It's been a rainy summer here, with the result that the plants which crave lots of sun have become tall and somewhat top-heavy. The plants that like shade haven't been unhappy at all. The extra shade has been accompanied by extra rain, which has resulted in lots of seed formation that I don't often see. Here are pictures of four shade-garden plants in my yard.

The first photo is of Wood asters, which are white with golden centers. These can and do grow in deep shade, but in this photo they have a nice spot under my eaves, so they get plenty of rain. They have been blooming for more than a month, and are still at it.

The second photo is of Blue Cohosh. I wish I had used a flash, but you can still make out the two bunches of blue berries on the left. Blue Cohosh isn't particularly widespread in New England, and it doesn't get noticed much, but those blue berries are nice.

The third photo is Jack-in-the-pulpit. What's nice about this photo is the red berries that form after the pulpit has run its course.

The last photo is Solomon's Seal. There's a star-shaped flower at the end of one of the long stalks. This particular plant used to grow on my father's land, and I transplanted it here. Later in the season, some reddish berries formed where the flowers are.

Paulh

16.10.23 Front Page

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