Shaded garden plot needs color!

July 2, 2007 11:07 AM

It's July, I'm in central North Carolina (Zone 7 or 8 depending who you ask), and I have an unused, mostly shaded 3' x 6' dirt plot at the side of our front lawn that I'd love to put some color in to brighten the neighborhood. What can I plant there now that'll give me the most color through the fall? Annual or perennial, bonus points for drought-tolerant but that's not essential).
posted by mediareport to Home & Garden (5 answers total)

Hi...also in NC and a couple of years ago we planted a similarly sized piece of dirt with verbena. In NC, it is a perennial and will spread to cover the whole plot...we planted it in a pretty sunny spot...I am not really sure how much sun it needs. The plant has proved to be pretty resilient even with the dry weather we have had and the flowers are in bloom from April to October. The leaves stay green "most" of the winter and the only required maintenance is to clean out the obviuosly dead runners before the bloom in the spring. (I just dragged a leaf rake through the bed and all the dead stuff breaks right off) We planted purples and whites...I have seen blues and pinks and one color that is close to red. It makes a very nice ground cover.
posted by cyclopz at 12:15 PM on July 2, 2007

Hostas make very pretty shade plants. So do Bleeding Hearts, which have the added bonus of being perennials, and also, pretty.

You might want to check out the Gardening in Shade forums on Gardenweb to see what they have to say.
posted by mckenney at 12:39 PM on July 2, 2007

I also have a shaded bed, and got some great tips in this AskMe. My impatiens, coleus, hostas, and some other stuff are doing really well and I'll be planting more of these suggestions next year. It was well worth asking -- seeing life in that space has been really cheerful this summer.
posted by Miko at 1:33 PM on July 2, 2007

Hosta are perennial, and incredibly hardy. There are many, many varieties. They bloom, but are primarily a foliage plant.

Impatiens are annuals, so you replant them every year. They come in white, and the full palette of pinks, reds and many oranges. I sometimes get behind on watering, and they will come back from a total swoon.
posted by theora55 at 3:28 PM on July 2, 2007

Thanks for the answers; mckenney, that forum has some great threads, just what I was looking for, thanks! This photo gives me hope; my bed's under a couple of big oak trees. :)

Miko, I'd glanced at your question and thought it focused on herbs and foliage, and there's already way too much green in that corner, but I see now there are lots of great suggestions for flowers there, too. I think I'll go with impatiens to start; they seem perfect. cyclopz, I've done well with verbena in sunnier spots, but don't think it's known for shade-tolerance; this page says it needs 8-10 hours of direct sunlight a day. This budding gardener thanks you all again.
posted by mediareport at 6:11 PM on July 2, 2007