Even if you’ve always had your heart set on a sun-drenched cottage garden full of roses and lavender, there’s something to be said for the tranquility and subtle beauty of a shade garden. In fact, your plant palette isn’t limited if your garden is mostly shaded. Many pretty annuals, perennials, and even a few shrubs thrive in shady locations. Shaded front porches, decks, and patios also can be dressed in color with containers, hanging baskets, or window boxes overflowing with shade plants.
To ensure you’re choosing the right plants for your garden, first identify your light conditions by watching different areas of the garden throughout the day. Full shade means an area never receives direct sunlight or receives only some morning sun; part shade means it gets about 4–6 hours of direct sun, but mostly before noon. That’s important to know because the morning sun is OK for many shade lovers since it’s less intense than afternoon rays. Some plants you think need only shade, such as hostas and some types of hydrangeas, look their best and bloom better when they receive some sun.
Here are our 25 favorite shade plants for every type of garden, big or small.
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Lobelia
Lobelia loves cool weather and looks amazing cascading out of planters or window boxes. These annuals tolerate almost no direct sun, so give them plenty of shade. Once nighttime temperatures exceed 70 degrees, they get shaggy. Trim them back, and they should bounce back once cooler weather arrives again.
Lenten Rose
A variety of hellebore, these stunning perennials bloom from late winter to early spring and come in a range of gorgeous colors. They are extremely cold hardy and often bloom when snow is still on the ground.
Japanese Forest Grass
This deciduous perennial is one of the few ornamental grasses that thrives in the shade. Japanese forest grass grows in clumps and works as a ground cover, massed along a slope, as a foundation plant, or in containers where it shows its lovely arching form.
Oakleaf Hydrangea
This native hydrangea has large, dense flower heads of pink or white that offer three-season interest and texture. Unlike other kinds of hydrangeas, its foliage boasts bright autumn color. It is a good transition from woodlands to lawn along a property line. It does best with mild morning sun and afternoon shade.
Foamflower
This native woodland plant has charming, frothy flowers in early spring with evergreen foliage. Foamflower tolerates deep shade but blooms better when it receives some dappled sunlight.
Browallia
Also called amethyst flower, this little-known annual has brilliant blue blooms. Its semitrailing form works perfectly in hanging baskets and containers.
Fuchsia
These stunning annuals are best shown off in hanging pots or window boxes. Their purple, pink, red, or mixed flowers attract hummingbirds and butterflies.
Cranesbill
Also known as hardy geraniums, these perennials have spicy-scented foliage and pretty blooms of pink or purple from late spring through summer. Some bloom continuously. They make excellent edging plants and tolerate quite a bit of shade while still blooming vigorously.
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Heuchera
With ruffled, brightly colored leaves, this perennial adds a pop of color to any shady spot, though it will tolerate some sun. Also called coral bells because of its minuscule flower spikes that appear in midsummer, this plant is hardy, rabbit resistant, and available in any shade from bright orange to deep purple. Plant it in groupings for the best effect.
Japanese Maple
These trees have graceful forms, stunning fall color, and attractive foliage. Most types prefer shade, but some can handle sun, so read the plant tag or description to be sure about what you are buying. The Japanese maple is a nicely sized small to medium tree that makes a lovely focal point.
Epimedium
This lesser-known perennial has adorable flowers that appear in spring. It is cold hardy and makes a charming ground cover, though it doesn’t like foot traffic so plant where it will not be disturbed.
Begonia
These vigorous flowers bloom from spring to a hard frost in every color of the rainbow from white to hot pink to pale peach. There are many types, mostly grown as annuals, and some are grown for their foliage alone. Some also tolerate quite a bit of sun, so read the plant tag or description before buying. Begonias thrive equally well in landscape beds and pots.
Hosta
These hardy perennial plants are as versatile as they are varied. They come in a range of sizes from four inches to six feet across. Their foliage may be smooth or crinkly, and they’re available in colors such as chartreuse, deep green, and green-blue. Hostas produce small flowers in the summer in shades of pink, lavender, or white. Plant in borders, as foundation plantings, at the base of trees or shrubs, or in containers.
Foxglove
This classic cottage garden flower with tubular-shaped blooms in shades of pink, peach, lavender, white, yellow, and red thrives in part shade. It is not long-lived, typically growing for a few years, but will self-seed. Plant at the back of mixed borders.
Caladium
With heart-shaped leaves and splashes of hot pink, these showy plants offer plenty of drama to containers or beds. If you live in a cold climate, then pot them up so you can bring them indoors to enjoy as a houseplant over the winter or dig up the bulbs and save them for next year.
Impatiens
Impatiens are one of those tried-and-true annuals that never disappoint. They come in tons of bright colors to fill pots, hanging baskets, window boxes, and landscape beds and bloom all season long. Look for New Guinea impatiens or new hybrids that are not susceptible to diseases such as downy mildew.
Coleus
This annual comes in every color you can imagine from hot pink to deep burgundy to lime green. Many types tolerate sun or shade, so read the plant tag or description to be sure about what you’re buying.
Lady’s Mantle
An old-fashioned favorite that’s making a comeback because of the interest in cottage gardens, lady’s mantle has pretty chartreuse flowers on arching stems in mid- to late spring. It’s a long-lived perennial.
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Torenia
Also called wishbone flower, this perky annual comes in shades of pink, white, and purple and lasts from spring to fall. Fill window boxes and planters with the trailing variety, and wait for the hummingbirds to visit all summer long.
Astilbe
With its showy blooms atop fernlike foliage, this shade-loving perennial is a beautiful way to add color and texture in sections of gardens where other flowers may not thrive. Make sure it gets some sun in order to flower.
Dead Nettle
Actually a much prettier plant than the name would indicate, this ground cover has silvery-accented leaves and pink, purple, or white flowers in early spring. Also known as lamium, it works well under trees in dry shade.
Bletilla Striata
This exotic-looking, hardy perennial, also called Chinese ground orchid, produces small pinkish-purple flowers that bloom in mid- to late spring. It’s ideal in part-shade areas of borders or rock gardens.
Fern
Frothy ferns are hardier than they appear, popping up after even the toughest winters. They come in many colors, shapes, and sizes. Many like moist ground but are drought tolerant once established.
Pulmonaria
Once used to treat lung ailments, this perennial has pretty silver-spotted foliage and pink or purple flowers in spring. Also known by the equally unglamorous name of lungwort, it’s actually a lovely addition to any shade garden.
Sweetspire
This handsome shrub has upright, sweetly scented, white blooms that appear in early summer. Pollinators love it. Plant on hillsides, in mixed borders, or as a foundation planting.
NOTE – This article was originally published in veranda and can be viewed here
