I was asked recently about choosing plants for a shady border (besides the inevitable ferns). That got me thinking about good i.e. reliable selections for a herbaceous border which doesn't get much light. I should qualify this by saying that there's shade and there's shade. Dry, moist, bright, dark, full, partial etc. all of which can have a bearing on what may or may not grow there. Anyway here are a few species I have found to be fairly indestructible. 

 Above is Arum italicum; lush marbled leaves through winter, a curious spadix flower in spring and a spike of bright/red orange (not edible) berries in late summer/autumn.

 Stinking Iris (Iris foetidissima) is tough as old boots (and doesn't stink). Evergreen fronds, pale blue or yellow veined flowers in summer, dangling red berries (also not edible) in autumn/winter. 

 Ramsons (Allium ursinum) aka Wild Garlic. Can be bought as a bulb in autumn or in pots in spring when the leaves start to appear followed by white flowers. Will multiply over time but needs a moist soil.

 There are several Geraniums worth a try in shade. G. phaeum has clumps of foliage and elegant flower stems either maroon or white. G. macorrhizum is mat forming and low growing with white flowers or shades of pink depending which variety. Both are late spring/early summer flowering. G. nodosum (as seen above) flowers a bit later and well into autumn; not profuse with flowers but spreads and pops up all over the place if it likes the conditions.

 Ivy-leaved Cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium) is a useful species for the shade garden. It's one of the very few that comes into flower in late summer/early autumn. The foliage that follows looks a bit like ivy but variegated. 

 Anyway, these are some of the possibilities and as I say shade comes with many distinctions. Growing in shade is a particular interest of mine and there are numerous entries on the topic. My post concerning plants for dry shade [6th. March 2019] is one of the most read on this blog to date so it appears to have struck a chord. I also wrote an eight part series on planting shady areas in November 2021.

 These look to be our native Wild Daffodil (Narcissus pseudonarcissus). I saw them growing on Saturday in a small nature reserve in Hertfordshire that used to be the garden of a cottage. It was a ruin when I was a child then knocked down. Drifts of Snowdrops have been flowering there for several weeks. [see entry dated 3rd. February].

 I assume the Snowdrops are a remnant of the cottage garden. Perhaps the Daffodils are too or perhaps they were planted there when it became a nature reserve. The distribution of N. pseudonarcissus around the Britsh Isles is a subject of conjecture. It proliferates in some areas yet not in others where conditions should suit it. Obviously habitat loss is a factor.

 Old and abandoned country gardens are sometimes a haven for species that have become eradicated in the surrounding countryside. Wild Daffodils seem to be absent in this part of the world so I like to think these are a survival from earlier times. Then again maybe they are a more recent addition. Either way it's good to see them.

 Seems to be a good year for Snowdrops. I keep an eye on certain locales to see how they're doing. A thick carpet of green foliage and white flowers can be seen among the muted browns of the bare trees and leaf litter.

 Still a bit early for blossom -this photo was taken on March 17th. 2022- but the Royal Horticultural Society is predicting a great display this spring. The warmth and sunshine of last summer combined with a cold winter has created ideal conditions for buds and blossom. Additionally the cold start to February has inhibited early flowering; certain species (e.g. fruit trees) are vulnerable to late frosts if they bloom too soon.

 It has been dry the past few weeks but there is plenty of moisture in the ground so all in all could be a vintage year... 

 Nesting season may arrive early this year if the recent springlike weather continues. I thought I'd better revivify the bird box I made a few years ago. Last year the small hole was enlarged considerably, probably gnawed by a grey squirrel raiding the eggs. So I stuck a wooden slat over the front and drilled a 28mm hole in it. Metal plates with different size holes are available; I might retrofit one which would hopefully prevent a recurrence of the same problem.

 The RSPB recommends the following diameters: 25mm for blue, coal and marsh tits. 28mm for great tits, tree sparrows and pied flycatchers. 32 mm for house sparrows and nuthatches. One year the box was colonised by tree bees!

 I considered making or buying a new box but I reckon birds don't like the smell or feel of new wood. After all boxes are a substitute for natural nesting sites e.g. in tree trunks. For that reason I didn't varnish the box with a synthetic or solvent based wood preserver when I constructed it. If I remember rightly I used walnut oil instead.

 Boxes should be placed to avoid overheating with too much direct sunlight and allowing for a certain amount of shelter from the elements.

 

 I planted strawberries on the allotment [see last entry] after seeing one of Martin Crawford's gardens. Back in May 2019 I visited his project the Agroforestry Reasearch Trust in Devon. Best known for the two acre forest garden he created in the grounds of Dartington Hall he is also developing a much larger site nearby. It contains several experimental gardens including the one shown above which is carpeted with strawberry plants. 

 Weeding out the Couch Grass from the strawberry patch on the allotment. Strawberries are a good ground cover and I wondered if they might shade out the invasive Couch. Answer: no. Nonetheless they have spread vigorously from the five or six plants I began with.

 Couch is the bane of allotments and I deal with it in several passes in late winter and early spring. It's possible to tease out long strands of root while the soil is moist and loose. Last year I did the first sweep but the ground baked dry and hard by early March. The strawbs suffered in the prolonged drought that followed but the Couch did just fine.

 Disturbing the strawberry plants is inevitable, in fact sometimes they have to be lifted to tug out the Couch from their rootball. Strawberries are propagated by division anyway so I pop them straight back in.