Perennial Garden Plants for Shade

Virginia bluebells bloom in early spring.

If you have a shady spot in your yard and want to plant a shade garden there, do a bit of detective work before you plant. Determine if the site has primarily dry or moist soil. Monitor it on a clear day and determine exactly how much sun or shade it actually gets. Some plants require only a little shade and some thrive in nearly total shade. Plant plants suited to the specific growing conditions in your yard.

Moist Shade

If an area of your property has moist, low-lying, shady ground, plant perennials that thrive in these areas. A low-growing flowering perennial, bugleweed produces spikes of lavender flowers in May and June. It is available in varieties with purple, bronze or variegated foliage. Cardinal flower, a red lobelia, grows slightly taller than bugleweed, and has red spiked flowers that bloom throughout the summer. Joe-Pye weed is a native American wildflower growing up to 6 feet tall. It has mauve flowers with purple stems, and it blooms in late summer and early fall.

Dry Shade

A large genus of perennials found throughout North America, columbine is native to higher altitudes and can stand dry conditions. Dead nettle, so-called due to its lack of stinging barbs unlike its cousin "stinging nettle," produces pink or white flowers in very late spring. Suitable for rock gardens in dry shade, glory-of-the-snow is a low-growing plant that blooms in very early spring. Its blue, crocus-like flowers last a long time; the leaves fade away by midsummer.

Dappled Shade

Growing 1 to 3 feet high, coralbells' lilac-like flowers bloom in late spring and are held well above the foliage. It is considered an evergreen perennial and is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture zone 3. Blooming in late summer to early fall, toad lily produces spotted lily-like flowers that last for weeks on the plant. It grows up to 2 feet high. With cup-shaped leaves that hold water droplets, lady's mantle grows about 2 feet high. Its sprays of dainty yellow flowers bloom late in spring into early summer.

Full Shade

With large, lanceolate leaves in whorls, sweet woodruff is a sturdy, low-growing perennial. Its white flowers form in groups on a stem originating in the center of the leaves. It blooms in late spring and early summer. Virginia bluebells produce one of the few true-blue shade flowers on 2-foot plants in early spring. The flowers of blue lungwort are more purple than blue and bloom in early spring. It grows just 8 inches high.

References

• Purdue University Extension: Landscape Plants for Shady Areas; Michael N. Dana, B. Lerner; 2006
• University of Minnesota Extension: Dry Soil: Shade or Under Trees; Theresa Rooney