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    Containers as Focal Points
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    Comfortable Alfresco Dining
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    Building a Compost Bin
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    Save Money by Growing Your Own
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    Designing with Curved Terraces
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    Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
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    Pretty in Pink
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    Dwarf Citrus Trees
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    Lawn Alternatives
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    Homegrown / Homemade
  • Colorful Selections for Shade
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    Thoughts From a Foreign Field
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    Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
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    Fragrant Plants for Pathways
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    Mulch for a Healthy Garden
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    Plants that Spark!
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Browse Plants

Narrowed By:Zone: 8+ Uses: Focal Point, Ground Covers + Light: Part Shade Only
Displaying 1 - 20 of 35 listings   1 | 2View AllNext > Sort By: Sort
Acer palmatum 'Olson’s Frosted Strawberry' Acer palmatum 'Olson’s Frosted Strawberry'
('Olson’s Frosted Strawberry' Japanese maple)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The foliage is bright strawberry red at first emergence, and slowly pink suffuses each leaf along the vein as the spring progresses. Graceful deeply divided leaves with serrated edges gently curve at the tips. In its mature form, this tree will most likely have wide spreading with cascading branches (Because this is a new cultivar and Japanese maples can be very slow growing, accurate information about this tree’s maturity can be difficult to come by) . This cultivar is a seedling from ‘Aka shigitatsu sawa’.

Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum' Acer shirasawanum 'Aureum'
(Golden Full Moon Maple)
(2 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

If your shade garden needs a focal point, consider this small, rounded Japanese maple, with its lime-to-chartreuse-tinged golden leaves. In fall, its leaves turn orange and red, just like those of a sugar maple. This variety, like other small Japanese maples, needs shade and protection from sun and drying winds to keep the foliage from curling and turning brown at the edges. -Michael Ruggiero, Regional Picks: Mid-Atlantic, Fine Gardening issue #127

Begonia grandis ssp. evansiana Begonia grandis ssp. evansiana
(Hardy begonia)
(2 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This tuberous begonia bears green heart-shaped foliage with red veining and claret-stained undersides that steal the show when backlit. Pendent clusters of slightly fragrant, satiny pink or white blossoms open from midsummer until frost. It makes a good perennial companion for ferns and hostas.

Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance' Carex morrowii 'Ice Dance'
(Variegated sedge)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

'Ice Dance' is a dense, spreading sedge grown for its foliage. This sedge looks good year round, even in winter.The early-spring flowers are insignificant, but the white-edged leaves complement most other plants. Grow as a groundcover in woodland areas or in a shade garden. This sedge is evergreen in warm climates. -Jane Hutson, Regional Picks: Midwest, Fine Gardening issue# 127

Cercidiphyllum japonicum Cercidiphyllum japonicum
(katsura tree)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This spreading, deciduous tree native to Japan and China has a rounded form and rounded, redbud-like leaves. It grows to 70 feet tall and 50 feet wide and sports brilliant red, apricot, and yellow fall color. Early spring flowers are insignificant. This attractive tree makes an excellent specimen. 'Pendula', a weeping form, is this species' most popular cultivar.

Corydalis curviflora var. rosthornii 'Heronswood Form' Corydalis curviflora var. rosthornii 'Heronswood Form'
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This variety has fragrant, deep blue, cornucopia-shaped flowers carried tightly on red stems above 6-inch tall, blue-green foliage. It is considered one of the best blue forms for color and performance.

Corydalis elata Corydalis elata
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This fragrant, blue-flowered species is more vigorous and heat tolerant than the blue cultivars. It blooms from late spring to early summer, and its foliage persists throughout the season with adequate moisture.

Corydalis flexuosa 'Blue Panda' Corydalis flexuosa 'Blue Panda'
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

The first of the coveted blue corydalises to be introduced, it produces fragrant clusters of long-spurred, azure flowers on a compact plant. 

Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue' Corydalis flexuosa 'China Blue'
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This is one of the coveted blue corydalises. It produces whorled clusters of sky-blue flowers on 18-inch tall plants. 

Corydalis flexuosa 'Purple Leaf' Corydalis flexuosa 'Purple Leaf'
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This choice corydalis produces fragrant clusters of periwinkle-blue flowers and ferny foliage infused with purple hues. It is similar to 'Blue Panda,' yet is slower to spread and blooms more reliably during the summer.

Corydalis linstowiana Corydalis linstowiana
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species produces copious purplish-blue flowers in spring and fall. It has light green ferny leaves with a mid-rib of silver.

Corydalis scouleri Corydalis scouleri
(Scouler's fumeroot)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species has tiers of lacy foliage that form broad clumps, 3 feet high by 3 feet wide. Its hot pink flowers bloom from May to July.

Daphne × burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight' Daphne × burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight'
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This stunning specimen has luminous, creamy-ivory leaves and narrow green margins. The pale pink flowers are secondary to the glamorous foliage, which can light up a shady border and create definitive contrast.

Dicentra eximia ‘Alba’ Dicentra eximia ‘Alba’
(Fringed bleeding heart, Turkey corn)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Rows of white flowers dangle above the fern-like foliage, opening in April and continuing intermittently until October.

Dicentra formosa Dicentra formosa
(Western bleeding heart)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Don't let its delicate appearance fool you: Western bleeding heart is hardy and tenacious. This elegant, herbaceous perennial spreads slowly from rhizomes to form drifts of soft blue-green, ferny foliage in shady woodland areas. Above the leaves in late spring, pink heart-shaped flowers hang gracefully from long, arched stems, attracting scores of hummingbirds but not the local deer. It is surprisingly drought tolerant during the summer months.

Epimedium grandiflorum cvs. Epimedium grandiflorum cvs.
(Longspur barrenwort, Bishop's hat)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Longspur barrenwort is a clump-forming, deciduous, rhizomatous perennial. Leaves, light green and flushed bronze when young, are heart-shaped with spiny margins. Four-petaled white, yellow, pink, or purple flowers, hanging in clusters, appear in mid- and late spring.

Euphorbia griffithii Euphorbia griffithii
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species has red stems and dark green leaves, which emerge in spring with a reddish tinge. In early summer, it bears conspicuous bracts of orange-red or red. 

Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum' Farfugium japonicum 'Aureomaculatum'
(Farfugium)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Green-and-yellow mottled, shiny, kidney-shaped leaves distinguish this evergreen perennial native to streamsides and seashores in East Asia. The large, leathery leaves can reach a foot across. The yellow flowers bloom in fall and winter, but they are small and secondary to the foliage. Farfugium are nice at waterside, as a groundcover, in a border, or in containers.

Heuchera 'Caramel' Heuchera 'Caramel'
('Caramel' heuchera)
(2 user reviews)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Heuchera 'Caramel' has H. villosa parentage, so it's more tolerant of heat and humidity that other heacheras. It has glowing, apricot-hued foliage that grows up to 12 inches tall and 20 inches wide. Pink flowers appear in spring. This plant performs well in both garden beds and containers, or as a groundcover when planted en masse. It may be evergreen on warmer climates.

Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride' Heuchera villosa 'Autumn Bride'
(Hairy alumroot, Maple leaf alumroot)
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Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Large, fuzzy, gray-green leaves distinguish 'Autumn Bride' from other cultivars of Heuchera villosa. Attractive white flowers bloom in midsummer. This heuchera tolerates full sun but prefers partial shade, especially in the afternoon. -Jane Hutson, Regional Picks: Midwest, Fine Gardening issue# 127


Displaying 1 - 20 of 35 listings   1 | 2View AllNext > Sort By: Sort