HOFFMAN WONDER GARDEN SALE PREVIEW: SHADY DELIGHTS!
Admittedly, the Wonder Garden is a very sunny place but we’ve a long list of shade-loving plants we only wish we could grow. The least we can do is offer them to you at Saturday’s Wonder Garden plant sale, 10am-1pm.
Here’s a few items that can add striking texture, evergreen structure and – of course – flowers to your shady nooks.
Epimedium wushanense ‘Spiny Leaved Form’: Spiny indeed! But not to the touch. This super edgy perennial’s leaves start out maroon red – a great foil to its delicate, pale yellow flowers – and matures into a 2’x2’ evergreen mound. Set it off against any round-leaved shade perennial for a dramatic contrast. Pictured below.
Persicaria ‘Golden Arrow’: We do grow this amazing fleece flower in very bright shade and count on its chartreuse leaves to ignite the bed. It really likes rich soil and even moisture, but the payoff – from electric foliage to deepest pink wowza flowers – is worth the effort. Pictured below.
Luzula sylvática ‘Marginata’: Classy, tough and handsome, we’re talking an evergreen sedge with broad curving leaves outlined in narrow bands of yellow. Insanely dependable and long-lived in shade and sun, it’s a no-brainer for edging or evergreen accents.
Fargesia dracocephala var, rufa: In fewer words, clumping bamboo! This fountain of shade-loving foliage will NOT run around in your garden. Instead it’s an ever-widening clump that adds background height, fine texture and swaying movement to our WG’s shadiest bed.
Schefflera delavayi: Big bold leaves carry a lot of weight in a shady garden, rising above all the perennials at their feet and leading the eye up to the trees. This hardy schefflera is plenty bold – leaf size up to 18” – but it also offers a refined shape and thrives where its roots stay cool. Safe for beginning gardeners, too! Pictured below.
Incidentally, there are a number of super fragrant plants that love life in part-shade. If you’d like to meet them, join us at the Hoffman Center May 1st, 5pm, for our upcoming event, FRAGRANT AIR: GROWING A SCENTED GARDEN.
hoffmanarts.org/events/fragrant-air/
SEE YOU AT THE SALE, SATURDAY APR 25th 10-1PM!
