A Tender Perennial for the Shade

If you are looking for a pretty, low care plant for the shade - Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister Bonstedt' is the one for you. It takes all sorts of abuse - dry, wet, dark (in my basement right now!) - and for the most part really holds onto its lovely orange/red flowers. The leaves are a lovely dark green tinged with maroon and as a bonus, the stems are the same dark maroon colour as well. While it is classified as a hardy fuchsia - I beg to differ! Those left in the garden to overwinter had absolutely no pulse the following spring. So, each year, I drag one plant in, pay very little attention to it over the worst of the winter and then in February take cuttings. I'd classify it as an easy plant to propagate - my success rate is about 90% with these cuttings.

Shade Perennials from Seed

Over the years I've started a number of shade perennials from seed. Here is one of my favourities: Symphyandra hoffmanii. It grows to 60 cm in height and width, has lovely white bell-shaped flowers and simply blooms its little brains out. In fact, the plant may act like a biennial and die at the end of the second year, but fear not - there will be a tonne of seed that you can let fall, or share with friends. Symphyandra grows in either sun or shade and also can handle very dry and hot weather without looking the least bit wilted. It is almost annual-like in its period of bloom - once it starts at the end of June, I have blossoms often right into September. I got my seed from Gardens North outside of Ottawa and see that they still offer it. Its an easy germinator and will reward you with lots of flowers with hardly any effort at all - what could be better?