Trees, shrubs, and ornamentals to consider when shade gardening

My son, Christopher and I were driving through our home town yesterday afternoon. As we finished passing through Hampshire on State Street, I asked “Remember when we used to drive down this street, and we knew just about everybody?”

We came up with a few reasons why we didn’t recognize anyone yesterday; the town is growing, he and his sisters aren’t in elementary school anymore, and we don’t come to town as often as we did when they were younger. Then, trying to cheer me up for a brief moment, Christopher exclaimed, “Mom when you go to Marengo and Huntley people know you, they always ask you gardening questions.”

Before I even had a chance to relish in the fact that my son just paid me a compliment, he continued. “I don’t know why anyone would ever ask you a question about gardening. Why couldn’t they just look it up on the computer?” My son was putting my feet to the fire, asking me to justify my very existence. In a moment of exasperation I said, “Well, maybe I am smarter than a computer.”

I could get away with that comment with my 15-year-old daughter. She would understand the nuances of human input into a situation. She would understand that you can’t just take your laptop, set it in front of your maple tree and have it tell you why it has a crack in the bark on the south side of the trunk.

My son was not going to let my obviously ignorant “maybe I am smarter than a computer” comment stand. “You are not smarter than a computer. I mean really they could just Google it.” This was the child that in second grade was told by his teachers and me to look up how to tie his shoes on Youtube after years of attempts. He did and he learned.

While I am sure you could look the following list up on a computer, here are a few trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and vines that you may want to consider when planning a shade garden. This is the second in the series of the columns about shade gardening. The first name listed is the botanical name; the second is the common name. I haven’t included a second name if the botanical and common names are generally considered to be the same.

Shrubs
Aesculus parviflora, Bottlebrush Buckeye
Aronia arbutifolia, Chokeberry
Buxus, Boxwood
Cercis ‘Forest Pansy’, Forest Pansy Redbud
Cotoneaster acutifolius, Cotoneaster
Forsythia ‘Show Off’
Fothergilla
Hydrangea arborescens
Hydrangea paniculata
Itea, Sweetspire
Kerria
Myrica, Bayberry
Rhododendron
Ribes alpinum, Alpine currant
Sorbaria sorbifolia ‘Sem’, False Spirea
Taxus, Yew
Thuja, Arborvitae
Viburnum dentatum, Arrowwood Viburnum

Trees
Cercis Canadensis, Redbud
Pyrus calleryana, Ornamental Pear
Pinus strobus, Eastern White Pine

Vines
Clematis virginiana, Virgin’s Bower
Parthenocissus tricuspidata, Boston Ivy

Grasses
Carex, Sedge
Chasmanthium, Northern Sea Oats
Hakonechloa, Japanese Forest Grass

Do you have a scary gardening story? In recognition of the fact that the Sun Day will be published on Thursday, October 24, I am compiling a list of scary gardening stories. I know it is a little bit of a stretch, but I would like to tie this column into Halloween and need your help. Please email them to me at tgsinc12@msn.com.

An example of a scary gardening story may be something like this: Years ago, I was visiting with a homeowner who used rubber snakes to ward off the rodents from harming her plants. I didn’t know that she used them and was shocked when I bent down to look at a lilac shrub. I am sure you can do better!

• Kathleen Carr is the owner of The Growing Scene, Inc., a garden center and landscaping company. She can be reached by phone at 815-923-7322 by email at tgsinc12@msn.com or by mail at 17015 Harmony Road, Marengo, IL 60152. Have a gardening question? Please contact her. She will address it in an upcoming column

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