Our Garden: May

Garden: May dry shade


Garden: May wet shade

Our shade garden and the edges of it are usually lush in April and May.

For my shade gardens

Please remember our full shade is like everyone else's part-shade, our part-shade(where most of the monkey flowers are) is like coastal full sun.

Monkey Flowers work in a shade garden.

Monkey flowers like part shade and a little water. Monkey flowers like part shade and a little water.

Sticky Monkey Flower, Diplacus(Mimulus) aurantiacus 'Sierra', under a Quercus agrifolia in nearly full shade. This monkey flower was watered 3 times when we planted it 5 years ago.



Monkey flowers like part shade and little water.
Sierra Monkey Flower, Diplacus(Mimulus) bifidus, in full shade under a Persimmon(we mix natives and nonnative in many areas). It was watered once by a class in 1994, and is six years old now.



This Monkey flower grows west of Paso Robles in the Adalaide arear.
Adelaide Monkey Flower, Diplacus(Mimulus) bifidus ssp. fasciculatus, is growing in an area with morning sun in the shade of Cercocarpus alnifolius. It has never been watered.

A native shade garden can look wild! Giant Rye and Solanum work in dry shade gardens.



Southern Monkey Flower, Diplacus(Mimulus) puniceus, is growing in full shade under a Quercus agrifolia. This monkey flower burns up in full sun here. This plant was watered three times when we planted it two years ago.The Diplacus puniceus is in dry shade in southern California.

Pasadena Red Monkey Flower, Diplacus(Mimulus) longiflorus Var. rutilus , was planted in full shade here and has never been watered. Although we've used it in full sun everywhere else, we've lost every one we've put in full sun here. The red Pasadena monkey flowers like part shade and little water.

Fremontias



The dwarf Flannel bush is showy.
Dwarf Flannel Bush, Fremontodendron californicum ssp. decumbens. We've lost more Fremontias to under watering than to over watering in sandy soils that they prefer. (In clay soils plant them on a rock mound.) This plant is 12 years or more old, next to a green house that gets watered every other day. A Pinus sabiniana and Apple tree provide it with a lot of shade. This 'dwarf' form has branches that commonly arch up and then lay over. If in part shade and regular water they can get quit large, in mother nature or a nasty sunny dry site this flannel bush can be very low, if they don't die.



Flannel bush makes great yellow masses of flowers in spring.
Flannel Bush, Fremontodendron californicum ssp. californicum is trying to bury the Dwarf Flannel Bush in the same location. They used to be 12 ft apart... Now the full sized flannel bush is above the high groundcover dwarf.



Ken Taylor Fremontias make great yellow masses of flowers in spring.
Fremontodendron californicum ssp. californicum X californicum ssp. decumbens, 'Ken Taylor'. We planted 4 barely rooted plants a year ago, then watered them 2 to 3 times and forgot about them. The ones in the shade died and the ones in part shade(not much just enough to take the heat off) are 6 ft. across and 3 ft. tall.

Other Unusual Native Plants for your Shade Garden

A perfect shade garden plant! Alumroot, Heuchera micrantha(with the Sierra Monkey Flower), is in full shade under a Quercus agrifolia. We planted it in June, watered it 3 times and walked away 9 years ago.Walk though the wild side? Where's the hammock? Walk through the Yerba buena.

Hummingbirds love this flower. Hummingbird Sage, Salvia spathacea, can handle sun or shade. It prefers to be at the drip line of Oak trees or next to seeps on north slopes.

The checker plant is nice in part shade. Checker Mallow, Sidalcea malvaeflora, usually prefers some high shade, although it can survive in sun. Though it was planted years ago in the sun, over the years the oak tree has grown and shaded it. One watering.

Hedgenettle can work well in a coastal shade garden. Hedge Nettle, Stachys ajugoides, loves water and part-shade.

That pine forest smell comes from this plant Horkelia parryi, Parry's Horkelia, appears to need part-shade and lawn water. It has a pleasant scent like a pine forest.

Birds use the berries and flowers. Snowberry, Symphoricarpos albus var. laevigatus, is native down the road from us. On our site it grows in full sun poorly, in full shade poorly, and just right in part-shade.

Yerba Buena is a wonderful small groundcover. Yerba Buena, Satureja douglasii, was planted 12 years ago and lightly watered (sprinkle the leaves to simulate fog drip) watered occasionally(1-3 times a year) as we remember it and are nearby with a hose. The three plants we planted have become one big plant, 6-9 ft across and 3-6 inches tall.

Some annuals work well in shade. Mountain Garland, Clarkia unguiculata, is native on our site and it is growing everywhere but

Fun shade gardens have different plants everywhere. in the middle of the road.