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| trillium |
It is important to understand that Alabama natives have largely evolved in a woodland setting, making many if not most of them able to thrive in part shade/part sun situations. With less sun, blooms may decline. With full sun, many will require more water and some will burn. In light of this, it is a good idea to begin by determining how much sun you have in your garden at different times of day. If you have a lot of shade throughout the day, you’ll want to choose plants that will not just tolerate but look great in that amount of shade. Alternatively, there may be low hanging branches that can be trimmed back to let in more light, twiggy and/or weedy growth of small volunteer saplings and suckers that can be thinned out, and invasives such as privet or non-native honeysuckle that should be removed.
Foliage is at the heart of all shadier gardens. Spring brings a flurry of wildflowers before the tree leaves come out: phlox, bluebells, bloodroot, crested iris, columbine, mayapple, trillium and many others seem to bloom all at once. It is a beautiful early spring show not to be missed but one that will soon pass as the new leaves begin to shade the area.
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| southern fern |
As the growing season wears on, it is the contribution of foliage that then carries the shade garden through the summer and into autumn. Plants like ferns,
sedges,
wild ginger,
tiarella,
columbine,
coral bells, and bleeding heart are a few of the Alabama natives that add texture, background and definition to shade gardens. Interest is also provided by the contrasting color of the different foliage from deep emerald green, chartreuse, bluish green, gray green, purple, to forest green. All blend to create a beautiful tapestry that is a variation on a single color theme.
