Native shade plants
By: Garden Gate staff
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Native shade plants
Some gardeners shy away from natives because they have a reputation for looking messy. If you keep the area weeded and well cared for, it won’t look like a jungle. You’ll notice that a garden with natives has a carefree elegance that changes through the seasons and from year to year. Let’s take a look at 3 native stars for shade gardens.
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Variegated Solomon’s seal Polygonatum odoratum pluriflorum ‘Variegatum’
Variegated Solomon’s seal is an attractive native alternative that will have a similar appeal with green-and-white variegated leaves and reddish stems but won’t take over your garden. Slow-spreading clumps of upright, somewhat arching stems make an eye-catching stand.
Type Perennial
Blooms White flowers in late spring
Light Part to full shade
Size 24 to 30 in. tall and wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 3 to 8
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 8 to 1
Source Local garden centers
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Indian pink Spigelia marilandica
There aren’t many options for red flowers for shade, so if you want to swap in a native, try Indian pink, which sports unique blooms in summer. Hummingbirds find the 2-in.-long tubular flowers attractive, but deer and rabbits leave this plant alone.It grows best in rich, moist soil. Mark the spot where you plant it; plantscan be slow to come up in spring, so you don’t want to accidentally dig them up.
Type Perennial
Blooms Red and yellow flowers in early summer
Light Part to full shade
Size 12 to 24 in. tall, 6 to 18 in. wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 5 to 9
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 9 to 1
Source Plant Delights Nursery, Inc.
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Fringe tree Chionanthus virginicus
Fringe tree makes a great accent specimen; or plant several in a row for bigger impact. It naturally grows with multiple stems or can be pruned to have a single trunk. Showy white, lightly fragrant flowers cover fringe tree just as the foliage emerges in late spring. In summer, birds and other wildlife enjoy its blue-black fruit.
Type Tree
Blooms White flowers late spring to summer, blue-black berries in summer
Light Full sun to part shade
Size 12 to 20 ft. tall and wide
Cold-hardy USDA zones 3 to 9
Heat-tolerant AHS zones 9 to 1
Source Local garden centers
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