Natalie, if you can / are allowed to widen that bed, I would, as it will give you more of a chance to make interesting combinations. Fairygirl has suggested some beautiful things. The anemone will flower over quite a long period. I would think of punctuating your bed with a Hydrangea of modest size, a small macrophylla perhaps. These come in all colours from white through pink to deep red (if you are on alkaline soil) and blues/purples if you are on acid. I have very similar conditions to this, and after agonised years of grappling with the resulting slugs, snails, mildew I have some favourites: some Fairygirl has already mentioned as a general category but these are especially good ones:
Geranium 'Lily Lovell'--a form of the shade-loving Geranium phaeum which does not get mildew and flowers for many weeks in early summer. Purple flowers.
Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'--beautiful blue flowers
Geranium macrorrhizum and x oxonianum forms with pink and white flowers--for the second, a new variety called 'Dreamland' which is pale pink flowers for six months
Actaea cimicifuga--a black-leaved form like 'Black Negligee
Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum'--if only part shade you can team this up with Aster pyrenaeus 'Lutetia' and one takes over when the other stops
Bergenias
Fuchsias
Heucheras, Heucherellas, Tiarellas and Tellimas can be pretty good for edging but watch out for vine weevil
Brunneras, especially 'Jack Frost' and 'Diane's Gold'
Euonymus fortunei can be good for evergreen cover--I would suggest a Hydrangea 'Moonlight' for the fence but it looks a bit rickety
Solomon's Seal--plain green, white variegated, or the purple-leaved 'Betburg'
Ferns of course, but especially Athyrium niponicum var. pictum 'Lady in Red' and similar
The newer Roscoea hybrids from Twelve Nunns nursery have been doing very well in my garden so far.
Another wonderful place to buy shade plants is Long Acre Plants--my absolute favourite online nursery whose plants are always in top condition:
If you think about the leaf textures first, then although you will not get weeks and weeks of flowering from most shade-loving plants, you will always have a beautiful bed, and there are plenty of foliage plants with amazing patterns and colours.
Re the Begonias, you don't say what sort they are. There are some good hardy forms for shade:
B. grandiflora subsp. evansiana, in varieties like 'Alba' and 'Claret Jug'
and the new amazing Begonias such as 'Benitochiba' and 'Metallic Mist' with silver variegated leaves and B. boliviensis 'Bonfire'. I have trialled several of these. Grandiflora has done amazingly and is the perfect combination to Fuchsias. 'Benitochiba' survived -12 degrees in the open ground but I think vine weevils or mice got it because in the third year it never came back. I haven't tried 'Bonfire' with reddish-orange flowers, but I have Begonia sutherlandii with orange flowers. They are probably better with a small amount of sunlight.
Wow thanks everyone. The begonia bulbs are large double flowered grandiflora / camellia type. I'm going to get them in pots today, I'll bring them inside, not sure how long but I'll see how I go. Thank you all
xyz, I have a bottle of slug pellets which I brough to this garden 4 1/2 years ago. I rarely use them.
I have a polytunnel full of Hostas ( about 900 ) and about 250ish in the ground. Encourage blackbirds, thrushes , frogs and hedgehogs. Not only do they bring joy , but they all eat slugs and snails.
There's plenty of shrubs which will fit the bill for a bigger space xyz. Some structural planting that you can add to will be ideal. Osmanthus burkwoodii, Euonymous, Eleagnus adn Sarcococca will all grow there. Pittosporum will also be a nice addition, but some are less hardy than others so just check what suits your area and conditions.
You can add others deciduous shrubs like Potentilla and Spirea which get their foliage early. If there's room for something bigger you could put a central specimen like Amelanchier lamarkii to give a bit of height. Then some lower growing evergreens like the aforementioned, and bulbs and perennials to give you colour throughout the year.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Wild strawberries will happly take over, as will Periwinkle, Lesser and Greater. Gaultheria procumbens is rather attractive, mine have nice red berries now. Cotoneaster can do well, I had a low growing one that thrived in a similar habitat. I supect woodland plants such as Primrose would thrive. My Cotoneaster franchetii seems to like a shady spot, it might be okay.
Now it's June I can show you this rose, it's one of the rose carpet varieties, no scent but it's been in there around 4 years now in very deep shade and has flowrered non stop all summer every year.
I thought it would kick the bucket after one season but just goes on and on. Who would have thought you could grow a rose in shade?
Posts
Natalie, if you can / are allowed to widen that bed, I would, as it will give you more of a chance to make interesting combinations. Fairygirl has suggested some beautiful things. The anemone will flower over quite a long period. I would think of punctuating your bed with a Hydrangea of modest size, a small macrophylla perhaps. These come in all colours from white through pink to deep red (if you are on alkaline soil) and blues/purples if you are on acid. I have very similar conditions to this, and after agonised years of grappling with the resulting slugs, snails, mildew I have some favourites: some Fairygirl has already mentioned as a general category but these are especially good ones:
Geranium 'Lily Lovell'--a form of the shade-loving Geranium phaeum which does not get mildew and flowers for many weeks in early summer. Purple flowers.
Geranium sylvaticum 'Mayflower'--beautiful blue flowers
Geranium macrorrhizum and x oxonianum forms with pink and white flowers--for the second, a new variety called 'Dreamland' which is pale pink flowers for six months
Actaea cimicifuga--a black-leaved form like 'Black Negligee
Chaerophyllum hirsutum 'Roseum'--if only part shade you can team this up with Aster pyrenaeus 'Lutetia' and one takes over when the other stops
Bergenias
Fuchsias
Heucheras, Heucherellas, Tiarellas and Tellimas can be pretty good for edging but watch out for vine weevil
Brunneras, especially 'Jack Frost' and 'Diane's Gold'
Euonymus fortunei can be good for evergreen cover--I would suggest a Hydrangea 'Moonlight' for the fence but it looks a bit rickety
Solomon's Seal--plain green, white variegated, or the purple-leaved 'Betburg'
Ferns of course, but especially Athyrium niponicum var. pictum 'Lady in Red' and similar
The newer Roscoea hybrids from Twelve Nunns nursery have been doing very well in my garden so far.
Another wonderful place to buy shade plants is Long Acre Plants--my absolute favourite online nursery whose plants are always in top condition:
http://www.plantsforshade.co.uk
If you think about the leaf textures first, then although you will not get weeks and weeks of flowering from most shade-loving plants, you will always have a beautiful bed, and there are plenty of foliage plants with amazing patterns and colours.
Re the Begonias, you don't say what sort they are. There are some good hardy forms for shade:
B. grandiflora subsp. evansiana, in varieties like 'Alba' and 'Claret Jug'
and the new amazing Begonias such as 'Benitochiba' and 'Metallic Mist' with silver variegated leaves and B. boliviensis 'Bonfire'. I have trialled several of these. Grandiflora has done amazingly and is the perfect combination to Fuchsias. 'Benitochiba' survived -12 degrees in the open ground but I think vine weevils or mice got it because in the third year it never came back. I haven't tried 'Bonfire' with reddish-orange flowers, but I have Begonia sutherlandii with orange flowers. They are probably better with a small amount of sunlight.
xyz, I have a bottle of slug pellets which I brough to this garden 4 1/2 years ago. I rarely use them.
I have a polytunnel full of Hostas ( about 900 ) and about 250ish in the ground. Encourage blackbirds, thrushes , frogs and hedgehogs. Not only do they bring joy , but they all eat slugs and snails.
ps, don't have a cat.
There's plenty of shrubs which will fit the bill for a bigger space xyz. Some structural planting that you can add to will be ideal. Osmanthus burkwoodii, Euonymous, Eleagnus adn Sarcococca will all grow there. Pittosporum will also be a nice addition, but some are less hardy than others so just check what suits your area and conditions.
You can add others deciduous shrubs like Potentilla and Spirea which get their foliage early. If there's room for something bigger you could put a central specimen like Amelanchier lamarkii to give a bit of height. Then some lower growing evergreens like the aforementioned, and bulbs and perennials to give you colour throughout the year.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Wild strawberries will happly take over, as will Periwinkle, Lesser and Greater. Gaultheria procumbens is rather attractive, mine have nice red berries now. Cotoneaster can do well, I had a low growing one that thrived in a similar habitat. I supect woodland plants such as Primrose would thrive. My Cotoneaster franchetii seems to like a shady spot, it might be okay.
Thought this looked familiar, photos and all, I answered about shade plants in Nathalie's bulb thread on the 30th, didn't notice this one.
Now it's June I can show you this rose, it's one of the rose carpet varieties, no scent but it's been in there around 4 years now in very deep shade and has flowrered non stop all summer every year.
I thought it would kick the bucket after one season but just goes on and on. Who would have thought you could grow a rose in shade?
And also ferns and foxgloves are nice