Hints, tips and plants for shade

There are two kinds of shade, dry shade and damp shade. Damp shade deserves its own article which is elsewhere on this site, but shade as a whole is something that gardeners tend to shy away from, which is a pity, because many of our most beautiful and durable plants don’t just survive in shade, they positively thrive on it.

Perhaps one of the reasons we don’t like shade very much is that we hate sitting in it. However with a little imagination you can turn shady corners into absolute delights. Begin by buying a little chiminea or garden heater that burns charcoal – you can set it going at the start of the day in an hour or so you’ll have a toasty-warm area of the garden to settle down it. Whatever kind of garden furniture you have, invest in a large rug or throw, tartan is ideal because its bright colours deny the chill that damp often carries. Spread your rug on a chair, pop your feet nice and close to the garden heater and sip on a hot chocolate as you admire your:

• Antirrhinum – snapdragons in warm, earthy colours bring a sense of heat and pizzazz to the garden
• Calendula – sunshiny bright yellows that bring the light to ground level
• Campanula – blue tones to suggest a sunny sky, which works beautifully with the soft purple tones of the viola
• Coleus – the variegated hot colours feed the sense of warmth, plant with nasturtiums to double the fun
• Fuchsia – the bright feminine colours of this shrub give a Carmen Miranda exoticism to a damp corner
• Fritillaries love cool and damp and their colours, either chequerboard for the snakeshead or pure white for the alba give an elegance that adds to the charm of your damp corner.

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