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Sunday, April 12, 2015

More Shade Garden Ideas April 12, 2015

Today I am linking with-

Saturday Critters  hosted by Eileen

Today's Flowers hosted by Denise

Macro Monday 2 hosted by Gemma and Mystical Magical Teacher

I Heart Macro hosted by Laura

Here is another shade garden I've been developing under a large Big-Leaf Maple tree, Acer macrophyllum.


Some Lunaria annua, also known as Silver Dollar plant from their seed pod disks, reseed themselves here faithfully, the magenta ones are taller.  It is another plant that is perfectly adapted to our wet and dry seasons, a biennial that blooms its second year, with heart-shaped leaves.


Some also have white flowers that look good with the variegated Vinca major.

Another variegated plant here is Phalaris arundinacea, Ribbon grass.  These plants are very invasive so not good for small lots, but good here to suppress weeds.

Another invasive that made its way here is the annual Herb Robert, but at least it is easy to pull out, and seems really good at supressing other weeds.  It is rather ferny in appearance with little magenta flowers that match the Lunaria, and also makes a medicinal tea.

I also planted a hellebore here, and Cyrtomium fortunei var. clevicola fern-

The large and spreading Berberis darwinii, blooming now with gold flowers


among the tiny glossy holly-like leaves.  Berberis are nice to plant here because they are too prickly for deer to eat.

A native Trillium grandiflorum is blooming here, it always looks like a bouquet.  It is another ephemeral plant that is perfectly adapted to the wet and dry seasons, coming up in the rains of late winter, blooming, then disappearing in the heat and drought of summer.  I tried some California native annuals here which should also be adapted, but they disappointed in that they did not reseed.
  
Here is another Trillium growing by our pump house-


I tried sowing Trillium seeds I collected from the plants before with no apparent result.  Then my husband replaced the roof for the pump house, and left the old roof on the ground next to the pump house for a while.   Many tiny Trillium plants sprang up underneath!  So now I have a clue how to start the seeds.

It seems the caterpillars are out already, a Ranchman's Tiger Moth cat, Platyprepia virginalis-


Celeste enjoying the ambience and pear blossoms-

I hope the weather is treating you well.   Hannah

                                                        or cameras are macro

©Weeding on the Wild Side, all rights reserved.  I hope to read your comments, and will visit your blog to comment as well as long as google + is not the only option.   We all need to breathe.


25 comments:

  1. Hannah, your flowers are glorious, trilliums beautiful, but for me, my choice is the beautiful Celeste, stunning, quite regal, and totally fits into your garden.

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  2. Thanks, Jean, Celeste is a pretty cat but very demanding. But at least she has no meow, just a whisper. She does get quite a thick coat. She reminds me of a Red Panda when she walks.

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  3. Hello Hannah, the shade garden is lovely.. And the trillium is just beautiful. Neat sighting of the caterpilar and Celeste is looking beautiful posing with the blossoms. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post.. Have a happy day!

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    1. Thanks, Eileen, it is so nice not to fight weeds so much in a shady bed. The sunny beds are in desperate need of weeding now. Celeste rarely poses, she is usually following me around trying to get me to spend my entire day petting her.

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  4. Beautiful collection of weeds Hannah.

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    1. LOL, Bob, you are so funny. At least they stay still so I can photograph them, the birds are not cooperating.

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  5. I love the mahonias and the trilliums. Celeste is a beauty. The furry caterpillar is very cute. Have a great week!

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    1. Thanks, Gunilla, I was trying to find Mahonias / Berberis that had an edible berry. The native ones do, but most of the ones with better size and flavor are not hardy here, but I like darwinii for the tiny leaves and spring bloom. It is growing well but very sprawled out, it's tricky learning how to prune various plants. The caterpillar will be a very beautiful large moth, but I rarely get to see them.

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  6. cute kitty. :) love the trilliums!!

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    1. Thanks, Theresa, now I need to dig up the little babies when they are dormant and transplant them somewhere.

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  7. Love the Spring flowers. Your cat is also very beautiful!

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    1. Thanks, Joyful, I'm enjoying the spring progression, which is happening much faster this year. The plants are confused.

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  8. Such darling patches of small flowers! Love them all. But that mahonia with its waxy orange blooms is stunning!

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    1. It is one of my favorite flower colors, but only blooms in the spring.

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  9. What a beautiful cat!

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  10. Hannah is gorgeous as are you flowers..Love the Trillium..What kind of cat is she?? Maine Coon??

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  11. She has a lot of characteristics of a Maine Coon. The Trilliums are a treat this time of year, my woods have a lot of remaining native wildflowers.

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  12. Lovely blossoms! The cat, Celeste, has a perturbed look on her face. Cute though!

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    1. Thanks, Gail, I enjoyed your photography hints, I had a hard time getting a good shot of the bed. Photographing individual flowers is easier. Celeste tends to be a glass half full cat, always wanting more petting.

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  13. Great looking spring growth - and a rather fine cat as well!

    The wedge shape on the Moon was caused by the presence of clouds, rather than part of the eclipse.

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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    1. Thanks, Stewart, I like this bed because it is very low maintenance, the plants kind of take care of themselves. I couldn't photograph the last eclipse because of the cloud cover.

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  14. These are wonderful ideas for the shade garden Hannah! I especially like the plants with the white blossoms the most and also your pretty picture of that tiny caterpillar.
    Enjoy a good time :)

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  15. Thanks, Katrin, I like the tiger moths but it is so rare to see them, I hope I get to see some this year. I see the caterpillars often.

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  16. Beautiful photos! I am sorry I am so late commenting, but I didn't want another week go by without thanking you for sharing with Today's Flowers. So thank you very much, and I wish you a very happy weekend.

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