What's Your Shade?
For years, I believed what the catalogues and plant tags told me -- the only light categories I needed to worry about were: full sun, part sun or shade. In the last few years though, I have begun to appreciate the fact that shade is not a one-size fits all situation. It is variable and it is transient. There are multiple degrees and types of shade and each nurtures its own, wonderful plant palette.
New and Improved, Part 2
Portions of my yard lie in deep shade throughout most of a summer’s day. Combine that with incredibly terrible soil and the result can be summed up as a discouraging mess. I felt like planting annuals in those spots was just condemning beautiful flowers to a long, slow death sentence. Although I knew what would happen, I just kept planting, longing for the summer color. Finally, desperate for success, I dragged some giant-sized clay pots to the barren beds and planted them with shade-loving annuals. Those first pots certainly wouldn’t have won any design prizes, but at least the flowers lived and bloomed throughout the summer.
