Friday, February 7, 1992 — North Shore News — 13

Plants that thrive in low-light conditions

LAST WEEK’S article pointed out some less obvious
causes for the difficulties we experience in growing plants

in shady areas of the garden.

It also offered a few sugges-
tions as to methods you could
employ to meet the challenges
these problem areas present. OK,
now that your problems are all
soived, what say we sink a few
plants?

Obviously I speak in jest; the
most significant problem we have
in the shade garden will not have
disappeared. The lack of light re-
mains as our most serious dilem-
ma and little can be done to
resolve it without turning a shade
garden into a light garden. Our
only hope is to find plants chat
will thrive or at least tolerate low
light conditions.

I find it helpful to arrange the
likely candidates into groups rela-
tive to their height. This can be a
great help when trying to isolate a
specific plant to match our needs.
The four main groups that work
for me are:

The canopy — I ‘will only offer a
brief description of this group as
they generally represent the prob-
lem rather’ than the solution.

Influential

JOHN LAUTNER is an American
iconoclast.

He has earned a world-wide
reputation for his spectacular and
fantastic ‘hillside and beachfront
houses. Lautner’s work has been

:‘called |. timeless’. and classic, a
*“profoundly human architec-
ture.”

: His work transcends any sty-
listic definition; more than ar-
chitecture, the houses of John
Lauiner are sculpture, works of
art. His spaces resonate with a
dream quality. As one of his
‘clients: ‘has said, they make you
feel like. you can “fly without
leaving the ground.””

. > Lautner can justifiably be called
‘a master.of poured-in-place con-

i

Geoff
Tebiasson

rae’
OVER THE GARDEN GATE

These tallest members of the plant
world range in height from 50 feet
in the case of those from the
deciduous forest to over 300 feet
as shown by our largest coniferous
evergreens.

The sub-canopy — I reserve this
group for mid-height trees such as
our native vine maples (acer cir-
cinatum) found reaching up
through the giant evergreens
around them. Few if any of these
can tolerate the deep shade of our
well-established, old-growth
forests. Those that do manage to
take root. in the rare sunbeams
that manage to thread their way
down from above will become
thia, stretched-out versions of
their normal selves.

Here are a few examples of
trees that would be suitable for
this type of use in the shade
garden. The green-leaved
members of the Japanese Maple
(acer palmatum and a. japonicum)
family will tolerate most situations
of bright shade. Their bright green
leaves of summer along with their
yellow, red and orange fat} colors
can create a dramatic effect when
planted in a bright spot of a dark,
coniferous forest.

One of the best for this applica-
tion is the Coral Bark Maple (a.p.
‘Sango Kaku’). The golden-green
leaves of summer and bright
yellow leaves of fall can add a
glowing highlight to our otherwise

architect to speak on

crete; he utilizes the freedom of
concrete to create poetic,
sculptural, lyrical forms, possess-
ing a drama not possible with
other materials. ;
Lautner’s projects include:
Silvertop, Los Angeles; Elrod Res-
idence, Palm Springs; Stevens
Residence, Malibu; Segal Resi-
dence, Malibu;: House at Rocky
Point; and the fabulous Goldstein
Residence. :
Born in 1911 in Michigan,
Lautner studied at Northern
Michigan State, and then beginn-
ing in 1933, he apprenticed for six
years with Frank Lloyd Wright at
Taliesin. In 1939, Lautner was
supervising the Sturges House in
California, and he decided to stay

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and open his own practice.

It has been said that Lautner is
one of Wright’s few disciples who
has taken Wright's ideas about
living space and transcended
them.

Prior to designing his well-
known residences, Lautner pro-
duced much commercial architec-
ture. In 1949, Lautner designed

44 The green-leaved members
of the Japanese Maple family
will tolerate most situations
of bright shadz.¥9

gloomy forests.

If you enjoy a challenge and are
looking for a broad-leaved
evergreen tree for the mid-height
regiens of your shade garden, try
to find an Oregon Myrtle
(umbellufaria californica). A\J-
though you should have no prob-
lem growing it, finding plants
or seeds will undoubtedly prove.to
be difficult. The shiny, narrow,
green leaves and drooping,
multi-stemmed appearance re-
minds me of the willow. The ar-
omatic leaves and early spring
clusters of cream flowers are a
bonus.

Other potential candidates for

brightest sections of this area in-
clude the birches (betula sp.), the
Gogwoods (cornus sp.), and the
laurels including the English
(prunus laurocerasus) =nd Par-
tuguese (prunus lusitanica)
varieties. The English Holly (ilex
aquafolium) can sometimes be
successful but be on the watch for
leaf miner and black soot mould,
as growing in this less-than-
favorable site will leave it in a
weakened condition and prone to
attack.

Next week we will look at
plants for the middie and
ground-level regions of the shade -
garden.

‘Living, Architecture’

Los Angeles’ ‘“‘Googie’’ restau-
rants and gave birth to a new
esthetic.

Located primarily in California,
the work of John Lautaer has
acted as an inspiration to the
work of contemporary California
“freestyle” architects such as
Frank Gehry and his progeny.
Lautner’s houses have been used

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in films such as. Diamonds Are
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Lautner will be speaking on
‘‘Living Architecture’? at the
Robson Square Conference Centre
on Feb, 12 at 6 p.m. Admission i is
free.

For more information, contact
Jeannie Bates at 732-5390.

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