and along the north side of our foundation with equal success. Best of all the leaves hold well into the late fall. , Container Vegetable Gardening - The Easy Way To A Mouth-Watering Harvest We have a Jack Frost Brunnera against our foundation that still exhibited gorgeous foliage two weeks after the leaves from the adjacent hostas had frozen back for the year.

Brunnera tend to be very forgiving and are generally rated for zones 3 - 8. They will not tolerate too much sun , Tips For a Long Lasting Amaryllis or heat, , Fast, Biologically Active, Highly-Efficient, No-Turn Composting-Really! however, so protect them. These plants , Water Ponds and Wildlife - How To Attract More Animals to Your Backyard prefer soils , Can Robotic Lawnmowers Save the World or at Least You Money? that have good drainage. One of the things that I always recommend with most plantings is what I refer to as "a $100 hole for a $10 plant". By this I mean that the best time to influence the health and long term vigor of a plant , Viburnum Dilatatum 'Cardinal Candy' is at the time of planting. A good rule of thumb is to dig your planting hole at least twice as wide as the plant , Preformed Pond Liners rootball itself, and preferably three times as wide. I always then backfill around the plant , Potting Benches: Beautiful and Practical with a mix of 1/3 native soil, , Budget For Your Garden 1/3 good quality screened topsoil, and 1/3 organic , Grow Herbs in your Garden for Pleasure and Profit matter such as sphagnum peat moss. I employ this same procedure with the Brunnera I plant. , Grow Herbs in your Garden for Pleasure and Profit

Following are four of my favorite Brunnera varieities:

1. Brunnera macrophylla 'Hadspen Cream' has heart shaped shaped leaves with green , The Basic Principles Of Landscape Design centers flanked by irregular yellow margins. It is absolutely beautiful , Spurce Up Your Garden With Decorative Birdhouses and brightens the foggiest, shadiest day.
2. .Brunnera macrophylla 'Jack Frost' is one that I have specified for several years as a groundcover par excellence. It has strong green , How to Grow Hydrangeas leaf veins and a wonderful silverfish overlay. Get ready for the compliments from your guests.
3. Brunnera macrophylla 'Langtrees' has numerous irregular white , Gardeners Gift Ideas to silver spots between the veins on the outer half of the leaves.
4. Brunnera macrophylla 'Looking Glass' has heart shaped leaves that cup downward and are a rather solid silver in color. , Gardening Soil I have ordered 25 for my own gardens , Potting Benches: Beautiful and Practical for this coming spring. , Landscaping - Put A Pond in Your Back Yard

All of the Brunnera mix well with other shade tolerant plants. , Put Your Lawn On a Diet I always like to see them planted in clusters of 3, 5, 7 and so forth. Many times I will specify the Jack Frost massed in front of Krossa Regal or Blue , Gardening for Wildlife Angel Hostas. The size and color , Water Gardens contrast makes for a striking bed. , Outdoor Lighting Fixtures Increase Safety and Decrease Expense Dress the bed , What Does A Brassia Orchid Plant And A Spider Have In Common? up with some Lamium maculatum 'Purple Dragon' or 'Pink Pewter' creeping in front for an added treat.

Brunnera are also terrific for setting off a bed , Starting A Container Garden of Taunton Yew used as a backdrop. I also like to mix in an occasional Fanal or Etna Astilbe for a splash of red for contrast and to accentuate the unusual foliage of the Brunnera.

Finally, the most breathtaking shade bed , Landscaping - Put A Pond in Your Back Yard I have ever seen was the simplest. It was a mass planting of Jack Frost Brunnera acting as the groundcover beneath three wonderful five stem clump Whitespire birches. There were a few very large character boulders imbedded for additional accent.

Whatever you choose for your shade bed, , Water Ponds and Wildlife - How To Attract More Animals to Your Backyard just don't overlook those incredible Brunnera. Those challenges and frustrations created by the shade will simply melt away as your success rate soars. Happy landscaping! , Tips For a Long Lasting Amaryllis

Donna Evans is co-owner of Gizmo Creations LLC, a landscape , Colorado Blue Spruce And Lush Red Roses design and website design , The Basic Principles Of Landscape company located just north of Brainerd, Minnesota. Gizmo Creations designs landscapes , The Rich History of Wild Roses for homeowners, commercial buildings , How to Grow Organic Roses and landscape , Put Your Lawn On a Diet contractors throughout the country. Gizmo Creations has numerous sample plans , How to Build a Pond: Basic Considerations and photos of landscapes , Tips For a Long Lasting Amaryllis on their website at http://www.gizmocreations.com.

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A Rather Shady Affair

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