The shady garden: flowers and ferns

A collection of flowers and ferns suitable for an area with light or dappled shade. There is a diversity of texture and colour, as well as a year-long interest. From the delicate pink and white flowers of Dicentra (Bleeding heart) to the sublimely elegant nodding white bells of Polygonatum (Solomon's seal) early in the year, ending with the stately and long-flowering Aconitum (Monkshood). We have chosen two very graceful ferns, Polystichum setiferum (Soft shield fern) and Dryopteris erythrosera (Japanese wood fern). This scheme should be supplemented with spring bulbs such as Narcissus, Scilla or Hyancinthoides non-scripta (visit our bulbs section). This sort of planting should follow a more naturalistic pattern, a wonderful example of which can be seen at Mount Usher gardens in Ashford, Co Wicklow.