Bulbs for Shade--TOW
Matthew Gale (Tue, 20 May 2003 03:48:44 PDT)

I'm for VULGAH when it's in the form of a Cardiocrinum. The highly scented
flowers are definitely worth the wait and until then you can enjoy the
glossy heart-shaped leaves.

Arisaema - I love the incredible variation in leaf forms you find in this
genus; the stems are often mottled with intricate patterns of greys, browns,
pinks and greens.

Amorphophallus konjac - for similar reasons to the Arisaemas - the leaves
are incredible and give a very tropical feel to my shady border. I'm not
confident about leaving it outside for the winter here in the UK, so it gets
to enjoy a slightly different spot each year.

Crocosmia - I prefer to use the hybrids with warmer, orange coloured flowers
for shade. They look particularly good around my Dicksonia tree fern.

Tricyrtis - I find the yellow (spotted purple or red) flowered species look
better in shade.

Cautleya are also great with their bright orange, red and yellow flowers
like mini Hedychiums - quite hardy too.

Calocasia esculata - this isn't one of the special forms, I picked up a load
of the tubers at a local Chinese supermarket. They are great for giving a
jungle feel to your garden and I've been surprised to find that they are
hardier than I had expected, although still better if you store them over
winter.

Just over five...

Matthew Gale
Birmingham, UK