Part-Shade Planting Scheme That Holds Its Own Year-Round

Acer palmatum 'Seiryu' is one of those trees that makes you look like you know what you're doing. Lacy, dissected foliage on a naturally upright, vase-shaped form — it delivers a solid three-season performance, with fall color that's especially nice. Once you commit to a tree with that kind of fine, airy texture overhead, the rest of the planting almost tells you what it needs: something solid underneath to keep the scene grounded.

Hosta 'Halcyon' fills that role well. The broad, blue-green leaves read as calm and substantial against the maple's delicate canopy — not against it, but below it, anchoring the ground plane while the tree does its thing overhead. Heuchera 'Amethyst Myst' runs the front edge in deep, purple-flushed foliage that shines in spring and summer. Both are undemanding; heucheras do need deadheading when their blooms fade and replanting if they heave out of the ground — something to watch for and correct if it occurs — but that's about it.

The evergreen structure comes from Ilex crenata 'Convexa' and Thuja occidentalis 'Rheingold'. The holly is dense and dark and asks nothing of you; the 'Rheingold' arborvitae warms things up with amber-gold foliage that deepens to a burnt copper in cool weather. These two carry the planting through winter, when the hosta has vanished and the maple is bare.

The illustration shows the planting fully populated, but a pocket for seasonal color is easy to create — just leave out a hosta or heuchera here and there. A hardy fuchsia in one of those gaps will bloom from summer into fall and add something the foliage alone doesn't. Fuchsia 'Little Giant' would fill this role admirably. 


Growing Conditions

Zone: 6, 7, 8, 8b
Exposure: Part Sun, Filtered Sun, Morning Sun, Open Shade
Water Needs: Average

Design Considerations

Style: City and Courtyard, Woodland, Northwest Eclectic
Features: Fabulous Foliage, Four Season Appeal, Low Maintenance, Varied Foliage, Texture, and Form, Winter Interest, Uses Easy-to-Find Plants, Zippy Color Contrasts
Focus: Curb Appeal, Efficient Use of Space, Mixed Border, Privacy and Screening, Small Space, Year-round Interest, Building Block, Goofproof Maintenance
Seasons of Interest: Year-round Interest, Pleasing Seasonal Changes, Three Seasons of Interest

Care and Maintenance


Maintenance Level: low
Maintenance Tasks: Deadheading, Divide Plants to Rejuvenate



Plants In this Combo