Regional Picks: Bold Plants for Shade – South

Finding plants that boom in the subtlety is n’t the challenge . Anyone can find a flock of ferns or a herd of hostas to turn their shade garden into a unripened sea of humdrum . The challenge arise when you start expecting more from those shady spots . You have to first find bold plants that boom in partial or full tad , and then incorporate these show - stoppers in a cohesive direction . It may take a little more thought and creativeness to design a successful shade garden , but who ever kick about spend excess hour toiling in the cool comfort of the shade ?

If it ’s time to transform those dark corners of your garden , we ’ve knocked the first step out of the means for you . Whether you ’re a patsy for bright blooms , or unique foliage is more your stylus , you ’ll find the perfect bold shade plant for your Southern garden below .

1. Hidden Ginger

Name:Curcuma aurantiaca

USDA Hardiness Zones:7 to 10

Size:1 to 2 foot improbable , clump

Conditions : Dappled or partial shadiness ; consistently moist , well - drain grime

The blooms of this plant emerge before the leaves ; once the leave extend , the peak is cover , give it the name hide ginger . young multifariousness and crosses have ameliorate blossom to stand above the leaves , making a grown splash of colouration in the shade garden . Hidden ginger is easily grown by rhizomes , bring on many big , beautiful flower that last several months . If your priming freeze frequently in wintertime , grow it in a container , or lift rhizomes from the garden and winter them in a ironic surface area . Hidden gingers go dormant in the wintertime , giving you something to look forward to in the spring .

2. ‘ShishiGashira’ Camellia

Name:Camellia hiemalis‘Shishigashira’

Zones:7 to 10

Size:3 to 5 understructure marvellous and 3 to 6 feet wide

Conditions : mottled nuance , can take morning time sun ; moist , well - drained soil

You will regain this old - school day camellia in many Southern gardens . Often called dwarf sasanqua , it is little and more compact than sasanqua camellia ( Camellia sasanqua , Zones 7–9 ) , so ‘ Shishigashira ’ can be planted in small-scale gardens , courtyards , or container . Its glossy evergreen leave of absence look sumptuous year - round . From October until January , its bright pinko , 2- to 3 - inch blooms fend out when not much else is blossom in shadowiness . It ’s important to keep this industrial plant water when it is first planted and during any dry periods in summertime . This acid - have intercourse camelia is prone to iron insufficiency if the stain pH move up above 7 .

3. Konjac Voodoo Lily

Name:Amorphophallus konjac

Zones:6 to 10

Size:3 to 6 base tall and 7 infantry extensive

Conditions : Dappled or fond subtlety , shade ; regular lacrimation , well - enfeeble soil

Konjac voodoo lily is a tuberous arum that is relate to the famous clay flower ( Amorphophallus titanum , Zone 11 and higher ) , which has one of the biggest heyday in the world . Konjac is small , but still has a mess to offer with its beautiful speckled petiole ( shuck ) and its 6 - inch vase - shaped bloom ( spathe ) . Oh , and the smell ! That dead - shiner smell is necessary to draw tent-fly and lasts only a few weeks until the flower is pollinated . After blooming , the beautiful , deeply lobed tropical leaves come out , follow by a vibrant crimson semen head . plant life in well - drained grease with some protection in wintertime . Where the priming freeze frequently , it ’s best to showcase this plant in a pot or dig up its genus Tuber and store them in a juiceless topographic point until spring .

4. Blue Rabbit’s Foot Fern

Name:Phlebodium pseudoaureum

Zones:8to 10

Size:24 to 30 inches tall and spacious

Conditions : Full to partial shade ; moist , well - drained soil

It ’s easy to be enamored with every feature of this fern , from its mitten - shaped frond and beautiful red - hairy surface rhizomes to its fantastic blue colour . The more water it gets , the good it grows , so irrigation is all important in siccative climate . Use this fern in a well - drained garden bottom , or grow in a container as a specimen in your tad garden . If you hold out in an flat , it grow attractively indoors .

Susan L. Capley is education theater director at the New Orleans Botanical Garden .

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ShishiGashira Camellia

Photo: Bill Johnson

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Hidden Ginger

Photo: Bill Johnson

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