Shade Lovers

A superb variety of shade loving groundcover. Its evergreen glossy dark purple almost black foliage makes a dense carpet in any shady spot which doesn’t parch during summer. Showy spikes of deep blue flowers on 25 cm tall stems are produced in spring.

This plant is found wild in dry woodland in the Mexican mountains. We grow it in our dry climate garden in dry shade under olive trees. Evergreen succulent rosettes some 90cm wide by 70cm tall, like a green leaved spineless agave, are bold and handsome all the year round.

‘Sea Heart’, a stunning new introduction, has strong textured heart shaped silver leaves with green edging and green veins. 50cm tall stems of blue for-get-me-not flowers are produced during late spring and early summer.

An easily grown plant which will soon fill a good sized space in the shade, even dry shade when once established. Soft lemon yellow flowers are held well above the foliage in early spring. When established E. x versicolor is tolerant of some dryness.30cm by 30cm.

This is one of the best groundcovers for dry shade where it will make suckering 40 cm tall evergreen stems clothed in handsome blue-green foliage. During spring the whole is covered by heads of lime green flowers.

Sweet Woodruff, one of Vita Sackville-West’s favourite plants, makes a wonderful fragrant ground cover for a shady spot. Whorls of dark green lance shaped leaves clothe 20cm tall stems which are covered in frothy masses of small white flowers during spring and early summer.

A giant in all its parts ‘Krossa Regal’ is considered a classic amongst Hostas. Large blue-green wavy leaves form a handsome vase shaped mound some 33cm tall by 70cm wide. 150cm tall flower spikes are borne in summer. ‘Krossa Regal’ makes a great pot plant.

This long lived perennial with its deep sky blue for-get-me-not flowers over clumps of evergreen heart shaped leaves is a native of Turkish woodlands. It is happy in any lightly shaded spot which gets some extra watering during dry periods. 20cm tall by 30cm across.