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IMAGE Katie Flenker/Getty Images Opposite clockwise from top left LazingBee/Getty Images, MichelR45/Getty Images, Bob Douglas/Getty Images<br />
Meet some shady ladies<br />
Some of the loveliest gardens are woodland ones, so if you have a shady<br />
area you can grow some beautiful plants.<br />
WORDS VERONICA ARMSTRONG<br />
Deep and dry shade can be<br />
challenging but dappled<br />
shade, where the sunlight<br />
filters through branches and<br />
leaves, provides perfect growing<br />
conditions for many plants.<br />
Some are spring or summerflowering,<br />
producing blooms<br />
when most light is available,<br />
before new leaves appear on<br />
deciduous trees. Foliage plants<br />
that have variegated leaves<br />
really light up those shady areas.<br />
FINE FOLIAGE<br />
The foliage of hostas rarely<br />
disappoints and they deserve a<br />
place in the shady garden. The<br />
leaves may be large, rounded<br />
and pleated, like those of<br />
Hosta seboldiana, or smaller,<br />
smoother and narrower, like<br />
‘Lemon and Lime’.<br />
Available in a variety of colours<br />
from blue-green to fresh light<br />
green and gold, many variegated<br />
shades can be found, too.<br />
All hostas are deciduous, the<br />
leaves dying down in autumn to<br />
reappear in spring. The flowers<br />
are held well above the foliage<br />
but play second fiddle to the<br />
leaves. Hostas need light for best<br />
foliage colour but the lighter and<br />
variegated forms prefer shadier<br />
spots. Their only drawback is<br />
that snails and slugs love them<br />
as much as we do, so holey<br />
leaves are not uncommon.<br />
NATIVE CHOICES<br />
Ferns, among the oldest living<br />
plants on Earth, are superb<br />
foliage plants for the shade<br />
garden. Most species like<br />
humus-rich soil and moisture<br />
but some such as the native ‘hen<br />
and chickens’ fern (Asplenium<br />
bulbiferum), will grow in drier<br />
shade. Most ferns are tropical<br />
but we have a number of native<br />
ferns, including the larger tree<br />
ferns such as the silver fern<br />
or ponga (Alsophyla dealbata<br />
syn. Cyathea dealbata) and<br />
the black tree fern or mamaku<br />
(Sphaeropteris medullaris syn.<br />
Cyathea medullaris.) The lace<br />
fern (Leptolepia novae-zelandiae)<br />
has delicate, ferny foliage and is<br />
a good ground cover, too.<br />
Another native ground cover<br />
that looks amazing massed<br />
under trees is parataniwha<br />
(Elatostema rugosum). It has<br />
large, prominently veined leaves<br />
in bronzy-green and purple,<br />
giving both texture and colour<br />
in the shade garden.<br />
32 kiwigardener gardener.kiwi
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