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A plant around 30-40cm, vaguely evergreen, for semi-shade

FireFire Posts: 19,096
edited December 2023 in Problem solving
I am looking for one or two plants for a public planting spot
- around 30-40cm to stop passers by tread on the area as a shortcut
- pretty much evergreen so it is easy to spot all year around
- hardy to London
- some kind of long flowering would be ideal - with bright colours - good for pollinators
- fine for partial shade, under a deciduous tree

I had bushy salvias in that spot for some years but they bought it last winter and were not so happy with the shade.

I'm not looking really for anything chunky like a hebe or a skimmia. Dense shrubs don't really go with the style of planting in the area.

Any ideas are welcome. Thanks
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Posts

  • ButtercupdaysButtercupdays Posts: 4,546
    How about Heuchera or Tiarellas?
  • BluejaywayBluejayway Posts: 392
    Or erigeron?
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Thank you. I did try erigeron but it just got trashed as it's too short. I think a heuchera might too, but it's a good idea.
  • PlantmindedPlantminded Posts: 3,580
    Would you consider an ornamental grass @Fire?  Less likely to be stood on and will provide height as well as width, plus winter interest.
    Wirral. Sandy, free draining soil.


  • RubytooRubytoo Posts: 1,630
    Group of teasels right on the corner, they look good, bees like them and the dead heads look good and feed goldfinches in winter.

    Surround with a few Linaria purpurea, there are also white and pink versions.

    That is if you meant 30 to 40 cm height?
    How big is the space?

    Linaria are easy and as long as it is not heavily shaded they will flower quite well, if not as prolifically as full sun.

    Bees love them.
    Also give them a little dead head and they go all season, they also seed around but easy to pull out.

    Grey green leaves, I find the older stems do end up rather knackered by end of season, but with teasels there you can tidy the linaria, and they will show new growth early.
    Also younger linaria plants seem to stay green (grey) in the winter here.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    Yes, linaria might be good but they tend to die back in winter. I wil try it.
  • Butterfly66Butterfly66 Posts: 970
    The Heuchera Rex series are quite large. Mine are easily 40cm tall and they look fairly robust too so should be a sufficient deterrent
     If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.”—Marcus Tullius Cicero
    East facing, top of a hill clay-loam, cultivated for centuries (7 years by me). Birmingham
  • CeresCeres Posts: 2,698
    Geranium macrorrhizum is evergreen and doesn't mind a spot of shade. Vinca minor is tough as old boots. Neither of these flowers for an extended period but they are useful plants for a tough situation.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    thanks
  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    edited December 2023
    Maybe Ajuga might be an option with the purple leaved ones proving the better type in my own garden. It only gets to the optimal height you ask for when flowering but there can be occasional out of season flowers and the colour of the leaves can look well when they are not in bloom. The Ajuga will try to spread but the sideways growing stems are easy to control as they grow if needed. Was also going to suggest Lithodora but the RHS guide claims they do best in full sun. I have mine in the shade of a Tilia cordata tree and it is doing fine in the partial shade there.
    Happy gardening!


    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
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