Prosperous plants for partial shade gardens
Sometimes gardeners have to make the best with what we have. While most garden plants need full or even partial sun to thrive, we often are presented with shady garden spaces to fill.
Fruiting vegetables such as peppers and tomatoes need at least six hours of full sun. It can be a challenge to grow a vegetable in the shade. So stick to plants that we grow for leaves and roots, not fruits or flowers. Leafy arugula grows great in the shade, as do many greens. You will have it made in the shade by growing arugula in the shade. The cool shade can keep it from bolting, or going to seed, when the weather warms up.
Kale is a leafy green that can be grown with just four hours of sunshine. Asian greens such as bok choi, mizuna, mustard, komatsuna and tatsoi all grow well with just a few hours of sunlight. Baby Swiss chard is edible in about five weeks from planting, and does great in shady areas. Granted, the leaves may be a bit smaller and more sparse than those grown in full sunlight.
Even some herbs can be grown in shady areas. Try chives, cilantro, lemon balm, oregano and parsley. All of the mints do well in the shade, so you could have an entire tea garden just by planting spearmint and peppermint.
Because the shade keeps the ground cooler, lettuce is perfect for the shady vegetable garden. The cooler shade keeps the lettuce from bolting to seed as quickly as lettuce grown in full sun. By planting in the shade, you can often get an entire extra month of edible leaves than lettuce in the sunny garden. Heirloom lettuces such as Amish Deer Tongue, or the brilliant red looseleaf Lolla Rosa, will give you baby lettuce leaves you just can’t buy in the store.
Surprisingly, peas and beans do well in semi shade and light shade. Bush varieties seem to do best with less light. Try green beans such as Derby or Contender.
Root vegetables such as beets, carrots, parsnips, potatoes, radishes and turnips can all get by with less light. The more light these plants get, the faster and bigger your grip will be. Since they naturally grow smaller, you can use your shady vegetable patch to dig baby carrots and new potatoes.
Ornamentals that do well in the shade include the begonias. You can find begonia plants throughout the season, so you can plant them almost anytime.
The brightly colored leaves of caladiums can add hues of yellow, green, pink, red, white in swirls, and that can light up the dark corners of the shaded garden. Coleus is another brightly colored plant grown for its leaves. Annuals such as alyssum calendula and lobelia all do well in partial shade.
Don’t let a little lack of sunlight keep any of your garden from growing. Whether they are fishy or shadowy, some of the best characters in life and gardening are a bit shady.
