| I live in Evergreen, CO (8,600ft). I need to plant a flowering garden in an area with almost no direct sunlight. I have 2 areas shaded by trees and/or decks all day. I also need to know what will work well on my decks in direst sunlight. All of my dirt is fairly new. |
| For a sunny spot, try Yarrow: Easy to grow. Aromatic fern-like foliage. Best choices: A. lanulosa is native and A. millefolium can be aggressive. A. filipendulina and A. x ?Moonshine' do not spread aggressively; Monkshood: Blossoms are hood-shaped. Best choices: A. napellus and A. colombianum (native). Cut and dried flowers. Resistant to pests and diseases; Ornamental onion; Golden Marguerite: Easy to grow. Clump forming plants with dark-green, finely divided, fern-like leaves. Large single daisy-like flowers on sturdy stems. Vigorous and long blooming; Jupiter's Beard: Fleshy, blue-green foliage. Fragrant clusters of tiny trumpets. Long blooming. Short-lived perennial; Rudbeckia, Sage, Columbine, Bugloss, and bellflower. For shady sites, plant: Bleeding Heart - Heart-shaped flowers. Best choices: D. spectabilis, D. eximia (Fringed bleeding heart) a smaller species with gray-green fern-like foliage, long-blooming; Cornflower - Easy to grow. Clump-forming plants with gray-green foliage. Best choices: C. montana (Mountain bluet), C. dealbata (Persian cornflower) has lobed leaves. Both species reseed readily; Ligularia - Clumps of very large coarsely toothed leaves add bold texture. Best choices: L. dentata ?Desdemona? (Bigleaf ligularia) has large orange daisy-like flowers; L. stenocephala ?The Rocket? (Narrow-spiked ligularia) has black-stemmed spikes of small yellow flowers; Pasque Flower - Finely divided basal leaves which appear after single urn-shaped flowers. Showy feathery seed heads; Meadowrue - Columbine-like leaves and small, airy clusters of flowers. Best wishes with your garden. |
