Hi, I would like some flowering plants to fill my front yard, however I have a huge spruce tree that blocks the sunlight and also their needle like stuff fills the front lawn. I have tried flox flowers, however I only have a few of them blooming where as my neighbor’s is in full bloom. I live in Toronto, don’t know what kind of soil I have but succulents grow well in that soil. If you can suggest any land fill flowering plants that would be really helpful. thanks
From your description your front garden is in full shade. There is a lawn but its probably not in such good shape as the large spruce tree blocks the sun and any rain from reaching the grass. Your soil will no doubt be dry, dusty and acidic. Not only that but there are those “needles” covering the ground. Not a good site. Its going to be very difficult growing flowering plants in such a spot, especially those with bright colours. You said you had tried growing phlox which is a sun loving perennial so that’s probably why it’s not thriving.
One idea would be to create a raised flower bed somewhere in your garden preferably where there might be some sun. You would fill the bed with good organic soil so that will provide better growing conditions for the plants. If you are successful then you can plan another raised bed in another part of your garden. Planting perennials seems to be the better option since annuals mean planting new every year.
Here is a short list of shade loving perennials that might work in your situation.
Bleeding Heart (Dicentra)
Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Bigroot geranium (Geranium macrorrhizium)
Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
Yellow corydalis (Corydalis lutea)
Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla)
Hellebore (Helleborus orientalis)
Astilbe (Astilbe chinensis)
Jacob’s Ladder (Polemonium)
Visit the following website for further information on these individual plants. Just type in the name in the search box.
www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/