High growing shady perenials

[Krissalee]

I have one section of my garden that runs along my neighbor's chain link fence. It is a very shady area, as they have many holly trees that reach over into my yard. I currently have a raised bed, bordered by fieldstone. I do have room for more plants. Currently, I have hostas, bleeding hearts, astilbes, and lily of the valley growing in this area.

I need some good shade perenials, that grow rather high, to create a privacy screen between my yard and the neighbors. The bleeding hearts and the astilbe have reached about 3 feet high, but I would like something taller. Any suggestions would be appreciated! I could also work with a few high growing shady area shrubs or bushes.

 

[marydmjj]

What about a hydrangea or two? They grow fairly tall and they come in a beautiful range of colors from white to pink to blue.

 

[Mamu]

A few that grow tall.

Baptisia: 36-48" Dark blue lupine like flowers in May-June.

Bear's Breeches: 32" Large purplish-pink snapdragon-like flowers in May-June.

Bagbane: 3-8' Tall, airy, wand-like white flowers July-October.

Daucus (Queen Ann's Lace) 4' Flat white flower heads July-September.

Foxglove: 24-36" Spikes of drooping, bell shaped flowers.

Leopardbane: 18-24" Large yellow daisy-like flowers in May-June.

Meadowsweet: 2-3' Dense, fluffy clusters of small white flowers June-August.

Ligularia: 36" Orange daisy-like flowers July-August.

Also ferns and a few tall grasses that like shade.

 

[Snowwark]

Hi Krissy!

Can you trim some of your neighbours tree banches, to let in a little more light? The ones that hang over into your garden, of course.

Some great suggestions have been made.

My back fence, especially one side of it, is in shade from about noon on. I have a climbing hydrangea on that end. Although it's a bit slow to start, it really is quite lovely, and in flower now. Many Honeysuckle vine varieties do well in partial shade also.

 

[Krissalee]

Thanks so much for these suggestions. When I am able to get to the garden center this weekend, I will look for some of these plants, and see what I think will fit in the area. Some of the plants mentioned, I hadn't realized that they did well in shade. Your suggestions give me a lot more options!

Snowark - We have cut a lot of the branches already, as we do every year, and it does little to help. These are really mature holly trees - I would bet they have been there for as long as their house has - probably 50+ years. They have to be 30-40 feet tall. They are also very close to the fence-line, maybe 2 feet away from the fence, so the branches extend really very far into the yard.