Bite sized: make a shady garden more interesting - grow variegated plants

A teeny tip to add life and light to a shady garden

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Every week I visit a garden for the newspaper column I write, and every garden I visit leaves me with something to take away, whether it’s an idea, a new plant to grow, a new way to do things, a fix for a particular problem, or sometimes, if I’m lucky, a cutting to grow at home.

I leave every garden I visit itching to go home and try out a new idea in my own backyard. And it’s made me realise something that I want to apply to this newsletter.

Often, all you need is one small idea, one brief little spark to spur you into action. And, very often, it is the bite-sized, singular ideas that you remember, long after the comprehensive guides and lists have faded from your mind. Also, to be honest, who has the time these days to read TWO long, rambling emails each week! I am subscribed to one newsletter that I open and read every week without fail, and that’s because it’s short enough for me to digest in two minutes, but useful enough to get me thinking.

So I want to create something like that here. On Mondays I’ll send out my longer once-a-week guides and plant rants, and on Thursdays I’ll send you just one small idea to try in your garden that week. A plant to grow, an interesting idea, a new tactic to try, a small problem solved. I hope you like it!

Here is today’s.

Make a shady garden more interesting: grow variegated plants

I know many of you are struggling to create interesting plantings in shady zones.

Fewer plants will flower in deep shade, and so lots of people think that this means their shady garden will always look boring. Don’t worry, your shady garden can absolutely be beautiful! If you want to do a deeper dive into planting your shady garden, check out the two posts below.

How to grow a cottage garden in the shade

Got a dry and shady wasteland?

For today, here is one small trick to make your shady corners more interesting: look for variegated plants.

These are plants with two (or more) tones on their leaves - often white stripes or splotches. They’re a bit like the Dalmatians of the plant world. Many variegated plants do better in full sun - their white spots don’t contain any chlorophyll so the plant needs ample sun to be able to photosynthesise effectively. But! Tough variegated plants that will tolerate shade are fantastic for a shady garden, as their light splotches give the impression of dappled sunlight hitting the space. They can make your shady zone feel lighter, airier. Here are a few to try:

Arthropodium ‘moonbeam’

This is a variegated form of the tough, shade tolerant New Zealand rock lily, it has strappy, stripey variegated leaves and creamy white flowers on tall spikes in spring.

Another fantastic variegated plant to look out for is a variegated Angel’s Trumpet (foreground bottom right hand side). A variegated spider plant is right behind it and a (not variegated) NZ rock Lily is on the left hand side.

Tradescantia zebrina

This is a tough little creeper with green and white striped leaves with purple undersides - a great one to fill bare, unplanted earth. It is a tiny bit weedy and will spread through your beds, but it’s easy enough to rip out if you want to clear some away, and the patterned leaves are very beautiful.

Chlorophytum Comosum Variegatum (aka Spider plant)

This is another plant with strappy, striped leaves and it grows SO easily.

‘Indoor’ plants with variegations

You can also look for any variegated versions of indoor plants like philodendrons, monsteras and ivies. They typically do just fine outdoors in a shady area (usually much better than they do indoors!)

And that’s it for today! Stay tuned for part 2 next Thursday where I share the other tactic for improving a shady garden: adding plants with super structural leaves.

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Thank you for reading! See you next time for more Lo fi life!

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