Semi-Shady Garden

The semi-shady garden was the first garden I created at this house. The backyard is enclosed by an ugly chainlink fence. When I moved in, the previous owners had randomly planted azaleas along the most of the fence and the back of the house. Each bush was a different color and size. I loathe azaleas so I went on a mission to eliminate them. Each year I would dig out a flower bed along a section of fence, yanking out the offending azaleas in that area. I started in the corner closest to the side door and steadily worked my way around the yard ending with the back of the house where I planted my first heirloom roses .

The first section was located in a corner very close to my neighbor's oak tree which has been so good at predicting the weather . This corner gets sun early in the morning and late in the afternoon. The rest of the day it is in dappled shade. While clearing out the azaleas, I found a tiny seedling rosebush. Using twine, I tied it to the fence. The poor thing looked crucified. It has grown and bloomed each year but not well. I don't think that it gets enough sunlight.

The very first plant I planted in this garden was an old-fashioned bleeding heart. They are one of my favorite flowers. I am also extremely superstitious. We moved around a lot when I was child. Every house we lived in, my mother planted an old-fahsioned bleeding heart next to the back door. I have continued this tradition in the two houses I have lived in as an adult. The bleeding heart loves the spot I picked for it. It is just huge now. Also that first year, I planted a fern leaf bleeding heart and started planting a few primroses each year. I made the mistake of transplanting some violets into this bed. They are so happy there, they try to take over every year. I have to be ruthless about eliminating all unwanted seedlings.

I have tried growing many different flowers in that spot over the years, but it is a difficult garden. It either gets too much shade or too little shade for most flowers. The flowers that have been successful there are not ones I would expect. Such as Ipswich pinks and sweet william. And cosmos. Cosmos, which normally like sun, grow great there. Last year I tried some Seashell cosmos, a wonderful old heirloom, there. It was a dismal failure. But . . . today when I was preparing the bed for planting, I found about two dozen cosmos seedlings. I moved them to along the fence and crossed my fingers. Maybe I will have a pleasant surprise.

Today I planted Grandmother's Garden columbine seed. There is already one there that is huge that I had grown from seed and two that are not doing well at all so I don't know if this columbine does well here or not. Another experiment is White sweet rocket. I am growing the purple version in the purple garden which gets more sun but this flower is supposed to be able to tolerate partial shade.

I am also trying Valerian, another one that I can't remember why I ordered it other than it will grow in partial shade and I liked the picture. The last seed packet had me puzzled for days. Gas plant. I've never heard of it. What would possess me to order such a thing? I finally dragged out the catalog (I've learned to save catalogs after I order from them). "Once called Fraxinella or Burning Bush, gas plant was commonly grown in England in the late 16th century . . . As the old names suggest, the volatile oils released by the ripening star-shaped seedpods can be ignited, if all atmoshperic conditions are right". An exploding heirloom. Definitely something that would appeal to me. Patience is recommended to germinate and grow this, but I can wait. No problem.

Today, I swear, I am going to get up from this computer and march myself into the kitchen without getting distracted and start soaking my morning glory seeds. I've been forgetting to do this for a week now.