Evergreen

[Jersey Devil]

Can Evergreens survive in complete shade in the Summer as long as it gets full sun all Winter and early Spring ? Or even though they are green all year do they still hibernate in Winter where the sun will do them no good ? I was curious about growing something like Elaeagnus, English Laurel, or Evergreen Huckleberry in an area that gets virtually no sun in Summer but full sun the rest of the non growing season.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Hemlock trees sure can thrive in shade

Eastern hemlock | The Morton Arboretum

To plant and protect trees for a greener, healthier, and more beautiful world

mortonarb.org

I had some holly and azalea in pretty deep shade and doing well

 

[Jersey Devil]

Ty Mr. Yan

 

[Tetters]

Although Eleagnus is happy to be in shade for a lot of the time, it does appreciate some sunshine. It is a favourite of mine for winter perfume. The flowers are insignificant, but the scent is gorgeous, and will fill the garden around Christmas time. The variegated ones like "limelight" would be better for lifting a dark corner, failing that,as Mr Yan said, holly is good. Pick one with variegated leaves, and red berries in winter,- such as the female "Golden King" Although I have never grown the Huckleberry you mentioned, I think it's actually Vaccinium - or something like that - so have no experience with it, I believe it likes a fair bit of sunshine.

 

[Jersey Devil]

Please tolerate my ignorance when it comes to gardening, but I was specifically wanting to know if evergreens, any kind, bushes, trees, whatever, do they benefit from direct sunlight in Winter or do they hibernate even though they keep their foliage ? Most other plants are still bare in the Spring before the sun is blocked by shade trees, but evergreens, I would think, can enjoy the early Spring sunlight until the trees block the sun completely. I defer from the original post and am not asking what if any evergreens I can plant in the shade, but rather, are evergreens different from deciduous plants in that they can benefit from sun absorbtion all the months of the year. And so can they tolerate Summer shade better than other plants because maybe they were able to "store" sunlight during the non growing season. Just the rambling of an uneducated green thumb

 

[Tetters]

Evergreen trees with needles, like the pine, can contlnue to use the sunshine, and photosynthesise during the winter, unlike those deciduous ones. They close down altogether. I'm not sure about other plants, but imagine they would be the same. My expertise ends there I'm afraid.
I would like to add that your question @Jersey Devil is an extremely interesting and valid one and most certainly does NOT show ignorance.

 

[Meadowlark]

It is an interesting question...for fun I checked with AI..."Evergreens do benefit from some sunlight during the winter, but direct sunlight can be problematic."

They explain that too much direct sunlight can dry out the needles and dehydrate the plant. Interesting that photosynthesis continues in winter for evergreens.

I'm doubtful that "store sunlight" happens but they do grow even in winter.

 

[Mr_Yan]

So just riffing here:

Around Michigan, especially nearish the lake like I am, it's cloudy all winter. I think the local TV weather guys were saying Grand Rapids had only 4 to 6 hours of clear sun for the months of January and February this year. So evergreen trees aren't getting as strong and direct sun as they do in the summer even with the broad leaf trees leafed out casting shade then. On the other hand that black spruce in the middle of my yard is never shaded.

So as a theoretical question yes there defiantly are evergreens that thrive in shade.

Plants would "store sun" as sugars or starches. A potato, beet, or onion is just stored sun energy to convert and grow next year's plant quickly to flower and reproduce. Unless we ruin their life and, say, cook them. But yeah, conifers aren't really known for syrup, leave that to maples.