For many gardeners, dry shade is a difficult area to cultivate. The real trouble with dry shade is that few gardeners are aware of the many groundcovers, perennials and shrubs that excel in these conditions. Whether under a tree or shaded by structures or buildings, shady spaces can be a wonderful refuge in summer heat and a quiet place for reflection throughout the seasons. Let’s review some of my favorite dry shade plants from smallest to largest!</p> Groundcover</h4> Sweet Woodruff, Galium odoratum</em> Commonly known as sweet woodruff, Galium</em> odoratum</em> lives up to its name with small, fragrant, four-petaled white flowers that come on in early spring (April and May). This mat-forming perennial spreads by creeping roots and self-seeding, creating a dense semi-evergreen groundcover in part to full shade. When crushed, cut or dried, the foliage emits a strong aroma and can be used to make sachets or potpourris. </p> Perennials</h4> Coral Bells, Heuchera </em>(many cultivars) Coral bells are a beautiful addition to any shade garden – they provide colorful foliage that persists spring through fall. While they produce flowers in May to June, the wow factor of this plant are its leaves. Many cultivars are available, ranging from chartreuse, variegated, orange, burgundy, red, purple and deep chocolate in color. This is a must have low-maintenance perennial for every shade garden. </p> Lady’s Mantle, Alchemilla mollis</em> Lady’s mantle, or Alchemilla mollis</em>, is a rabbit and deer tolerant perennial for dry shade that provides yellow to chartreuse flowers mid-summer among soft, fuzzy, bright green leaves. This plant will self-sow, so removing flowers before it goes to seed will prevent spread and may encourage a rebloom. Similar to the coral bells, this plant is low maintenance, requiring only that it is cut back to ground in spring. </p> Siberian Bugloss, Brunnera macrophylla</em> Also known as false forget-me-not, Brunnera macrophylla</em> is a large-leaved clumping perennial that is topped with many small blue forget-me-not like flowers in early April. Alexander’s Great and Jack Frost are two commonly found cultivars – the former has exaggeratedly large leaves with a silver variegation. The latter has a mainly silver leaf. This plant will spread by rhizome and seed and is vigorous in the garden. </p> Lenten Rose, Helleborus orientalis</em> Lenten rose is a unique perennial for two reasons. Firstly, it is a true harbinger of spring with flowers emerging as early as February or March. Secondly, the Lenten rose performs all year long as it is an evergreen perennial. The leaves are thick, leathery and palmate in form with serrated edges. Helleborus </em>are often hybridized to produce colorful and showy blooms that often accentuate the flower’s yellow stamens. Flower color range from white, pinks and deep reds. This plant is deer resistant but beware, its leaves stems and roots are toxic to humans if eaten. </p> Anemone, Anemone </em>× hybrida</em> Anemone hybrids give height and structure to the garden, with foliage up to 2-3 feet and blooms in August and September reaching 3-4 feet tall. During the spring and summer, the dark green leaves of the anemone provide a lush backdrop to other flowering perennials. ‘Honorine Jobert’ is a cultivar with bright white flowers and yellow centers, while ‘September Charm’, another popular hybrid has pink blooms and yellow centers. Spreads by rhizome and prefers part to full shade. </p> Shrubs</h4> Creeping Oregon Grape Holly, Berberis repens (Mahonia repens)</em> Formerly known as Mahonia</em>, Berberis repens</em> is a native Colorado broadleaf evergreen shrub that offers yellow flowers in spring, blue berries in summer and deep red purple fall color. Thick waxy leaves help retain moisture by reducing evapotranspiration in summer and winter. This plant requires virtually no maintenance. The leaves are somewhat prickly so be thoughtful of where it is placed in the garden. </p> Waxflower, Jamesia americana</em> Native to Colorado, the wax flower is a Plant Select® shrub that can be planted in shade and in high elevations. In the same family as the hydrangea but much more drought tolerant, the waxflower has broad green leaves, spring flowers and brilliant red fall color. Although this used to be difficult to find in the market, it is now being propagated at a fast pace and should be readily available in local nurseries this spring. Check the Plant Select website</a> to find local sources. </p> This blog post and photos first appeared as an article in Life on Capitol Hill, March 2021.</em></p>
Get ready: April 10-16 is the 50th anniversary of the Week of the Young Child! Sponsored by the National Association of the Education of Young Children, the Week of the Young Child celebrates young children and their families. </p> At the Gardens we encourage young children and their families to explore plants and nature through hands on nature exploration and play. We offer programs</a> for early learners and their grownups at all three of our programming locations. </p> You can explore plants and the natural world at home with your early learners, too. Look at the ideas below for activity suggestions that can help you get outside and interact with plants as you celebrate the Week of the Young Child.</p> Share pictures of your celebration with us on social media using these hashtags: #mydbg, #WOYC2021</p> </picture> </div> </article> </p> April 10, Kick-off Saturday</h4> Spend some time together by planning a picnic in the park or taking a hike. </p> April 12, Music Monday</h4> Take a walk through your neighborhood and listen for the sounds of nature. What sounds can inspire you to make music or write a song together as a family? Use the Sounds of Nature Scavenger Hunt</a> to guide your exploration.</p> April 13, Tasty Tuesday</h4> Have you ever noticed all the different colored fruits and vegetables we eat in a day? The phytochemicals in fruits and vegetables are not only responsible for providing them with different colors, they also provide different health benefits. Try eating through the rainbow with your little one today. What fruits and vegetables will you eat that are red, orange, yellow, green, blue and purple?</p> April 14, Work Together Wednesday</h4> Work together with your little ones to become citizen scientists by joining the Denver EcoFlora Project</a>. Learn more about nature in your own neighborhood and share your findings with other naturalists. </p> April 15, Artsy Thursday</h4> Did you know you can be an artist anywhere? Search for colors and patterns in nature that can inspire you to make your own natural artwork! Use the Colors and Patterns in Nature Scavenger Hunt</a> to help guide your exploration and inspire your artwork.</p> April 16, Family Friday</h4> Create a collage of your family and all the fun pictures you have taken during the Week of the Young Child.</p> </p> Thanks for celebrating with us and enjoying nature! </p>
It is a beautiful spring morning and you have just arrived at Denver Botanic Gardens for a relaxing stroll. The birds are singing, and the spring bulbs are blooming. The trees and shrubs are budding out, and perennials are waking up and emerging from the freshly thawed soil. As you walk through the entrance you are greeted by a natural oasis to explore. There is so much to see that you don’t know where to begin, so you start meandering down the main pathway with an overwhelming sense of wonder and excitement. </p> As you continue your adventure through the Gardens you come across Shady Lane, a vast shade garden filled with blooming bulbs, perennials and crabapple (Malus</em>) trees ready to burst with aroma and color. You find a bench in the garden to stop, rest and take it all in. </p> The very first crabapple trees in the Gardens were planted in 1976 along the south side of the walkway and the collection was expanded after the completion of the greenhouses and Orangery in 2010 on the north side of the walkway. Fourteen different ideal varieties of crabapples are displayed in Shady Lane and they can be seen in full bloom from late April through mid-May with a palette of white and magenta blossoms that are incredibly aromatic. In autumn, they produce striking red fruit that attracts birds and wildlife. These trees, along with Austrian pines (Pinus nigra</em>), provide a lush canopy that creates an ideal range of shade conditions for understory perennials and shrubs that favor low light conditions. </p> Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris</em>), hydrangeas, hellebores and hostas can be found growing on the south side of the garden. The north side receives partial sun exposure throughout the day and showcases plants that are well adapted to both high light intensity and low light intensity conditions including columbines (Aquilegia</em>), tulips (Tulipa</em>), irises, lilies (Lilium</em>) and phlox varieties. </p> The tulips, winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis</em>) and Brunnera macrophylla</em> will begin blooming in early to mid-April. The columbines, irises and lilies will begin blooming in mid-April to early May. Some of the timing of the blooms is dependent on weather and precipitation patterns but the recent moisture has primed the garden for some impressive blooms this spring. </p> If you are looking for ideas for a shaded area in your home garden, Shady Lane is an excellent place to gain inspiration and learn what plants are well suited for low light conditions of varying degrees in Colorado. </p>
The depth of art programming at the Gardens received a dramatic and obvious boost when galleries in the Freyer – Newman Center opened. At last, we have perfect spaces to display works, with climate control, lighting options and a spacious, clean design. The themes of exhibits tie back to plants, to fungi and the natural world, all with a sense of humanity. Already, we have featured artists from our own community and as far away as the Canary Islands.</p> You might notice a large office area near the galleries that houses the research and conservation staff and the art and exhibitions team. Together. It is a powerful statement that we are not in the business of bifurcating the human experience, right brain vs. left brain. Instead, it points to a collaboration of disciplines to provide, as our mission statement mentions, delight and enlightenment. </p> Art has many purposes – to mark important events, convey a feeling, tell a story, to immortalize observation. We use it to frighten and inspire, to worship and to motivate. Gardens are in their own way an artform, horticulturists co-creating environments with nature. When you incorporate pieces of bronze or glass, something like a visual dance seems to happen. </p> This magical combination leads to something else essential to public gardens – the attraction of community. Most of the living tableaus change slowly, by season or gradual shifting design. An infusion of art, appealing to a variety of tastes, draws in new audiences who start with a connection to art and end up enthralled by plants. In countless ways, these conjoined expressions of human experience and imagination are at the heart of all public gardens. </p> Read the latest issue of Inside the Gardens magazine</a>. </p>
This feels like a long winter. Not because there have been blizzards every other week, but because COVID-19 has been keeping me cooped up inside binge watching episodes of Magnum P.I., just so I could feel like I went on vacation. Fortunately, there have been some wonderfully warm days, which has interrupted my winter madness by allowing me to get into the garden and start my spring cleanup. </p> You can start your spring cleanup as soon as the ground thaws. This is usually in March, but as you know, we have had some thaws during February. Perennials can be cut back to the basal growth, or the crown of the plant. If you look closely, you may be able to see new growth popping up through the crown. On more delicate perennials such as lupine (Lupinus</em>) or columbine (Aquilegia</em>), I use my hands to clean out the dead. On tougher plants, I use a small garden rake, especially with ground covers like lamb’s ear (Stachys byzantine</em>). </p> Cut grasses back by leaving 1 to 2 inches of old growth, which protects new shoots and keeps things looking tidy. While some grasses like blue avena grass (Helictotrichon sempervirens</em>) do not require cutting back (try combing through it with your hands to release the dead blades) many grasses may start showing classic signs of “the donut.” The donut is when your grasses or perennials start to die back in the center and create a hole in the middle of the plant. At this point, you can divide your plants to rejuvenate and reduce the size of the clumps, then just plant the extra clumps for more plants. Win-win!</p> Late winter and early spring are perfect for pruning for shrubs and is not just limited to breaking out the electric shears. As shrubs age, they can get very dense and woody, creating a hedge. If this is your goal, only prune out the dead, damaged or diseased stems. This allows energy to be redirected to newer growth. For shrubs five years or older, you may want to prune out more to allow for air circulation and light penetration.</p> It is most important to know what kind of shrub you have, and whether it blooms on old growth, or new growth. Old growth refers to shrubs that bloom on last year’s growth. These shrubs, such as lilacs, forsythias, and some hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, H. quercifolia</em>), should be pruned in the summer after they finish blooming. Shrubs that bloom on new growth, or this year’s growth, can be pruned in the spring, such as some hydrangeas (H. paniculata, H. aborescence</em>), and rose of Sharon (Hibiscus</em>). </p> Trees also can use a little dormant pruning during this time, but I like to stick with the rule of never cutting out more than 25 percent of the crown per year. Stick to pruning the 5 D’s: dead, dying, damaged, diseased or disfigured (this includes crossing or rubbing) branches. Make sure you have a plan before you start and remember that this process takes years. </p> Finally, the cherry on top of the sundae: mulch. Giving your beds a two- to three-inch layer of mulch helps to keep in moisture, regulate soil temperatures, protect any shallow roots and promote microbial communities that keep soil healthy. While you don’t want to put mulch directly on top of perennials or up against woody trunks, placing mulch around your freshly cleaned plants will enhance plant health as well as aesthetic. You may only need to rake up the old mulch, give it a nice air fluff and re-apply it to make things look fabulous all season. </p> Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a rush to the finish line. As soon as we start having nice days, I like to tackle my garden a little at a time. As Billy Ocean said, “Get outta my dreams and into my yard!”*</p> *Not a direct quote from Billy Ocean.</em> </p>
