Plants that glow in the dark corners of the garden
This week, white flowers and variegated foliage bring light into the shadowy edges of my landscape.
A (Aralia elata 鈥榁ariegata鈥�) looks almost white against the dark wooded background. And shade-tolerant woodies like (Clethra berbinervis), (Aesculus parviflora), and (Hydrangea arborescens 鈥楢nnabelle鈥� produce ample white flowers for a similar lightening effect.
For years, I never had flowers on 鈥楢nnabelle鈥� (see second photo above), a cultivar of a shrub native to the Eastern US, because deer nibbled the shoots before it bloomed. But the plant didn鈥檛 die. It just suckered and grew.
In the past few years, marauders have left it alone. Now cover the shrub, which has expanded to about 3 feet high and four or five feet wide. Flowers grown in the shade are smaller than those grown in the sun, but they still look plenty big to me.
Japanese clethra (see first photo above) looks more exotic, with its angled clusters of sweetly fragrant white flower spikes, dark green leaves, and exfoliating gray and brown bark. Mine is about 10 feet high with an open habit typical of shrubs and trees grown in shade.
For season-long brightness, however, you can鈥檛 beat the variegated Japanese angelica tree. (See photo at right.) The tiered branches show off to maximum effect. We鈥檝e had ours for several years. It grows slowly, but the layers were evident early on.
One of the best specimens I鈥檝e seen is at in front of the entry pavilion. In fact, most of the plants mentioned in today鈥檚 post first came to my attention at Longwood Gardens, an institution that opened my heart and mind to the wonder of woody plants. If trees and shrubs intrigue you, this public garden is a worthy destination.
Penelope O鈥橲ullivan, who writes about trees and shrubs at Diggin鈥� It, is the author of 鈥淭he Homeowner鈥檚 Complete Tree & Shrub Handbook: The Essential Guide to Choosing, Planting, and Maintaining Perfect Landscape Plants.鈥� She has a landscape design business on the New Hampshire seacoast.
Editor鈥檚 note: To read more by Penelope, check our . For more Monitor gardening, see our main gardening page and our .
You may also want to visit . Take part in and get answers to your gardening questions. If you join the group (it鈥檚 free), you can upload your garden photos and enter our next contest. We'll be looking for photographs of fruits. So find your best shots of summer's blueberries, peaches, plums, etc., and get out your camera to take some stunning shots of early fall apples. Post them before Sept. 30, 2009, and you could be the next winner.
