Plants and Flowers for SKady Places 



Wm. Hunt, O. A. C , Guelph, Ont. 



* I 'HE importance of selecting plants 

 I and flowers suitable for the par- 

 ticular location they are to occupy 

 cannot be over estimated. The greatest 

 possible care bestowed on the prepara- 

 tion of the soil and the after care of the 

 plants will be of comparatively little use 

 unless the requirements of the plants as 

 to sunshine and shade are given due con- 

 sideration. This fact is perhaps not of 

 as much importance in selecting plants 

 for shaded or partially shaded positions, 

 as it is in the selection of plants for very 

 sunny positions. There are very few of 

 even our sun-loving plants that will not 

 give fairly good results in partial shade. 

 Pn the other hand, a shade and moisture 



White Foxglove 



All of the foxgloves delight in 



a little shade. 



loving plant will be often entirely ruin- 

 ed if planted in a position fully exposed 

 to the sun. 



There are but few if any of our ordin- 

 ary garden plants that would not be 

 benefited by being slightly shaded from 

 the extreme heat of the sun that prevails 

 in the middle of the day during the sum- 

 mer months, sometimes even during the 

 early part of June. This was very notice- 

 able during the extreme heat and drought 

 that prevailed during the early part of 

 last summer. The shade loving plants 

 naturally suffered the most. In many 

 instances, clumps of perennial plants, 

 such as iris, herbaceous spireas, lily of 

 the valley, dahlias, primroses, pansies, 

 and other similar plants suffered severe- 

 ly, so much so, that the flowers on them 

 were of little, if any, decorative value. 

 Dahlias especially suffered very severely 

 from the extreme heat of last season. 

 Indeed, very few good dahlia blooms 



were seen until cooler weather prevailed 

 quite late in the fall. Copious supplies of 

 water at the roots, as well as overhead 

 sprinkling, has no beneficial effect in 

 counteracting such intense sun heat as 

 prevailed during the early part of last 

 summer. The same might be said of 

 some of the shade loving annuals, such 

 as the Malope (Mallow), Convolvulus 

 minor, and Nemophila, planted out in 

 the open, but where partial shade was 

 given good flowering results were ob- 

 tained. 



THE SHADE TO GIVE 



The great point to secure in giving 

 shade to plants is to give the proper den- 

 sity of shade required, without shadin;^ 

 tco closely so as to induce a weak, spin- 

 dled growth. This last named condition 

 is quite as undesirable in plant life as 

 over-exposure to the heat of the sun, if 

 good flowering results are to be obtained. 



Partial shade sufficient to break the 

 concentrated heat of the sun, and so ar- 

 ranged as to allow of the maximum of 

 normal light possible, and a free circula- 

 tion of air, are the conditions that best 

 suit most of our shade loving plants For 

 ferns, mosses and a few other non-flow- 

 ering plants, a denser shade and less free 

 circulation of air is desirable for these 

 to succeed well. 



A short distance away from the north 

 side of a fence or building, where the 

 plants are shaded for three or four hours 

 in the heat of the day, but otherwise 

 fully exposed to light and the early and 

 late sunshine, is an ideal position for 

 flowering plants that require partial 

 shade only. Ferns and similar shade 

 loving plants could be so planted close 

 up to the building or fence, instead of a 

 short distance from it, as very few of 

 them require any sunshine at all. 



TREES FOR SHADE PXIRPOSES 



Many trees may also be made use of 

 for securing the desired modicum of 

 shade for plants Apple, pear and plum 

 trees, and a few lawn trees, such as 

 maple, birch and beech, mav often be 

 utilized for shade purposes The difficul- 

 ty in making use of trees to secure shade 

 is the danger of the j-'ants planted near 

 them becoming starved or stunted, from 

 the fact that the roots of the trees absorb 

 and take up all the r itritive elements, 

 and the moisture in th'' soil. 



Very few plants will succeed when 

 planted under or near to spruce, elm, 

 willow and similar trees, that have what 

 might be termed an abnormal root de- 

 velopment, that devour everything of a 

 nutritive nature there is in the soil any- 

 where near them. The roots of these 

 trees will often extend around them on all 

 sides to a distance equal to the height of 

 the trees, hence the desirability of avoid- 



ing planting near to therii, either to Se- 

 cure protection from the sun, or for any 

 cultural purposes. That partial shade, 

 of a greater or lesser degree of density 



Group of Lilium Candidium in partial shaide 



is desirable, is admitted. The point for 

 the plant grower to ascertain is the 

 amount of shade that can be given bene- 

 ficially to the plants without injuring 

 them. 



SUCCESS FROM SHADIN3 



A friend of mine used always to be 

 able to carry off first honors for out-door 

 cut roses at the July show. Not that the 

 roses were better varieties or larger or 

 finer blooms than others staged, but sim- 

 ply from the fact that his roses had a 

 freshness and soft intensity of coloration 

 almost indescribable. The secret was a 

 shading of thin cotton sheeting, stretched 

 on stakes and slats of wood over the 

 bushes during the middle of the day, for 

 a few days prior to the exhibition. 



(Tn be contmuetl) 



Lemon Lily and Engliah Garden Daisies 



Partially shaxied by ai>ple tre«a. 



