I love the rain, always have. So today, while everyone else is complaining about getting their shoes wet or using the weather as an excuse for a bad mood, I sit uplifted by unexpected August showers. It is so peaceful and calming; attributes which I cherish.

I enjoy a rainy day the most when I’m peering out a window into my garden. The landscape takes on such a different personality when doused with a hearty amount of water droplets. Plants are struggling to maintain their height under the weight of newly acquired water. Small rivers are emerging assisting the excess in its search for the path of least resistance. And everything takes on a glossy grey hue.

That ambiance coupled with the hypnotic melody of rain falling on leaves is like being transported to a simpler place. Something I think we all could use these days.

I have a couple plants that thrive after these rainy moments: Ligularia ‘The Rocket’ and Hydrangea ‘Annabelle.’ Both become depressingly wilted if they do not get enough water. And by enough water I mean water on an almost daily basis. It doesn’t make me covet these plants any less. They are two of my favorites.

Ligularia and Hydrangea are wonderful for wet shady spots in your yard. But let me distinguish between wet shady areas with good drainage and areas that are very wet, very shady, and hold water. They are very different when choosing plants.

For those of you that have very wet very shady areas, you know what I mean! It can be impossible to find anything that will grow there! That’s because most plants don’t like “wet feet,” which is a term we use to describe plants that like to sit in water. These plants are very small in number. There are more plants that like lots of water but then like that water to drain away leaving dry roots and allowing the plant “breathe” and absorb oxygen.

Very wet shade is something I don’t have, but am very familiar with, having grown up in Riverwoods and caring for customer’s landscapes on the North Shore. So I know how frustrating and challenging it can be. People always ask me, exasperated, why won’t anything grow here?! The reason is simple…imagine if someone emerged you in a tank of water. How long could you live without oxygen? Plants are the same way.

There are things we recommend for these areas:

· Relieve compacted soils by amending and cultivating them
· Improve air circulation by routine pruning (trees and shrubs)
· Be realistic and choose plants that can tolerate the conditions and then be patient. Your selections might not work the first time.
· If your conditions are such that nothing will grow (a good indicator is a healthy population of moss), accept it and mulch it!! It is a much better alternative to mud and in a woodland area can be quite pretty.

We’ve become a culture of I want what I want when I want it…unfortunately living things, plants being

among them, don’t adhere to our wishes all the time. To be honest, their unpredictability is part of why I find them so alluring.

Photo: Ligularia 'The Rocket'