I have a 2 hour winter sun portion of the yard. The issue is it is extremely narrow. I looked up natives with height like American beauty but that plant would take up the entire space. I have a couple Turks cap but it's not really thriving in the space. Any advice on vertical shade garden plants with less width?
Inland Sea Oats?
Robust second on this. I planted a few in my shade patch a couple of years ago and they are thriving.
this, and sedges
How has the reseeding factor affected your other plants?
Great question, because it definitely reseeds and spreads. I started with two plants, between a corner of my fence, 3 mature cedar elm trees, and a mature mountain laurel. Now I have a little understory meadow thing going on, where they're gradually filling in that area, but not like aggressively overtaking anything. On the edges of the shade in that area, there's spiderwort and purple heart and some wildflowers, and they all seem to coexist. I love that little spot. My dachshunds like to go "exploring" in the tall grass back there (we stay on top of their flea & tick meds!).
They will reseed but they’re not super aggressive. I have an area of my yard I planted some as an experiment and frankly forgot about watering them. They lived and come back occasionally but they have never crossed the bed itself into the grass area.
You can also look into Chile pequin, they do not get tall but thrive just fine in the shade. Bonus you’ll get tiny, spicy peppers.
Narrow, tall and shade-tolerant is a pretty tough niche. There are a few tall/narrow Yaupon cultivars that could work, but honestly I’d have more confidence in a standard Pride of Houston Yaupon that you maintain/prune to fit.
Edited to add - I’m not entirely sure what you mean by “vertical” so maybe I’m misinterpreting that as you wanting something tall. Plenty of smaller plants that could work.
Yes something tall!
You might just need to give your Turks cap a little more time, or fertilizer. The only other thing I can think of for deep shade is aspidistra. Soft leaf yucca is nice. There should be a vine that would work but nothing comes to mind right now.
Just ordered some aspidistra! Thanks! 😊
I’ve never found this one in nurseries, but pitcher sage? It grows similarly to Turk’s Cap and thrives in shade. I have a packet of seed from Native American seed and I’m starting some indoors right now. Similarly, you could try Frostweed and Western Ironweed.
Ordered! Thank you!!!
Texas persimmon
I’ve planted Gregg’s mistflower and that does really well. You can also use obedient plant. Both are a bit aggressive at multiplying but just pull out the ones in your way.