Shade-loving Perennials Starts at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

After 1900 and to this day, every writer of any depth on the subject of these shade-loving perennials starts out by saying "Hostas or plantain lilies (after their resemblance to this other member of the lily family) or funkias . . .' So even today, some 85 years later, the name funkia persists. And I'd dearly love to know why Funck lost to Host. What dastardly deed did he do to lose his namesake and what noble thing did he do to hang on so long?

This part of the garden lies beneath the hanging branches of a weeping birch (Betula pendula Tristis') which is in turn shaded by the larger white ash. The choice of plants gets more limited in this environment. Shade-loving ferns, the ubiquitous Japanese pachysandra, some shade-loving wildflowers like trillium and the violets, and the plants listed below are the best choices.

/^ROWING a lawn in shade is often a y problem. Under the most adverse circumstances it is insoluble. You simply cannot grow turf without some direct sunlight nor in places where other prohibiting factors exist. Strongly competing tree roots may occupy the upper soil to the extent that grass-growing is impracticable. In such places settle for something other than lawn, for example, a shade-loving ground-cover such as pachysandra, creeping myrtle or English ivy. If conditions are too impossible even for these, install a flagged, bricked or graveled area. The wise gardener knows when he's licked, doesn't attempt the impossible. He works with Nature, not against her.