A wise woman once told me that almost everyone eventually gardens in the shade....and I have found it to be true. Trees and shrubs get larger every year and sunny areas in the yard shrink. I don't mind at all. I have many favorite shade plants and I always find a calming atmosphere in my shade gardens. Here are some of my favorites, perennials only, in no particular order:
Groundcovers: sweet woodruff, cranesbills, lamium, ginger
For foliage:coral bells, hosta, solomon's seal, maidenhair ferns, goatsbeard
For flowers: anemone (both spring and fall blooming), astrantia, bleeding hearts, bowman's root, brunnera, celandine poppy, columbine, cranesbills again, crested iris, lady's mantle, lungwort, jacob's ladder, jack-in-the-pulpit, mayapple, primroses, tiarella, toad lilies, violets, woodland phlox, turtleheads, merrybells, yellow wax bells
Happy shade gardening!
