---

REHOBOTH - Suzanne Mahler started out with a bare slate more than three decades ago. The landscape surrounding her newly constructed home was 1.5 acres subjected to full blazing sun, sans grass, trees, shrubs or flowers.

Her mother, who's 83 and still gardens daily, told her no yard is complete without perennials. So she planted gardens along either side of her driveway, and gave them abundant attention after she decided to leave her job in cancer research to raise her children.

"It became a full-time obsession - I had to have one of every perennial," Mahler said. Then she discovered daylilies. Over the course of four years, she collected 800 cultivars.

It was when she decided to put in "cute little trees" that her landscape would come full circle. They grew. "Now," said Mahler, "there's a whole new group of plants to collect" - those made for the shade.

"The older I get, the more I like shade gardens," she said, adding that they limit the harmful effects of the sun and let her enjoy plants in a new, albeit diffused, light. Mahler, a garden lecturer and the past president and long-time member of the New England Hemerocallis (Daylily) Society, spoke about her success in the shade during a talk at Tranquil Lake Nurseries, where she has worked for the past ten years and has been visiting for 25.

A key to successful gardening in the shade, she said, is analyzing your yard and matching plants to the light, soil type and exposure.

"There are different definitions of shade," said Mahler, whose gardens are deemed National Display Gardens for the American Daylily Society and are open to the public in July and August. "Time of day determines whether you have full sun or shade."

Go out at 9 a.m. and take notes every two hours until 5 p.m., observing the amount of light available, she advised. Sometimes, one part of a garden may receive full sun, while another is in the shade.

Mahler divides her gardens into three parts based on the amount of sun and shade they receive.

For a garden that is shaded during the morning, but sunny by midday and throughout the afternoon, choose plants for sunny sites, she says. Locations that get early morning sun or filtered light throughout the day are usually well-suited for shade-loving or shade-tolerant plants.

"If you have shade, determine what's creating the shade," Mahler said. It could be a fence, buildings or trees. "If it's dense evergreen, it will limit what you will be able to grow."

Plants will not grow if there is a thick layer of dead pine needles, so those will have to be removed.

Maples with large leaves, especially Norway maples, "suffocate" plants in the winter if the leaves are allowed to stay on them. They win the war through droughts, too, out-competing plants for water and nutrients. That doesn't mean you won't be able to plant, you just have to be more selective about the plants and adjust conditions.

Mahler suggested that if your yard has a lot of shade, consider trimming the trees or thinning out the branches. "First thing, it looks better. Also, you do the tree a favor (health-wise)," Mahler said. "And, you can grow plants with height."

Typically, when people think spring, they think flowers, especially after a winter's hiatus from blooms. Most flowering shade plants require morning sun, bright light, or dappled sunlight. But Mahler encouraged folks to think foliage because, she said, plants are foliage for six months while blooms tend to fade within a week or two.

SUSAN LaHOUD can be reached at 508-236-0398 or at slahoud@thesunchronicle.com.

Shady plants

The following are some recommendations for shade gardens from Suzanne Mahler, a garden lecturer and the past president of the New England Hemerocallis (Daylily) Society. Be sure to research your selections before planting.

"Annabelle" hydrangea: A woody plant, it will grow in full sun or full shade. It is a "suckering" shrub that will gradually expand. There are big white blooms. Be ruthless, cut it to the ground in the spring.

Oak leaf hydrangea: "While I love Annabelle for the flower, I love this for the flower, the leaves, the stems...This has the most beautiful foliage in the fall. It has bright, beautiful copper foliage." In bloom right about now, it sports conical white flowers. It is a suckering shrub and will expand. "To me it has it all - it's a plant for every season."

Viburnums are great shade plants, Mahler said. One type is called "Winterthur" and has clusters of creamy white flowers June through July, followed by berry clusters ranging from pink-red to blue-black. "The foliage is glossy and it's a shocking maroon-red in fall."

Physocarpus, better known as Ninebark, is a native plant that got its nickname from native Americans because its bark looks layered. It resembles Bridal's Veil spirea with clumps of small white flowers. They also come in other colors like purple and gold.

Acanthopanax: "There's nothing like variegated foliage in the shade." This particular type is not "viney," but does have nasty thorns. She has it planted at the base of a crab apple tree. It looks pretty and is low maintenance.

Fothergilla: Is a woody plant that has "bottle-brush" flowers in the spring. It will grow in partial shade. There's also a new variety called Blue Shadow which, if you look closely, has blue foliage and is a "smashing red" color in the fall.

Kirengeshoma: Also known as "yellow wax bells," this perennial is a "handsome" plant that likes moisture. "It's a great back of the border plant."

Cimicifuga or "Bugbane:" There is a purple-leafed variety that does well in partial shade. This is also a perennial. "There are tall, pure white, fuzzy flowers that are very fragrant in bloom. They attract butterflies and humming birds."

Ligularia: The Britt Marie Crawford type has dark chocolate leaves. "It looks like someone sprayed the leaves with lacquer." Yellow or orange Black-eyed Susan-looking daisies bloom on the plants in August.

For more information

Suzanne Mahler has a Web site with tips on gardening: www.wickedlocal.com/hanover/fun/gardening.

Her gardens at her home at 152 Brookwood, Hanover, are listed as National Display Gardens for the American Daylily Society and are open to the public during July and August.