It has taken me many years to embrace my shady gardens. They are under deciduous trees, so spring is a great time before the leaves come out. Tulips, daffodils, allium and other spring bulbs can bloom into early June, along with early perennials and native plants such as bloodroot, trilliums, lungwort and hellebores.

Once the trees leaf out I rely on a variety of perennials to create interest in my now very shady gardens. Different textures, colours and heights help to create interest, as well as planting in groups of three. Shade loving annuals (begonia, impatiens), perennials (peach-leaved bellflower, masterwort, lamium), and coleus are a few plants that can add colour to the shade garden.

In my gardens the lack of sun is not as big a problem as the fibrous surface roots from my trees. They tend to overtake the roots of my plants, so I often bury plastic pots in my garden to plant my perennials in. I tried lining my planting holes with landscape fabric but the roots went through it.

Some of my favourite shade plants are hellebores, brunnera, Solomon’s seal, hostas, ferns, heucherella, astilbe, and epimedium. And a bonus of shade gardens is they typically grow less weeds!