Shade and woodland gardening can be so rewarding and people underestimate what you can do. I know I did at first. I never had a garden with so much shade and woodland areas before.

And when we first moved to this property, I wasn’t quite sure where to begin so I just sort of began. Luckily for me one of my first resources were the shade gardening books that belonged to my late mother-in-law, complete with her notes in the margins of the pages which I loved.

Then I discovered people like Jenny Rose Carey (Glorious Shade a book every gardener should have.) And the late Suzy Bales (you can still find her books on Amazon and eBay and places elsewhere like Abe’s Books.) Also invaluable resources ? Christopher Sann of Applied Climatology (West Chester Growers Market) and Catherine Renzi of Yellow Springs Farm.

So the shade and woodland areas keep evolving. I move things around, I add things. Inspiration comes from all over the place, it’s just about keeping your eyes open and seeing what’s going on and others’ gardens.

One thing I really like our pops of color. From my little old garden lanterns that I spray painted red (Brandywine View Antiques), to red impatiens, coleus, and fuschias. To this next year will be added the peonies I have planted this year.

Even in shade there is color. And also a lot of the color comes from the various shades of green. And the shades are varied and amazing.

Just start small and try little pops of color and see what works for you. Happy gardening!