Today we’re visiting with Tracy Tallman in Southern Ontario.

We live on a very shaded country lot. This limits our plant choices considerably. Our repeat favorites include Hosta (Zones 3–9), hellebores (Helleborus hybrids, Zones 5–8), Heuchera (Zones 5–9), bleeding hearts (Dicentra sp.), Japanese ferns (Athyrium niponicum, Zones 3–8), grasses, and ground covers. Natural moss is growing in between the path stones. It’s a wonderfully calming oasis.

The tried-and-true shade lovers that Tracy gardens with make a wonderful lush garden. The backdrop is a hemlock tree (Tsuga canadensis, Zones 3–7). In front, a bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis, Zones 2–8) and hostas bringing foliage in a variety of colors, shapes, and textures.

Every corner of a garden offers a chance to add some beautiful plants. Native Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Zones 3–9) softens the chain-link fence with climbing greenery.

Hostas in every shade of green, from massive to tiny, line the fence.

Though the hellebores have long since finished flowering, their pest-resistant, evergreen foliage still contributes to the garden.

Climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris, Zones 4–8) covers this structure with lush green foliage and delicate sprays of white flowers. This vine can be slow-growing at first, but once it gets established it becomes a huge, beautiful part of the garden. It looks like the four-legged garden residents enjoy it as well.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

The New Organic Grower, 3rd Edition: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener, 30th Anniversary Edition

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Since its original publication in 1989, The New Organic Grower has been one of the most important farming books available, with pioneer Eliot Coleman leading the charge in the organic movement in the United States. Now fully illustrated and updated, this 30th Anniversary Edition is a must-have for any agricultural library.

Buy at Amazon

Black and Decker 22-inch Cordless Hedge Trimmer

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Quick and easy to put into operation and is less noisy and lighter in weight than gas-powered hedge trimmers.
- 38 x 7 x 7 inches
- 6.9 pounds
- 1 Lithium Ion battery required (included)

Buy at Amazon

Plant Covers Freeze Protection 10 ft x 30 ft Floating Row Cover 0.9oz/yd²

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Lightweight and Breathable MATERIAL Good for protecting Plant: the plant frost cover material is 0.74 oz/sq non-woven polypropylene fabric, which is lightweight, breathable, and durable. The plant blanket frost protection allows sunlight reach the plants, perfect for protecting plants from the damage of freeze or frost. Wide Application In your Garden Work. The plant row cover not only can work as a barrier against frost, but also can be a great tool for germination and good for rapid seedling growth. By using the fabric plant covers over your plant, you can start the plant earlier in the spring and extending the growing season of your plants. How to Use the Plant Covers: you can cover the plant covers for freeze over your the plants loosely directly and then secure the plant frost blanket with soil, stones or staples. You can also support the floating row covers with a hoop, make enough room for plants to breath and grow. You could also cut the plant covers into different sizes for different purposes.

Buy at Amazon