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Plant of the Day
Tuesday 19 August 2025
An evergreen terrestrial or epiphytic fern, Polypodium vulgare (common polypody, adder's fern, brake root, wall fern, word fern) has a creeping rhizome that makes it ideal for growing in a stone wall. This fern will grow in a sunny or lightly-shaded location and is tolerant of dry shade.
Jill Raggett
When we bought the house, the dry shady areas in the back were sparse with only a bit of periwinkle growing. All this was made worse by the debris from the roofers, equipment, and heavy traffic in those areas. After the work was done, I began planting bare-root plants (all I could afford). Fast forward nearly a decade, and the back shade gardens have taken on new life. The back of the house is quite different from the sunny front. The lush foliage weaves a tapestry of textures and shades which is very serene. Delicate ferns, bold hostas, whimsical pulmonaria, and hard-working lily of the valley, offer a diverse range of leaf shapes and patterns, creating a visual symphony. If you only have a shady area, don't despair. There are many glorious plants that work in these conditions. I find that hostas thrive in even dry shade, so don't believe the hype that they need a lot of moisture. They don't. Mine are happy in the worst dry compacted clay imaginable. Lily of the valley spreads quite well, so do ferns, epimediums, astilbe, and pulmonaria. Astilbe and heuchera will need a bit more moisture.
Plant of the Day
Friday 31 May 2024
A useful groundcover plant for drier conditions is Bergenia 'Sunningdale' (elephant's ears) which has deep-pink, flowers in spring and evergreen leaves that turn red in the autumn.
Jill Raggett
Planting in dry shade is tricky but possible. I have a combination of lamium, Jack Frost brunnera, periwinkle, hosta, plantain lily, pachysandra, epimedium, lungwort, lily of the valley, bleeding hearts, mukdenia, heuchera, and ferns.
New Post has been published on http://malleedesign.com.au/silver-in-the-shade-plectranthus-argentatus/
Silver in the Shade: Plectranthus argentatus
If you are looking for a native understory plant to grow where no plant has succeeded before give Plectranthus argentatus a try. It will grow in the dry soil under large trees and ramble about filling in bare patches and creating a dense silver layer to a dark forgotten corner.
Plectranthus argentatus has a lightly suckering root system, enabling it to spread in somewhat a weedy habit, you need to keep an eye on it or it may just colonise into precious areas of your garden.
It needs to be cut back quite hard in late winter, as it can get very leggy and scrappy looking. It will also grow in dry, sunny positions, making it a versatile garden plant in subtropical gardens.
It combines well with strappy leaved plants like Dianella caerulea, Lomandra ‘Tanika’ and Asplenium nidus. The large furry silver leaves blend in with rainforest or tropical plants but also provide structure and continuity in a contemporary style.
New Post has been published on http://malleedesign.com.au/i-need-to-remember-this-fern-blechnum-cartilagineum/
I need to remember this fern: Blechnum cartilagineum
I am not very good with my native ground cover ferns, I have a handful which I use over and over again which I know to be hardy and pretty. I was walking in the Blue Mountains this weekend and exploring the rainforest and waterfall walks, these plants are not my favourites, I usually am drawn to the Sydney Sandstone heathlands for their flowers and interesting shapes.
However I was quite taken by the banks of Blechnum cartilagineum along the pathway, once I spotted some of the reddish new growth I couldn’t stop myself photographing it.
Blechnum cartilagineum is a running fern, meaning it has rhizomes which run under the soil and it will cover the ground quite densely. It gets to a height of around 50cm to 1m and the new leaves unfurl in Spring with all these different shades of reds.
This fern will happily scramble around on rocky steep slopes under the shade of larger trees, it will also thrive with extra moisture and doesn’t mind a colder climate. I liked the way it was mixing in with other ferns, so why not combine it with Doodia aspera or Blechnum nudum?
Because of their hardy nature they would grow well inside as a pot plant or even interest in a green wall, as long as they are protected from drying winds and harsh sun.
Epimedium
Epimedium Sulphureum, pictured here as our available 21 size plug,is one of the most popular of the “barrenworts”. The pink “eyes” revealing strong, ready for spring,growth.
Epimediums are a great dry shade ground cover.
Sulphurum is a very tough plant, good planted under oaks, maintains evergreen foliage in winter. flowering yellow very early spring..
This plug has been grown and over wintered.…
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Epimedium Sulphureum pictured here is one of the most popular of the "barrenworts". this is a 21 size plugs.
