MADE IN THE SHADE
~Steve Brown

Now that the trees have all leafed out it's time to think about what plants will fit into those shady spots. Perennials are great choices that will establish themselves this season and return year after year. Ferns can help create a natural woodland setting or add texture when used as border plantings. Lady Fern Athyrium filix-femina is a good choice and is relatively easy to grow in comparison to other ferns. It tolerates a wide variety of soil types and will grow well in partial shade. A favorite flowering perennial is Astilbe. Also called False Spirea, Astilbe Arendsii is available with bloom colors of red, pink, white or lavender. Achieving a height of 2 to 3 feet with 6-inch arching panicles of color, Astilbe partners well with Lady Fern; both work well in partial shade and both require well-drained, moist soil conditions. Another perennial choice is Heuchera, or Palace Purple, a great choice with its dark leaves and small white blooms. Palace Purple grows in clumps to approximately 24 inches in height. These clumps will need to be divided after about three years but grow well in partially shaded, well-drained, moist soil. Helleborus, with its prickly edges will add great texture to your shaded areas. It grows well in partial or full shade in moist, well-drained soil with blooms in color choices from white to pink to maroon.

For those areas where plantings will be replaced in colder months there are several annuals that will work well in the shaded areas of your summer landscape. New Guinea Impatiens is a larger leaf variety Impatiens that comes in many bloom colors. New Guineas mix well with most habitats and work best in full shade. Impatiens will add that "pop" of color to your summertime landscape. Finding a color to match your landscape design should be easy as there are many choices of these cultivars. Another flowering choice is Ageratum. Growing as wide as it is tall (averaging 6 inches), Ageratum is an excellent bedding plant. The bloom colors are lavender, blue, pink or white. A good non-flowering annual choice is Coleus. Coleus can be used as a border, bedding plant or in planters.

The best thing to install in those shady areas, especially if you are in the Atlanta area, is a comfortable lounge chair and a small table to hold an icy drink while you relax and enjoy your handiwork during the Dog Days of summer!

FIVE EASY PERENNIALS - BLACK-EYED SUSAN
~Mark Dunaway

Note: This is the last of a series of five articles on Five Easy Perennials, we hope you have enjoyed them!

For a long period of vibrant bloom in late summer choose Black-eyed Susan, Rudbeckia fulgida 'Goldsturm.' It will begin in July and, if deadheaded, continue blooming nearly nonstop until October. Goldsturm, a selected variety of an American native plant, has golden yellow ray flowers ("petals") and dark brown disk flowers (middles).

Of a sturdy composition, Goldsturm usually needs no staking, unlike most of its fellow Rudbeckias. Beetles and caterpillars sometimes attack them during the summer, but such insects are easy to control. Goldsturm grows to about 24 to 30" tall and wide.

Tops of Rudbeckia plants will need to be cut back once bloom is complete and winter approaches, but basal leaves remain or re-form during the winter to avoid "empty-bed syndrome." As in most forbs, the rosettes of leaves form the source of the next summer's tall blooming stems.