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Shade loving herb

wildflowerchris

14 years ago

I'm looking for a shade loving herb. I have several sun loving herbs in containers in my backyard. I have room for a small container on a table which sits under cover. Can anyone recommend a herb that gets plenty of light, yet no direct sunlight?

Thanks in advance for your advice! I'm in Central Florida (Lakeland).

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Comments (8)

Daisyduckworth
14 years ago
How about some pretty violets?
noinwi
14 years ago
Scented geraniums like some shade in hot climates.
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Hi Dee :-) The best ideas come from rambling! In the business world it is called 'brainstorming'. [g] You throw out as many ideas as you can think of, no matter how remote and if you only end up with 3 out of 20 ideas that are workable, then you consider it a success. The only way that works though is if the participants feel free to suggest whatever pops into their head, even if it sounds stupid, without feeling foolish. [g] Sometimes, just a kernel of your remote idea can lead to another really 'on the money' idea. Like your ideas today....I hadn't thought of using pot in pot ideas but, that is a great idea. I normally like to do something once and be done with it, but maybe three changes a growing season would be easy enough. Spring, Summer and Fall. Pansies can go out early but won't keep pushing out blossoms when the heat comes and changing to summer plants might coincide with sales at the nurseries perhaps and Fall....I usually make up a container or two with Fall plants. Lilies and Phlox for fragrance....even if I don't use it in this container, I will think about using them in part shade more. I have 'David' and I'm planning to order more. I am also checking out lily bulbs, have any favorites? I do have Honey Bee Blue Agastache too. Don't you just love collecting seed from these? That rootbeer fragrance! I noticed last year that one had seeded not 2 feet from the trunk of a maple tree in just about complete shade and flowered. Very surprised at that one. It was a little scraggly there, but still. Kevin, I love primrose and I haven't seen any that are fragrant. You lucky duck. [g] I do have primrose and I did buy some hardy polyanthus, and come to think of it, they offer them here when they offer pansies. I might think of adding a couple with the pansies if I were doing a spring to summer change over. Thanks!
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I think mint will grow ok in partial shade, but not in total shade. It would take over the whole rock garden, though. Thyme would be perfect in a rock garden, but it needs sun. Lemon balm will do well in part shade, but it gets about two feet tall and can be invasive. I will give this some more thought...I had Google check for "shade loving herbs" and was not too impressed with the results...one did suggest wild Canadian ginger, though. You can grow quite a few things in dappled sunlight, but if you have full shade, less is possible. Tansy will grow in part shade. The curly variety might work out at the back of a rockery, but the plain tansy can grow as tall as six feet. The conditions you provide will affect the size of your plants as well, though. I think most rock garden plants like sun, to be honest, but maybe some others will have better ideas. The Woodland Plants people might be able to help as well.
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Comments (4)
I can attest that mints will be fine with just a little sun- in fact, it's always a good idea to keep mint in containers to try to slow their quest for world domination. We have a lot of trees in our yard, and the neighbors ask how I can grow anything in so much shade, but I've learned that shade is an asset in our hot 8b climate. I am also learning that there is more sun in our yard over the course of a long summer day than I really thought. Not everything likes our dappled shade/ part sun, but I am growing rosemary, various thymes, lovage, oregano, chives, garlic, parsley, basil, borage, culinary sage, winter savory, pineapple sage, and white bergamot (a type of bee balm) in dappled shade. You need to be especially careful not to overwater your herbs. I find that a small spritz of water daily works well during warm/hot weather, but your mileage may vary. These herbs keep going until we get freezing weather, but in cooler weather I let the herbs dry out between waterings. The usual recommendation for watering sage is to water it deeply, then let it dry out between waterings. It's easier for me to have everything on the same watering schedule so they seem to be fine with a small misting daily. My mints, sages and oregano and a few others are in containers with well-draining organic "soil" (compost, basically). Keep an eye on the size of your pots- if they're too small, your plants will probably start drooping, but if the pots are too large, they may get too much moisture... With any container plant, it's best to only go up one size when moving to a larger pot. When you're home during the day, watch the sun/shade patterns in you yard, so you can figure out which spaces get more sun throughout the day. If your herbs are in containers you can move things around to see where they're happiest. Instead of building a raised bed, consider a large galvanized washtub or other container with holes drilled in the bottom for good drainage. Good luck, Virginia
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eibren
14 years ago
Any of the mints would be OK with it, and oregano would, too...as long as they are watered regularly.
fatamorgana2121
14 years ago
Violets are one of my fav's and tough too. Other violas like pansies and heartease/johnny-jump-ups too.

Sweet woodruff has pretty foliage and spring flowers.

Nasturiums are nice as well as munchable. They could probably tolerate the bright but not full sun location.

FataMorgana
wildflowerchris
Original Author
14 years ago
Great! Thanks for all of your suggestions. I think I may go with some mint or oregano. But, Violets would be very nice too. decisions, decisions...
trianglejohn
14 years ago
Very few of the violets and pansies will do well in the hot summers, same with the nasturtiums - they are all cool season plants. In the hotter times of the year you can grow some ginger and cardamom in pots. Ginger root will want a larger pot since it gets a bit bigger (maybe 2 feet tall with a root mass around 1 foot wide). Cardamom stays pretty small, around a foot tall with a small root mass. It would probably over winter for you - it does in my zone 7b garden if I remember to bury it under a foot of leaves. Ginger root takes most of the year to make new roots, you'll get about four times the amount of ginger you plant. Some people break off small sections to use when they need it, I tend to just harvest it all in the fall when I dig up the whole row (but I'm not growing it in pots). Cardamom won't bloom and set seed outside of the tropics so you'll never get the spice Cardamom from it but the leaves are very spicy and taste good in asian food. It also smells tropical and spicy when you just brush against the leaves. Its a great houseplant as well as potted patio plant. Both of them will grow without any direct sunlight.
fatamorgana2121
14 years ago
Along the lines of ginger is turmeric. Nice plant as well.

FataMorgana
Daisyduckworth
14 years ago
Trianglejohn - if only I had a camera! My cardamom, here in the subtropics, is HUGE, and eventually, unless I dig it out and start it again, it will be larger than my entire house, and considerably taller - it's already up to the eaves, and about the same in diameter. In fact, it can give the taller and larger bamboos a run for their money (5 metres tall is average). The clumps can get massive - big enough to accommodate several suburban blocks of land.

Below is a pic that shows one considerable smaller than mine.

Turmeric is a nice plant, but it dies right down to soil level in autumn, and is one of the last to come back in spring - or summer - even here in the subtropics.

Here is a link that might be useful:

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