A shade garden offers a wonderful respite from the sun, giving a cool feeling even at the height of summer. These gorgeous, easy-care and waterwise shady ladies are readily available at garden centers, nurseries and online sources.
Knowing the kind of shade you have is helpful for selecting shade-loving plants. Some shade is thought of as morning or afternoon, like when a building or another plant casts shadows during certain times of the day.
Other shades are dappled, such as those found through the canopy of trees; or full shade found in woodland gardens where tree cover is so thick, sunlight barely penetrates.
Don’t let sun-starved spots go un-planted in your garden. There are many great plants to brighten a darkened area. Even in areas where no sun shines, you can grow a garden. Adding these shade-loving flowers and foliage to your beds, borders, or containers will give you a garden that’s made in the shade.
Rockapulco® Apple blossom Impatiens Impatiens walleriana
A shade garden offers a wonderful respite from the sun, giving a cool feeling even at the height of summer. These gorgeous, easy-care and waterwise shady , mounding habit with double blooms resembling a rose. Will bloom all season without deadheading.
Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Height: 10-20 inches
Spacing: 12 inches
Hardy Temperature: 35ºF (1.7ºC)
Uses: Containers, hanging baskets, and beds where color is needed
Colors: Pink
Diamond Frost® Euphorbia Euphorbia graminea
Blooms constantly through frost. Ethereal looking, yet tough as nails. Heat and drought tolerant, and deer resistant
Exposure: Part Shade to Sun
Height: 12-18 inches
Spacing: 12 inches
Hardy Temperature: 35ºF (1.7ºC)
Uses: In pots serving as a filler with other plantings
Colors: White hovering over green
Dolce® ‘Blackberry Ice’ Coral Bells Heuchera hybrid
Blooms in mid summer. Drought and humidity tolerant, deer resistant, and attracts hummingbirds.
Exposure: Sun or shade
Height: 8-12 inches
Spacing: 8-12 inches
Hardy Temperature: -30ºF (-34.4ºC)
Uses: Because of their low, mounding habit, they are often used as edging along paths or in containers. Try cutting a few of the tall flower scapes for fresh bouquets.
Colors: Cream flowers, purple black with silver netted foliage.
Cityline® Hydrangea ‘Venice’ Hydrangea macrophylla
Tight full plant without the need for pruning. Excellent mildew resistance
Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Height: 12-36 inches
Spacing: 44 inches
Hardy Temperature: -20ºF (-28.9ºC)
Uses: Great in mixed borders, containers, or as a specimen plant. Lovely cut flowers
Colors: Fuchsia to blue depending on the soil’s pH
ColorBlaze® Lime Time™ Coleus Solenostemon scutellarioides
Grown for foliage, this annual performs until frost. Deer resistant, and attracts hummingbirds
Exposure: Sun to shade
Height: 20-36 Inches
Spacing: 12-16 Inches
Hardy Temperature: 30ºF (1.1ºC)
Uses: Beds, borders, and containers. Use wherever a pop of intense color is needed
Colors: Chartreuse; to keep foliage in top shape, pinch off the pale blue blooms as they appear.
Shadowland® ‘Seducer’ Hosta hybrid
Border plant, container, cut flower; attracts hummingbirds
Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Height: 22-26 inches
Spacing: 36 inches
Hardy Temperature: -40ºF (-40ºC)
Uses: In the bed or border, containers
Colors: Variegated foliage; lavender flower
Virginia sweetspire Little Henry® Itea virginica
White cylindrical shaped flowers blooming in the spring. Deer resistant
Exposure: Shade to Sun
Height: 24-36 inches
Spacing: 44 inches
Hardy Temperature: -20ºF (-28.9ºC)
Uses: In the garden bed
Colors: White
Ligularia ’Bottle Rocket ’ Ligularia hybrid
Mounded compact habit with striking summer bloom and interesting architectural foliage
Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Height: 28-34 inches
Spacing: 24 inches
Hardy Temperature: -30ºF (-34.4ºC)
Uses: Make a statement in your shade garden with bright flower spikes. Ligularias are at their best when grown in cool, moist locations in part shade.
Colors: Yellow
Anemone ‘Honorine Jobert ’ Anemone × hybrida
Tall, woody-based perennial with elegant single petaled flowers, and deeply lobed glossy green foliage
Exposure: Part Shade to Sun
Height: 36-48 inches
Spacing: 36 inches
Hardy Temperature: -30ºF (-34.4ºC)
Uses: In the bed or border, containers
Colors: White petals with a pink underside, and bright yellow stamens
Ostrich Fern Matteuccia struthiopteris
Spreads by underground stems, cut back old fronds after new growth in spring.
Exposure: Full Shade to Full Sun
Height: 36-72 inches
Spacing: 24 inches
Hardy Temperature: -50ºF (-45.6ºC)
Uses: Tall elegant fronds, great for the back of the shade garden or border. En masse makes a nice statement.
Colors: Light green
Astilbe YOUNIQUE Carmine™ ‘Verscarmine’ Astilbe
Floriferous, compact habit flowers in perfect proportion to foliage size
Exposure: Part Shade to Sun
Height: 16-20 inches
Spacing: 20 inches
Hardy Temperature: -30ºF (-34.4ºC)
Uses: Nice container plants for patios, woodland shade gardens
Colors: Hot fuchsia
Lenten Rose ‘Ice Follies’ Helleborus × hybridus
Large 3-inch blooms in early spring. Naturalizes in a woodland setting.
Exposure: Part Shade to Shade
Height: 18-22 inches
Spacing: 24 inches
Hardy Temperature: -30ºF (-34.4ºC)
Uses: As a ground cover in a border or companion plants in the shade garden
Colors: Cream to light yellow flowers, heavily speckled with burgundy red flecks
Images and plant specs courtesy of Proven Winners, Perennial Resource, and Missouri Botanical Society
© Caruth Studio