Urban Landscape, Native Landscape: Dry Shade

Trillium ovatum & Dicentra formosa March 2010

Ribes sanguineum March 2010

Gaultheria shallon August 2008

Heuchera americana 'Dale's Strain' May 2009

Ajuga reptans & Fragaria vesca April 2009

It can be difficult to find plants for Seattle gardens that will grow well in dry shade. Most shade plants prefer moisture. Plants that tolerate dry shade often grow better in part sun. Most of the plants listed below do better in light or partial shade than in deep shade. Shade can be lightened by pruning the lower branches off overhanging trees. It is always wise to plan for dry shade to limit supplemental water use. But it is more realistic to water sparingly during summer, than to expect shade plants to do entirely without water. Many of the plants listed below are Washington native plants. Gaultheria shallon, Mahonia repens & Vaccinium ovatum are Washington native shrubs that do well in dry shade with no supplemental water. Helleborus x hybridus, Maianthemum dilatatum & Polystichum munitum are plants that grow well in shade with little supplemental water.

Shrubs

Aucuba japonica

Arbutus unedo ‘Compacta’ (Strawberry Tree)

Berberis darwinii (Barberry)

Buxus (Boxwood)

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’ (Dwarf Hinoki Cypress)

Corylus (Hazel)

Elaeagnus pungens (Silverberry)

Euonymus fortunei

Garrya issaquahensis (Silk Tassel)

Gaultheria shallon (Salal)

Ilex cornuta (Chinese Holly)

Kalmia latifolia (Mountain Laurel)

Ligustrum japonicum (Privet)

Mahonia aquifolium (Oregon Grape)

Mahonia nervosa

Mahonia repens

Nandina domestica (Heavenly Bamboo)

Osmanthus delavayi

Paeonia delavayi (Tree Peony)

Paeonia lutea (Tree Peony)

Philadelphus lewisii (Mock Orange)

Prunus ilicifolia (Hollyleaf Cherry)

Rhamnus californica (Coffeeberry)

Rhaphiolepis umbellata (Yeddo Hawthorne)

Ribes sanguineum (Flowering Currant)

Sarcococca ruscifolia (Sweet Box)

Skimmia japonica

Vaccinium ovatum (Evergreen Huckleberry)

Viburnum davidii

Perennials

Achlys triphylla (Vanilla Leaf)

Anemone x hybrida (Japanese Anemone)

Campanula latifolia (Bellflower)

Corydalis lutea

Dicentra formosa (Bleeding Heart)

Digitalis purpurea (Foxglove)

Euphorbia amygdaloides ‘Purpurea’ (Woodspurge)
Euphorbia x martinii

Francoa ramosa (Maiden’s Wreath)

Francoa sonchifolia

Geranium himalayense (Cranesbill)
Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'

Geranium macrorrhizum

Geranium pratense

Helleborus argutifolius (Corsican Hellebore)

Helleborus lividus

Helleborus x hybridus

Liriope muscari (Lily Turf)

Luzula sylvatica (Woodrush)

Muscari (Grape Hyacinth)

Narcissus jonquilla (Jonquil)

Paeonia peregrina (Peony)

Polygonatum commutatum (Solomon’s Seal)

Polygonatum odoratum

Polystichum munitum (Sword Fern)

Smilacina racemosa (False Solomon’s Seal)

Smilacina stellata

Stachys byzantina (Lamb’s Ears)

Tellima grandiflora (Fringe Cup)

Tolmiea menziesii (Piggyback Plant)

Trillium ovatum (Wakerobin)

Vancouveria hexandra

Groundcovers & Trailers

Aegopodium podagraria (Bishop’s Weed)

Ajuga reptans (Carpet Bugle)

Campanula poscharskyana (Serbian Bellflower)

Fragaria vesca (Woodland Strawberry)

Galium odoratum (Sweet Woodruff)

Maianthemum dilatatum (False Lily of the Valley)

Microbiota decussata (Carpet Cypress)

Sedum forsterianum

Sedum spathulifolium

Vinca minor (Dwarf Periwinkle)

About This Blog

This blog began in 2008 as Metropolitan Gardens to provide information on gardening in Seattle & places like it. Click on Gardening in Cascadia. The blog expanded to include Parks P-Patches Public Gardens in the US, Canada & Europe. Then Nature was added. (The difference between nature & gardens is intent. Nature happens. Gardens are planned.) Many recent posts are not about Seattle, or even Cascadia. They are Urban Landscape: streetscape & architecture. Cascadia is the region including the Cascade Mountains of Washington & Oregon. If you want to contact the blogger, leave a message in comments. Comments are moderated & private messages will not be posted.

Our Land & Climate

The city of Seattle rests between 2 bodies of water: Puget Sound & Lake Washington. Puget Sound is a substantial part of the Salish Sea & a very small part of the Pacific Ocean. The Salish Sea is set apart from the Pacific by the Olympic Peninsula in the state of Washington & Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia. The dense, wet clouds of the Pacific Ocean travel as far as the Cascade Mountains, near the Salish Sea & not very far from the ocean. East of the Cascades lies the desert of the Columbia Basin. The moist, temperate climate of Seattle extends south to northern California & north to southeastern Alaska. The Pacific Northwest Coast from San Francisco Bay to Cook Inlet shares a flora dominated by evergreen coniferous forest. The central portion, west of the Cascade Mountains, is called Cascadia. The climate is cool & wet from fall to spring, warm & dry in summer. The Olympic Mountains block Seattle from much of the Pacific rainfall. Seattle is drier than the Atlantic coast of North America & northern Europe, cooler in summer & warmer in winter. It lies near the latitude of Paris & Quebec City.