A handful of mostly green plants recommended for Zone 7 have been prodded by Nick Nickou to thrive in his Zone 6 garden. A Aucuba japonica ‘Variegata’; B Trochodendron araliodes; C Illicium floridanum ‘Album’; D Skimmia japonica; E Poncirus trifoliate ‘Flying Dragon’; F Hart’s tongue fern fronds (Asplenium scolopendrium); G Kalmia angustifolia; H dried Illicium fruits.

 

I cannot deny the healing power of gardens. In Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 novel The Secret Garden, a sickly orphaned girl discovers a walled garden on the grounds of her uncle’s estate. The garden had been tended by her late aunt, and anyone who comes in contact with it, including the girl, her uncle, and her cousin (both of whom are also suffering from various ailments), is cured of any emotional or physical maladies. Everyone lives happily ever after, naturally.

A secret garden can be any secluded place hidden away from the gaze of regular garden visitors where the person who tends the plants can find a few moments of solace and a respite from the tasks and heat of summer.

To me, that means a shady spot where it is often ten to fifteen degrees cooler than in the sunny open spaces. In the protected garden, ferns of all sorts can be planted along with Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum spp.), false Solomon’s seal (Maianthemum racemosa syn. Smilacina racemosa), and a host of ferns. If you want to include nonnative shade-tolerant plants, then hostas of all types can be cultivated along with their companions like Pulmonaria spp., Epimedium spp., astilbe, heuchera, geranium, Asian bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis, syn. Lamprocapnos spectabilis), and the delightful martagon lilies.

The secret or private area doesn’t have to be surrounded by a wall, although who wouldn’t want a walled garden or perhaps an old stone barn foundation?

You can plant modern screens of shrubs like Trochodendron, and Aucuba or native Illicium in Zone 7; Kalmia and Poncirus in Zone 6 and warmer. I recommend a “bio-hedge,” a planting of mostly deciduous local shrubs that serve as wildlife hiding places, living spaces, and often bird buffets with berried plants. In my area, shrubs include: dogwood, witch hazel, spicebush, blueberry, bayberry, winterberry holly, serviceberry, chokecherry, elderberry, viburnum, and wild roses.

For the shaded Secret Garden. Clockwise from top left: Ploygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’; silvery Japanese painted fern, Athyrium japonicum-pictum; crested male fern, Dryopteris affinis ‘Cristata’; bronze autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora; false solomon’s seal with berries, Mianthemum (syn. Smilacena) racemosa.