If Memphis was not developed and was left alone to grow naturally, it would be forest. Many of the plants that grow best in my shady garden, then are native woodland plants. So, if big trees dominate your landscape like mine, you might have to say goodbye to perky zinnias and marigolds, day lilies, petunias and sunflowers. But you can embrace another whole world of plants. They might not be as showy as the sunlovers, but they hold a delicate charm.
Shade gardens are places of special, quiet beauty.
Woodland and other natural garden styles bring an added bonus. Shade gardens are why I became a Botanist and not a Horticulturist. Instead, most plants that live best in the shade are smaller and more delicate than the garden giants and are colored in luminous whites and soft pastels. Enjoy native phlox, columbines, bleeding hearts, foam flower, astilbe, and jacob's ladder in the spring, then oakleaf hydrangea, ferns, begonias, impatiens, coleus, caladiums, and hostas when the summer heat sets in. Best of all, shade gardens are easier to maintain than sunny ones.