Here is a photo of me with Melanie Jane’s (my step daughter) new Itoh Peony. Check out this improved cultivated variety of peony with strong stems and huge rain resistant flowers. Look at the variation of flower petal colors. The newest flower is much darker than the oldest flower. Who can resist such gorgeousness!!! Plus the plant is easy to care for!!!
Itoh Peony gifts well
Large leaves of Fatsia Japonica capture the available sunlight efficiently.
Let’s look at a handful of plants. Most of these plants can take a little sun but my point is, they can thrive in deep shade which is a difficult area for many homeowners to select plants for.
Tip: Think about it…big leaves are like big hands. The more surface area the more light the plants can access. Having said that……this is a perfect example of the rule about how there are no steadfast rules. Our native huckleberry, Vaccinium Ovatum has tiny but highly reflective leaves, (such a rule breaker!) and yet it grows very well in a lot of shade. Sigh…plants are tricky.
Tip: If you have the luxury of planting your mostly shade tolerant plants where they get good dapples of sun of even morning sun they will often tolerant the shade deepening over the years. If your shade is very dark now there are some plants that will eventually thrive but they may take many years to fatten up and fill in. Add one or two very active dogs to this mix and these plants will not survive long enough to do you proud.
Plant this beautiful Snake Bark Maple under your fir trees….Acer Tegmentosum “Joe Witt” Manchurian Snake Bark Maple
I have great success with a small tiny leafed evergreen tree called Azara microphylla in deep shade and also partial shade under big fir trees. I saw a tree at an abandoned property in Raleigh Hills where it was providing privacy between neighbors. It had not been irrigated in at least 3 years and was competing with a Douglas fir tree as it was planted about 8′ off the large trunked tree. I’ve been a fan every since and use this small tree large 
shrub in my city landscapes in N. Portland and N.E. Portland often because it provides privacy but doesn’t get too big. My lousy photo does show the general shape so you can see what a great screen tree it could be.
Fatsia Japonica (also called Japanese Aralia) This is beautiful planted as under story to larger trees. It is also my 3 Labrador dog yard plant so very tough and can take a fair amount of morning sun. It can grow to be a 15′ tall tree although it is rare to see it this way. It is easy to prune so can be kept as an evergreen shrubs 3 to 6′ tall or can tolerate deep shade, morning sun or even afternoon dapples of strong light. Tip: Some shade plants can take quite a bit of sun. Many will tip burn the first year or two but go on to tolerate a lot more sun than you might think. Careful watering will make the difference between a guess and a plan.
Aucuba, also called Cast Iron Plant is typically used in deep shade. It has toxic berries so is not a favorite for back yards with dogs although I have seen many old plants grow into small trees and no ones dog has ever bothered to eat the berries. Still who wants to take a chance with their little bundle of joy and I do not trust Labradors among other breeds who seem to think everything should go in their mouth.
Mahonia Nervosa and Vaccinium Ovatum are both shrubs native to the Northwest. The Mahonia, (also called Oregon Grape) a favorite of hummingbirds, can get a little ratty looking at the end of winter, wait until the hummingbirds have gotten their fill of the flowers and then cut the plant back to about 12″ tall every year. There won’t be berries for birds if you do this but you can keep the plant front yard attractive. You won’t get a lot of flowers in deep shade. I like growing this plant in enough sun to increase flowering for both pollinators and food for birds via the berries. http://www.greatplantpicks.org/plantlists/view/980
Our evergreen native Vaccinium, a huckleberry plant will be more shade tolerant if you buy it from Boskey Dell Natives and ask for one that was dug out of deep shade. I have self seeded native huckleberry at my home on the Puget Sound in a lot of sun. The truth is the offspring of my plant (little rule breakers) will prefer a sunnier location than if planted in full shade. This is all about natural selection and where your plants seed came from. When I put it on my plant list I don’t require it come from a shade area and it has worked out quite well for my gardens. Please note you won’t get much fruit growing this evergreen in deep shade. My photo is from a tour of the home of Joy Creek Co founder Maurice Horn and his family. He used the huckleberry shrub as a back drop for a casual sitting area.
Here is a highly textural native fern called Adiantum Aleuticum, Northern Maidenhair Fern. This one has previously escaped my radar. I use a lot of different ferns so nice to have another native one to use.
These first two are a little more unusual (unless you are a total plant nerd). Beesia Deltophylla, I first met this plant at the famous Heronswood Garden in Kingston, Washington. It is slow to bulk up but is such a low maintenance plant. It would be great to have more access to this plant. When I first wrote this blog in 2012 it was hard to find but now I see it regularly at many retail garden stores. It won’t flower well in deep shade but the glossy leaves reflect light and are a huge asset in a deep shade setting. It will flower in dappled shade and rather nicely.
Begonia grandis flowering in September
Begonia Grandis leaves in late spring
Begonia grandis – ok this won’t survive the big rowdy dogs but wow it is a cold hardy evergreen perennial with fabulous leaves. The flowers are also attractive. I’m very fond of this plant and have it coming back every year in many gardens. It rooted into a log just under my floating home and lived for several years until a certain someone thought it was a weed and yanked it.
Geranium macrorrhizum is a groundcover shade plant that may take a while to bulk up in deep shade but it will get there. The strong smell of cedar in the leaves tends to keep rowdy dogs out of it so the survival rate is strong but it is not a thug and will slowly clump to cover a lot of soil. It is semi evergreen so you will have some leaves in the winter too.
The best fern for deep shade is our native Sword fern, Polystichum munitum but another option for shade is this non native often called Shield fern. It will take a lot longer to establish than our good old Sword. Sword fern can also handle a lot of doggie rowdiness , (even in shade) if you start with a nice big plant. I’m feeling unfair to other ferns because I always talk about Sword Fern and how fabulous it is.
We would love to help you with your shady landscape. Contact us if you are ready for help with your difficult shady and probably muddy back yard.
Specialty form of heather ground cover (photo from Singing Gardens)
Look at your landscape right now…Could it use a little ground color? A plant with full season color which prefers full day sun, stays low – think 4 inches tall (never higher) and best of all……..has the texture of 100 tiny fern sprays? Did I mention it is evergreen and fully drought tolerant after its first summer of careful watering? It looks great in the dreary spring monsoons with bulbs popping up through the evergreen textural sprays. It is cheery, plucky and graceful all at once.
Here are the super low varieties I use most often:
Tips for success: Heathers require good drainage so clay must be well amended. I have two different methods that work well. One is when the entire area has been prepped ala “True Grit” soil prep technique. The other is a “break all the rules” use of bark dust. Neither one can be safely explained in a blog. If you are one of my clients, or client to be, call me and I can walk you through it. It isn’t that hard but it has to be right.
Easy care? These low creeping mini heather fit into the true low maintenance landscape because they are the only heather that does not have to be pruned yearly. They also fit into a “passionate, lots of work, hot color, knock your socks off” garden because they can tolerate regular water. These varieties look great with Heuchera (Coral Bell) for instance. Please note they are not for use in rain gardens or at edge of ponds. I used this plant in a NE modern landscape design for the front yard.
These plants look great with masses of Hens and Chicks, dwarf conifers, those trendy new Echinacea (Cone Flowers) or with grasses. The heather holds the combination together. These heathers have flowers that stick out at a 90 degree angle which is an interesting extra hit of texture. Some of the plants listed have bright foliage in the coldest temps of winter which then holds into mid-spring.
A fall planting is the best, you will have fewer plant losses and you can relax a bit which you cannot do with heather planted in the late spring or in summer. Not relaxing!!!! My mother planted 30 plants in summer and didn’t lose a single one, but I nagged a lot. She was well tired of that by October. I was forgiven because they performed beautifully for many years and my mother does not hold these things against me.
Local source is Highland Heather in Canby or mail order is Heaths and Heathers in Shelton, Washington. Highland Heathers sells at the large local plant sales and via quality nurseries.
Please like this article on facebook or forward it your friends. Contact me if you would like to learn more about incorporating low maintenance plants like heather in your landscape design.
Itoh Peony – Low Maintenance Beauty and Thrills for All
Perfect Mothers Day gift for a NO FEAR gardener.
What’s all the fuss about the new Itoh (say it Eeetoe) peony? These new plants eliminate the only weak point of the old fashioned peony, the weak stems which can really spoil the flowers in our often wild and wet spring weather. Okay, they do cost three times as much as the old fashioned but read on.
Why do we want peonies anyway? They are EASY and will outlive you!! The flower is fabulous, fragrant and since the 1400’s has been filled with historical and cultural significance for us humans. My grandmother loved them and picked an armload for the house and to decorate the family graves on Memorial Day.
I grew up loving to play and work in her garden and today I love these new peonies as well because:
#1 Later Bloom – June not May
#2 Sturdy fibrous stems
#3 Bigger flowers in new colors
Itoh cost more than the old fashioned so expect $50 to $100 for a medium priced plant. The tissue cultured plants may be cheaper but I don’t recommend them because they are not as strong rooted. This will effect how many flowers you get on your plant year after year and this is a plant where the flower really matters. The dissected foliage is great but hey it’s about the flower this time.
Here is my best source for peony of any kind, herbaceous, tree or Itoh. Rick Rogers is a second generation peony designer and grower in Silverton, Oregon. His father is an international star of the peony world. Rick grows peonies the old fashioned way, propagating new peonies by extracting these perfect bits of root stock. Taking these cuttings is an art form and his plants will outgrow and out flower tissue culture generated plants easily. Rick’s nursery is called Treony……www.treony.com. Email him for his list of Itoh if he doesn’t have them on his web yet. Also see Wayside Gardens web site, (with fabulous close up of the flowers). Their plants are a lot smaller however than what Rick offers. These are a lifetime investment. They will outlive you and can be dug when you move but plan to dig very very deep.
Now regarding NO FEAR gardening. The Itoh peony can test your ability to postpone gratification. The first year, cut off all flower buds, do not let any of them flower!!!! that takes faith, hence NO FEAR. The second year, let yourself have one flower and cut all the rest off while they are still buds. The third year, let them rip uhm……….flower. Those who cannot do this may have to wait ten years to get anything near the number of flowers that you, gentle but fierce gardener, will have. It rewards those gardeners who can take the long approach to getting their kicks. I think perhaps Dulcy Mahar would have recommended nibbling on some good chocolate while you cut off the buds. I can assure you having an Itoh peony with 40 blooms on it will stop you in your tracks so it is worth it. Did I mention the plant has very attractive foliage, is low water and has golden fall color as well?
Hamamelis – Witch hazel ‘Jelena’ Foreground, ‘Arnold’s Promise’ in background-photo Carol Lindsay
Don’t miss seeing the bare stems of witch hazel come alive with bright yellow or red orange flowers. I stopped en route to The Oregon Garden last Saturday to take photos of a field of flowering witch-hazel. I could feel the dozens of hummingbirds working these flowers.
Places to go to catch winter color would be Elk Rock Garden, the garden of the Bishop’s Close in Dunthorpe, the Winter Garden in Hoyt Arboretum, and Portland Chinese Garden. See winter color in action and stretch your legs.
Acer Conspicuum, Photo by Treephoria
Don’t miss seeing the thick texture of flowering Heather whose foliage has turned hot colors in winter along with red twig dogwood. Some red twigs like Arctic Fire have 3 colors to their twigs. Hellebores such as Mardi Gras Parade Strain Yellow are just starting to flower and others will soon to burst with color. Some Japanese Maple have red hot twigs in winter but the Red Snake Bark Maple – Acer Conspicuum is even more colorful. Heathers, Hellebores, Red Twig Dogwood, and Nandina pick up hot winter color in the cold. It’s probably wrong to hurry in a garden but hurry and don’t miss all the excitement of winter in the garden.
