Shade is the subject of this month's Design Workshop at Gardening Gone Wild. Shade connotes coolness and peace, a respite from the blazing sun. Squirrelhaven has shade in abundance, from full shade to morning shade with afternoon sun, all of it dry. In fact, the only place on the property with a full sun situation is a corner of the front lawn. There is so much I could say on this topic that it could fill a book. I decided, therefore, to limit myself to the shade of the woodland garden in the middle of the day, during the growing season, when it is most appreciated.It is difficult to describe the degrees of shade with any exactitude. The best I can do to describe the mid-day shade is to borrow a term from art, "chiaroscuro," from the Italian "light-dark." Breaking the rules of photography by shooting in the middle of the day, I was reminded of the paintings by the Baroque master Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, whose paintings are famous for their use of this technique. This type of shade is fluid and dynamic.
In the middle of the day, the blooms of Geranium maculatum seems to be lit from within in the bright beams through the overhead canopy of leaves.
In this type of light, chartreuse foliage seems to glow.
Strong contrasts in light and shadow call for strong colors,
while white flowers shine.
Dodecatheon media alba
Cornus alternifoliaIt seems to cast a spotlight on different plants at different times, calling the viewer's attention.
Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'
Tree Peony with Phlox divaricata in shadow
Cornus alternifolia 'Stackman' (Golden Shadows) with Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume'
Corydalis 'Blackberry Wine'
Tree Peony with Phlox divaricata in shadow
Cornus alternifolia 'Stackman' (Golden Shadows) with Phlox divaricata 'Clouds of Perfume'I was excited when I moved to Squirrelhaven, as I finally had a chance to garden in the shade. I suppose there are gardeners out there who hate shade, and view it as an obstacle to achieving their garden visions. They just don't know what they're missing.
21 comments:
You did a good job showing the play of light and shadow.
I like the dabbled shade under some trees. But I'm always going to want a good sunny spot for the vegetable garden!
One of my favorite words.... love the sound and the look of it. And yours is a lovely visual illustration of such a melodious term.
Corydalis is an often overlooked genus that I personally am fond of! :)
Wow. What beautiful light you have in there. Dappled and dancing on all your plants. I can't wait to see it!
Shade lovers unite! I call myself the Shaded Garden Vampire.... you have wonderful plantings. I added the 'Golden Shadows' but it is languishing terribly, I think it gets too much sun - in of all places the only area that has sun for more than three hours a day! Please keep us updated with the gorgeous shade gardens..... they RULE!
Molto bene, MMG. Shade is what you make of it!
Great light show. I love having shade and full sun gardens, they both have so much to offer to gardener's eye.
Gardening in the shade is not so bad at all. Personally I love woodland gardens and they grow in at least partial and often dappled and sometimes even deepest darkest shade.
Lovely post!
Such dramatic photos. I love gardening in the shade and you have shown low lovely it can be.
A beautiful post MMD...both in prose and photograph! I like a shady garden, too...we can have beautiful wildflowers that would wilt in the sun. It's delightful to see how many plants we have in common! Except for the tree peony~~mine stopped blooming years ago. I think that it has too much soil at its base...a little errosion in the garden! Could that be it?
Can't wait you~ gail
I love the play of light and shadow in all your photos, MMD. Now I see why you love chartreuse in the garden so well:) Although I have both sun and shade, I enjoy the shade garden the most in the summer. Even on 90 degree days, it's pleasant weeding and spending time there.
I enjoyed your post!
I love the dappled lighting. Instead of having a garden with a fixed focus, it's nice how the lighting shifts it throughout the day, keeping things dynamic.
Hi, MMD! What a great post on Shade! I'm working on mine...
I really like the comment that indicates your excitement about gardening in the shade. I share that excitement! It's been a wonderful adventure, learning about shade gardening and "what works!" I really do love it (but I do love my sunny corner, too!) ;-)
Such gorgeous blooms, I'm sighing in delight and anticipation! I am very much looking forward to seeing your woodland garden for myself. There's not one plant in this post that can be grown here so it will be a rare treat for me!
Such a great read! And what lovely images your writings create! (Not to mention the great photos you've taken)...you described shade in such a positive 'light' (no pun intended!). I have lots of shade too, and am learning to really embrace it. I've learned about many plants to add to the shade garden through blogging - and people like you who have so much to offer! Thanks;-)
Lovely photos which show the pleasure of shade gardening so well. The way the light changes and moves makes up for the occasional disadvantages of shade.
So glad you enjoy gardening in the shade, too. I htink it creates all kinds of opportunities, as you ably demonstrate here. We have a mixture of sun and shade so we get to do some of everything.
A terrific post, MMD! One of my favorite parts of the GGW Design Workshop is seeing how the participants come up with different approaches to the theme, and you really gave us something special for this one. Many thanks.
I have no choice; my entire garden is shade! I did take down all the trees in the centre of my side plot & I'm hoping for a 4x4 section of full sun!! We'll see when all the leaves fill in around it. But I do love my shade gardens. I'm new to this & my gardens are only 2 yr old. So, you'll have to wait for my (hopefully) spectacular gardens. I'm always looking for new shade plants; or the challenge of getting something that requires full sun to grow in the shade.
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