CHAPTER XXII 



FLOWERS FOR SHADE AND SUNSHINE 



The shady border is often a failure because the soil is heavy, 

 in winter sodden and in summer sour. 



THERE are really comparatively few flowers that prefer 

 a shady spot, but what concerns us more is there 

 are many that will thrive there. Part of every home 

 garden, I suppose, is in shadow for most of the day, 

 and, often enough, owing to a wrong selection of plants, 

 the border in the shade proves an eyesore and a dis- 

 appointment. Let us first consider those that really 

 prefer the shade and may be unhappy in full sunshine. 



The Japanese Anemones, single and double, in white 

 and rose, are real shade lovers, although I cannot say 

 that they will not thrive on sunny ground. There, how- 

 ever, the leaves are apt to lack size and lustre, and the 

 flower stems to become dwarfed. But in the shade the 

 leaves are large and healthily green, and the flower- 

 crowned stems rise exquisitely. The blue and the white 

 broad-leaved Bellflower (Campanula latifolia and variety 

 alba) are perfect shade-loving plants, for is not the blue 

 one at least found wild in the woodland depths of the 

 home counties ? These, while perhaps a little too coarse 



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