Terrace pots for the shade...

With Spring shuffling it's feet, and the weather still far from Spring like, I have been giving quite a bit of thought to the garden...right now, it looks pretty desolate, brown and dingy and still covered in winter debris...

This is a corner of our front porch several years ago, prior to the renovation...you can see the ivy growing up the grey pillar...and a wisp of wisteria vine hanging in the forefront of the photo, from the other pillar...

Those pillars were replaced with white, square ones, and of course, the vines were ripped down as well...I was not happy!

My Mom always said.." In order to gain something, something must be forfeited! ". So the beauty of a new front porch necessitated the loss of the vines...

The ivy growing up the brick wall in the background, took years to establish..it too met it's demise, when new, larger windows were added to the front bedrooms...

The front of the house, faces north, and receives very little, if no sun, so my plant options here for pots and urns is very limited....ferns, mosses, ivy...the limitations of gardening in the shade. But it has it's rewards...beautiful texture and depth can be achieved with the same results as sun loving plants...so, on this rainy, cool Spring day, I thought I would share some of my terrace pots...grown in the shade..

Maidenhair ferns with white morning glory vine on a crown trellis...

Maidenhair ferns, caladiums and white baucopa, a flowering filler which tolerates the shade well...

A grouping of shade loving companion planters...

 

Reindeer moss, one of my favourites...with moss growing on the planter..

Early Spring last year...

 

I prefer cast concrete or cast iron urns in my garden, the texture works well for the rustic woodland setting..this front door pedestal urn was planted with green calla lily, maidenhair ferns, moss and ivy.

Early Spring, last year..the pot in the foreground was originally terracotta, but I added a grey paint and wash to it....

 

 

The only southern exposure in the garden...filtered sun and dappled shade...taken in early afternoon..

A planter potted with jasmine topiary and variegated ivy, rounding a corner by the garage...

Ferns are a mainstay in the shade garden, and in this photo, late afternoon sun on the upper terrace, gives new dimension to the garden...

If you have shade to garden with, the possibilities for combining interesting elements in pots and beds is really not as limiting as you might think...

A great reference book for gardening in the shade, which has been a wonderful source of inspiration and information for me is..The Natural Shade Garden by Ken Druse...still available on Amazon...

N.xo