The rules of good landscape design apply to shade gardens: work with the foliage first, flowers second.
The garden should look nice even when there is nothing in bloom. When designing a shade border with perennials, think of the leaves as the mainstays of the garden and the flowers as the “bonus.”
Avoid those plants that flop after bloom, and those that need extra care such as staking.
The Top 3 Shade-Loving Plants
Here are the top shade-loving plants that have lovely foliage and attractive flowers:
Hostas
The large-leaved Hosta are luxurious in shade, some with glossy, dark green foliage; others are variegated green and white or green and gold. They all have attractive lily-like flowers mostly in shades of blue. One very nice variety is Royal Standard, with dark green leaves and fragrant white flowers.
Astilbes
Astilbe are lovely plants for shade with their gorgeous plumes of red, pink or white flowers in June and very attractive spring foliage that remains green and attractive all summer long (as long as the soil is moist – they detest becoming dry). Grouping together Hosta, Ferns and Astilbes is an excellent combination for making a lovely long-lived perennial shade garden.
Ferns
Ferns are easy-to-grow, maintenance-free plants that mostly need or prefer cool, moist shade. There are many ferns available including the classics -- Ostrich Fern, Lady Fern and Sensitive Fern. Other exciting varieties are arriving from China and Japan as ferns have become more popular, such as the Japanese Painted Fern, (with blue-gray fronds), and the Autumn Fern (with coppery foliage). The Christmas Fern and Holly Ferns are evergreen. Ferns are drought hardy as well.
Other Lesser-Known Shade-Loving Plants
You may also want to try these varieties for added interest in your shade garden:
Shade-Loving Peony
Most peony-lovers think that this plant thrives only in full sun. But not the Peony Japanica and Peonia obovata (which grow in the bamboo thickets in Japan and China). These are long-lived and beautiful in flower and foliage, and deer leave them alone. Fall displays of the seedpods are dramatic.
Epimedium
Also called “bishop’s cap”, has small delicate flowers and heart-shaped leaves. These hardy plants survive in the most difficult situation in the garden, such as the dry shade underneath a tree.
Rodgersia
Has large broad leaves that are as beautiful as its white, yellow or red flowers. This perennial needs shade and moisture to grow well.
Asarums (European Wild Ginger)
While you cannot eat them, they do have a nice scent. These are slow growing but attractive.
Cimicifuga
Most of these varieties grow tall and are perfect for back-of-the-border plants.
Dicentras (bleeding hearts)
These have great flower displays in the spring, and some varieties don’t go dormant at all in the winter.
Calex & Hakonochola.
These are both small ornamental grasses. Calex love bog-like, very wet conditions, and have white or gold cream stripes in leaves. Hakonechloa is a Japanese grass, which is slow growing, hardy and elegant.
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