Begin Searching for Perennials That Bloom in Summer Shade
Continuing the shade-plant suggestions we began two weeks ago and coming down a size, there are several perennials that do well, the best of which are the Japanese anemones.
Planted now, they will grow furiously all summer, then flower in the fall, like they should. Out of flower, they are hard to even find at a nursery, so you might have to ask. Their leaves are maple-like or abutilon-like, so I have mine planted right in front of the abutilons.
The foliage grows to about three feet after a few years and they do spread, though I don’t find them a problem. The flowers are most often single and white but there are rosy-pinks, purples and double-flowered kinds that look like spidery chrysanthemums. If you can’t find Japanese anemones ( Anemone japonica ) at nurseries, Wayside Gardens (Hodges, S.C. 29695-0001) sells five different kinds by mail.
Fuchsias are easy to find, but not necessarily the shrubby kinds that grow so well in the shade. Most fuchsias sold at nurseries are for hanging baskets. For planting in the ground, you want to ask for the less common “upright” varieties. These grow as tidy little shrubs. My favorite is Checkerboard, in my book one of the most graceful of all garden flowers. One upright fuchsia that’s easy to find is Gartenmeister Bonstedt, which grows in sun along the coast and takes the heat in shaded inland gardens.
Coral bells are good perennials for shady places and my favorite is the California native, Heuchera maxima . Coral bells are in full flower right now and should be purchased while in bloom because the colors vary quite a bit from carmine or coral to rosy whites. The flower grows naturally on Catalina and is a creamy white. There is also a striking red hybrid of our native coral bells called Santa Ana Cardinal.
Besides the coral bells, many California natives grow well in the shade, even in dry soil (once established), and they are an often-overlooked source of plants for shady places. Flowering right now are the bleeding heart ( Dicentra formosa ), with its odd pale-pink flowers and grayish ferny foliage, and the native columbine ( Aquilegia formosa ) with stunning red and yellow flowers. The gooseberries and currents, various species of Ribes , all have showy flowers, though the prettiest are probably the spring-flowering varieties of Ribes sanguineum . Mahonia repens has not been in my garden for long but this relative of the common Oregon grape looks very promising, already beginning to spread and carpet the ground with shiny, holly-like leaves.
The Theodore Payne Foundation (10459 Tuxford St., Sun Valley, Calif. 91352) has a section of its nursery devoted to shade plants and you may find plants for sale at the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden.
