Shady Borders

New Zealand Herald, Volume 78, Issue 24103, 23 October 1941, Page 17

Shady Borders

JF you have a shady border it can be made quite gay with a variety of flowering shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs, in the full knowledge that they are not occupying valuable space needed for the growing of vegetables. Most beginners are under the impression that a border which faces south and is shaded by tall buildings will not grow flowering plants successfully. But if the right plants are chosen it is possible to have a continuous display of bloom throughout the greater part of the vear.

During June and July, the Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiftorum) with its slender pendant shoots laden with bright golden blooms, brightens up the border. This shrub is naturally of a procumbent habit, so that it is necessary to tie in the shoots to wire or trellis to prevent them from sprawling on the ground. Pruning is done after the flowers have faded when the young shoots are cut back to two or three buds.

This is followed by the winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima), a deciduous shrub, bearing yellow fragrant flowers. About the same time the Laurustinus, with glossy green leaves and large trusses of pink and white flowers, forms an attractive feature. DafJodils, snowflakes, Franthis hyrnalis, are bulbs which all help to herald the spring, when succession is taken up by the flowering currant (Kibos), snowball tree (Viburnum opulis), Doronicujn, Dielytra, Funkia, Solomon's seal, Astlibe, Campanula latiloba, persicifolia, and lactiflora. the spiderwort (Tradescantia virginiea) and Michaelmas daisies continue the shady border display throughout the summer and autumn.