Glorious Shade Book Review & Giveaway

This summer I am tackling a neglected flowerbed under some mature lilac bushes. Sadly it's a task that has long been overshadowed by a litany of other more pressing projects. I've cleared away the weeds and removed a big patch of ditch daylilies that were mostly green due to the lack of sunlight. What I have now is basically a clean slate.

The possibilities are limited only by my imagination and the growing conditions–which I would describe as dry shade. My wish list is ambitious–I want some color, attractive foliage and year round interest.

What are my options?

It's an exciting project to think about, but if I'm being honest, a blank canvas can be a little intimidating even for an experienced gardener like myself. Hostas are versatile and dependable, but there are other more interesting and unusual options I'd like to consider as well. And that's where having a great reference like Glorious Shade has come in handy. The book is well researched and packed with valuable information. It's been fun to be able to pour through the plant listings and begin to plan.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

I want to start out by commenting on the book title: Glorious Shade. So often gardeners think of shade as a disadvantage and not as an opportunity. But the descriptive "glorious" is well within the realm of possibilities for a shade garden. Shade gardens tend to be greener spaces that rely more on foliage than flowers, but that is not to say they are without color.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

Shade seems like a simple enough term, but light changes with the passage of the sun and the shifting seasons. Author Jenny Rose Carey defines "full shade" as areas of a garden receiving less than 2 hours of sun and "part shade" as 2-6 hours of sunlight, but even so, within these parameters there are varying degrees and qualities of light.

The number of hours of shade, and the time of day it occurs are important considerations when choosing plants. Morning sun/afternoon shade is the most gentle type of light. The opposite, morning shade/afternoon sun, requires tougher plants that can take the heat. Plants with delicate leaves, and those that like moist soil are better planted where there is some protection from the sun.

The flowerbed I am reworking is in shade in the early morning. As the sun climbs in the sky, the area gets some sunlight, but this period of light is interrupted twice as the sun passes behind two big trees on the opposite side of the garden.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

Glorious Shade also addresses the seasonal changes that take place in a shade garden. Every season has its delights, a calendar of tasks and a list of plants that provide interest.  Other chapters cover soil improvement, choosing the right plants and designing a shade garden. The chapter on design includes notes on different types of gardens; rock gardens, xeric gardens, and water and moss gardens–just to name a few. There is even a brief section dedicated to container gardening in shade.

The part of the book that I think you'll refer to again and again is the reference of plants, trees and shrubs for shade. Each type of plant has a photo, a point-form list of growing conditions and notations on size and zone. This lets you know at a glance wether a plant is what your looking for. A detailed plant profile follows with more key information.

I also think you'll find that the lists peppered throughout the book are super handy; plants for moist to wet soil, native plants, plants for well-drained soil, fragrant shade plants, plants for seasonal interest, etc.

Just to give you an idea of how useful a reference this book might be, I thought I'd highlight a few of the recommended shrubs for shade conditions.

One thing I want to include in my flowerbed redesign is a shrub to hide the rather ugly trunk of an evergreen tree. I always default to a yew, which has the bonus of also being evergreen, but how boring of me when there are so many other shrubs I should consider!

Let's take a look at a few of the many options suggested in the book.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

Philadelphus x virginalis
Sweet Mock Orange
Part shade
8-10 ft tall and wide
USDA zones: 4-8

This is a shrub that's been on my wish list for a while. The white flowers have are scented like orange blossoms. Prune it after it flowers.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

Itea virginica
Virginia Sweet Spire
Bright or Part shade
3-5 ft. tall and 3-6 ft. wide
USDA zones: 5-9

Virginia Sweet Spire is native to eastern North America. It's adaptable and will grow in a wide range of soil conditions from fairly dry to quite moist. Long white flowers appear in summer and are quite fragrant. The foliage turns red in the fall. The leaves of cultivar 'Henry's Garnet' acquire a vibrant reddish-purple hue in the autumn. 'Little Henry' is a smaller cultivar.
Update: One reader in Alabama has warned me that this is a shrub that suckers and spreads– something to keep in mind.

From the book Glorious Shade. Photo by Jenny Rose Carey. © 2017 Jenny Rose Carey. Published by Timber Press. Excerpted with permission of the publisher.

Kalmia latifolia
American Mountain Laurel
Bright to full shade
4-8 ft. or more tall and wide
USDA zones: 4-8

This is a slow growing shrub that likes moist, somewhat acidic soil. It flowers in late spring/early summer with blooms that are white, pink or dark red.

Korean Spice Viburnum, Viburnum carlessii (my own image)

Private garden Toronto, Ontario (my own image)

Virburnum plicatum tomentosum
Doublefile Viburnum
Part shade
8-12 ft tall and wide
USDA zones: 5-8

Viburnum are a group of deciduous or evergreen shrubs that grow best in dappled shade. 

I'm showing two examples: Korean Spice Viburnum, Viburnum carlessii has waxy, pink flowers that fade to white. The flowers are followed by bright red berries that become black as they ripen. Virburnum plicatum tomentosum or Doublefile Viburnum has non-fragrant, white flowers in late spring. Red fruit follow the flowers. 

Private garden Toronto, Ontario (my own image)

Bottlebrush Buckeye (my own image)

Aesculus parviflora
Bottlebrush Buckeye
Part to full shade
8-12 ft tall and up to 15 wide

Aesculus are deciduous trees and shrubs with palmate foliage. 

A Bottlebrush Buckeye has upright flower panicles in mid-summer that butterflies love. In autumn, the leaves are bright, golden-yellow. This shrub likes moist soil especially when it is getting established. In ideal conditions, it will spread to form a colony (something to bear in mind).

Smooth Hydrangea
Hydrangea Incrediball Blush
4-5 ft tall and 5 ft wide

Incrediball Blush is one of the new introduction. It has thicker stems than classic smooth hydrangeas and massive pink tinged with magenta flowers. It flowers on new growth, so prune it in late winter/early spring.

There are many more ideas in the book. I'm still looking through them all and trying to decide.

I'm going to give the final words of this post to the author. Jenny Rose Carey writes:

"As you develop your own shade garden, choose trees that you love, fill your space with plants that inspire you, and arrange them in ways that please you. Your garden will be an outdoor space that is as unique as you are, and will provide pleasure for you, your family and your guests."

Certainly this is a book that shows you that shade can indeed be glorious.

Thomas Allen & Sons has kindly given me a copy of Glorious Shade to give away. Because this book will go to a winner through the mail, I will have to limit entry to readers in Canada and the USA. 

Please leave a comment below, if you would like to be included in the book draw. The draw will remain open until Monday, July 31st. If you are not a blogger, you can enter by leaving a comment on the Three Dogs in a Garden Facebook page (there is an additional link to the Facebook page at the bottom of the blog). You are also welcome to enter by sending me an email (jenc_art@hotmail.com).

About the Author:


Jenny Rose Carey is a well-known educator, historian and author. She is the senior director at the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Meadowbrook Farm in Jenkintown. She is an avid, hands-on gardener who has gardened in both England and the United States. Her victorian property, Northview, contains diverse plant spaces, including a shade garden, moss garden and stumpery. Jenny Rose and her gardens have been featured on the PBS series The Victory Garden, in the Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Pennsylvania Gardener. Glorious Shade is her first gardening book.

Photo by Rob Cardillo