The Shady Garden
Speaker: Alan Edmondson
Date: 26th September
Year: 2012
Alan Edmondson
Alan is a highly experienced and talented horticulturist, former National Mastermind of gardening, past president of the National Primula and Auricula Society, award winning conservationist and regular gardening expert on BBC Radio Solent.
He founded Bowercot Garden Design in 1999 and is available for planting design and horticultural consultation. He lectures countrywide on a range of gardening topics and writes a regular gardening column.
He illustrated his very professional power point presentation with the slides listed below. Some contemporaneous notes are also added. The final slide showed us what to be aiming for!
| Slide | Title | Comments |
| 1. | The Peat Garden | |
| 2. | Tree for Dappled Shade | Davidia Involucrata, Prunus subhirtella ‘Autumnalis’ |
| 3. | More Shrubs for Shade | Magnolia stellats ‘Centennial’, Crinodendron hookerianum |
| 4. | More Shrubs to create Shade | Virburnum carlesii, Peris ‘Bert Chandler’ |
| 5. | Camellias for early Colour | Adolphe Audusson, ‘Donation’ |
| 6. | Rhododendron Species | R. augustinii, Rcinnabarium |
| 7. | Rhododendron Hybrids | R. ‘Hampshire Belle’, R. ‘Catawbiense Grandiflorum’ |
| 8. | Rhododendron Yakushimanum | R. yakushimanum, R. ‘Percy Wiseman’ |
| 9. | Low growing Perennials | Andromeda polifolia alba, Omphloides capp ‘Cherry Ingram’ |
| 10. | Epimediums | E. grandiflorums ‘Lilafee’, E. x perralchicum ‘Wisley’ |
| 11. | Dwarf Narcissus | N. ‘February Gold’, N. ‘Jack Snipe’, N. bulbocodium, N. cyclamineus |
| 12. | Woodland Anemones | A. nemerosa, A. ranunculoides |
| 13. | Lilies | Various |
| 14. | Shade Lovers | Corydalis fumarifolia, Fritillaria camschatensis |
| 15. | Cobra Lilies | Arisaema nepenthiodes, A. candissimum |
| 16. | Erythroniums | E. ‘White Beauty’, E. ‘Pagoda’ |
| 17. | Trillium Species | T. albidum, T. Chloropetalum (red form) |
| 18. | Dodacatheon Species | D. media, D. pulchellum |
| 19. | Double Primrose | P. ‘Miss Indigo’, P. ‘Ken Dearman’, P. ‘Sue Jervis’ |
| 20. | Woodland Plants | Viola odorata, Campanula trachelium, Polystichum setiferum |
| 21. | Hardy Geraniums | G. prantense ‘Silver Queen’, G. magnificum, G. sylvaticum album |
| 22. | Corydalis Species | C. flexuosa, C.elata |
| 23. | Gentian Species | G. septemfida, G. asclpediadea, G. sino-ornata |
| 24. | Primulas for Moist Shade | P. prolifera, P. japonica ‘Postford White’, P. pulverulenta |
| 25. | Primulas for Partial Shade | P. capitata, P. ‘Inverewe’, P. boothii ‘Redpoll’ |
| 26. | Primula Sieboldii | |
| 27. | Brunnera Macrophylla | B. macrophylla, B. macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ |
| 28. | Dicentras | D. ‘Stuart Boothman’, D. eximia, D. Formosa |
| 29. | Meconopsis Cultivars | M. betonicifolia, M. x sheldonii, M. Nepaulensis |
| 30. | Unusual Shade Lovers | Glaucidium palmatum album, Sanquinaria canadensis fl. pl. |
| 31. | Other Plants for Shady Garden | Actaea simplex ‘Elistead’, Rosa auriculata, Roscoea cautleiodes |
| 32. | Plants for the Shady Garden | Hosta cultivars, Helleborus orientalis, Astrantia ‘Hadspen Blood’ |
| 33. | The End Result |
Notes added on the night:
Slide
3. Acid soil.
6. Acid soil and check height.
10. Water well year 1.
15. Mark where planted as they die down and are late to emerge following year.
17. Don’t buy cheap ones.
18. Same conditions as hostas.
21. Cut right down after flowering to get a second flush.
24. Divide every 2/3 years or they will go woody.
29. Remove flowers year 1 or they will die