Recently while perusing several gardening magazines, I came across some interesting shade plants. And it made me think more about my own shade gardens. When I first started at Kansas State University, I did not even know about shade gardening. Back home, everything was prairie and savannah. But now that I live among trees, I see the value of shade and shade gardens more than ever. And I am always on the lookout for unique shade plants I can grow.
Along the eastern border of my property, I started a shade border. And I also put in a shade garden island around a hickory and black walnut tree. Did you know that most of our favorite shade plants grow under walnuts? At least, the North American natives do. Anyways. since I am an avid visitor of botanical gardens and arboretums, as well as a garden magazine reader, I have come across a variety of unique garden plants for the shade. And I try a lot of them.
Common Shade Plants
You know the ones I am talking about? We all have them in our shade gardens already. Hostas, coral bells, ferns, anemones, and astilbe. But there are so many more things to choose and try in the garden. But there are the old standbys too. It is hard not to have some of these in the garden, especially when there are so many cultivars to choose from.
The following is a list of common shade plants; the ones most of us have in the garden already. There are actually hundreds if not thousands of cultivars of hostas, and many hundreds of coral bells and astilbe. I am not getting into the depth of these cultivars, just the common names of plants. If you want to know more, check out my post Shade Garden Creation and Maintenance.
- Hosta
- Coral Bells
- Foamy Bells
- Ferns
- Anemone
- Astilbe
- Ligularia
- Vinca
- Hellebore
- Epimedium
- Brunnera
The Shade Plants You NEED
The following 10 shade plants are more unique and less commonly found in shade gardens. That does not mean that you will not find them. In fact, the first one on the list is probably in many of your shade gardens, but not its lesser known cousins. All but 1 of these are North American natives, found commonly in the woods, but not so much in gardens. But it is my hope that more of you shade gardeners will add some of these special plants.
Bleeding Hearts
As I said, many of you probably have either old fashioned bleeding hearts in your garden, or you have some of the newer cultivars such as ‘Gold Hearts’ or ‘Valentine’. But what do you know of Dutchman’s breeches, Dicentra cucullaria? It is a native woodland species, common from the Eastern Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard and north to Maine. Found commonly alongside it is Squirrel Corn, Dicentra canadensis.
Dutchman’s breeches is a short, white or pink flowered perennial groundcover for the shade. It is ephemeral, meaning that is comes up and produces both flowers and seeds before most of the overhead tree canopy has fully leafed out. The plants only grow 4 to 6 inches tall, and the flowers another 4 to 8 inches above the foliage. Bees, mainly bumblebees and mason bees, are the primary pollinators of the flowers, while seed dispersal is done by ants, who take the fleshy seeds to their nests. Also, the leaves are seldom grazed by rabbits or deer, being poisonous to them.
Aralia ‘Sun King’
This is the only nonnative on the list. Also known as Japanese spikenard, it is a distant cousin to our native aralia species. This cultivar is known for its color, more than its flowers. The foliage is a bright neon or chartreuse yellow, and only turns greenish in too much sun. And too much sun can also burn the leaves. It prefers part to full shade. I used it for a client who has very dense shade under some river birch trees, and it has done remarkably well.
Aralia ‘Sun King’ thrives in Zones 3 to 9, and it grows 3 feet tall and wide. The flowers, which come onto the plant in late summer, are purplish, but not showy. it is the leaf color and texture that makes this plant worth having in the landscape.
Robin’s Plantain
I came across this low growing groundcover while at a native plant tour at the Dyck Arboretum in Hesston, KS. They have a plant sale in the spring, and their greenhouses still had some plants left when I was there. One of my purchases was Robin’s plantain, Erigeron pulchella. It has silvery, fuzzy leaves that grows just 1 to 2 inches tall. But the flowers grow another 6 to 10 inches above the spreading leaves and look like pinkish daisies. Robin’s plantain is native from the Missouri River eastward, so some of you may have heard of it.
Small bees, butterflies, and skippers are attracted to the dainty flowers, while 4 moth species use it as a host plant. In the wild, which is under savannah and glade conditions, Robin’s plantain is browsed by rabbits and other herbivores. But in the garden it forms a silvery carpet when not in bloom.
Indian Pink
This perennial, native to the Southeastern US, is becoming more popular with the Proven Winners introduction of the cultivar ‘Ragin Cajun’. And it will continue to be so when more gardeners see it perform in the shade. I planted some in my shade border and was more than surprised to see it bloom and spread in the first year. And it is nice to have some more native hummingbird attractant plants.
Indian pink grows up to 2 feet tall and w feet wide, but does spread into a nice clump, not a true groundcover. It is considered fairly deer and rabbit resistant due to alkaloids in the leaves.
Nodding Wild Onion
I was captivated by this perennial when I first saw it. I love the ornamental and wild onions. And this one takes some shade! Nodding wild onion, Allium cernuum, is common in the Rocky Mountains, Appalachian Mountains, and Ozark Mountains. But it has done very well in my shade border, along with a client’s private shade garden.
There are some cultivars, including one called Hidcote Pink Giant, which is taller than the typical species, and has pink flowers on nodding or curved stems. The species grows 1 foot tall and wide, and the flowers can add another 16 inches of height to the plant. It spreads both through bulbs and seeds in the garden, and is easy to divide and transplant. Flowers of nodding wild onion are visited by a number of bees and butterflies. It is considered to be rabbit and deer resistant.
Virginia Waterleaf
If you do not know about this native groundcover, then you probably are new to the blog. Virginia waterleaf is a favorite of mine, and it loves the shade, especially under the black walnut trees. In fact, it seems to have a special relationship with black walnuts. The leaves are green and cutleaf, dappled with “watermarks” or splotches of off-white colorings. But it is the flowers which make it more worthwhile.
Virginia waterleaf, Hydrophyllum virginianum grows about 1 foot tall and spreads into a large area by rhizomes. The flowers grow about 4 to 8 inches above the foliage, and are bright pink in color. Bees, butterflies, and skippers visit the flowers. And I have even seen hummingbirds go for the nectar. The plant is common from the eastern Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard.
Woodland Blue Phlox
Another perennial groundcover you should know by now is woodland blue phlox. I first saw this in my grandmother’s garden North Central Kansas, and have added into almost every shade garden I am involved with in Northeast Kansas. And why not? Not only does it have a long bloom period, of at least 6 weeks in spring, it is semi-evergreen and easy to care for.
Woodland blue phlox, Phlox divaricata, grows 4 to 6 inches tall and spreads 1 to 3 feet outward. The flowers rise 3 to 6 inches above the foliage, and can be blue, purple, lavender, pink, or white. My favorite is the white cultivar ‘May Breeze’. There is just something special about white flowers in the shade garden in spring. And combine them with the blue varieties? Wow! Butterflies, hummingbird moths, and bees are the primary insect pollinators.
Drummond’s Aster
Made in the shade. If you want the flower power of an aster for shade, then look no further. While there are several other asters which are at home in the woodlands, Drummond’s aster, Symphyotrichum drummondii, is my favorite. It is native primarily in the Eastern Great Plains and western Midwest regions. I love it for its flowers most of all, as it is the first of the aster species to bloom in my garden.
Drummond’s aster produces rosettes of leaves, 2 to 4 inches tall and 10 inches wide. The flowers shoot upwards 6 to 18 inches above the leaves and are either white or lightly blue, rarely lavender. 42 moths and 2 butterflies use aster as host plants, while bees are the main visitors of the flowers.
Starry Campion
If you have not heard of this one, well, I understand. It is a little known plant outside of native plant groups. But it should not be so. Starry campion, Silene stellata, is native from the Eastern Great Plains to the Atlantic Seaboard. It can be found in both shade and sun conditions, though it seems to be more common under oak/hickory trees. The white flowers look like bright little white stars under the canopy of the trees.
Starry campion grows 1 to 3 feet tall and spreads in small groupings or clusters. It is primarily pollinated by moths, and sometimes bumblebees. One of the moth pollinators, along with one other moth, use it as a host plant.
Bloodroot
The last of the shade plants you NEED. Bloodroot, Sanguinaria canadensis, is native from the Eastern Great Plains to the Atlantic coast, and is found in rocky ridges and slopes. I saw it for the first time at the Overland Park Arboretum in Overland Park, KS. Since then I have found it in other areas, and now have it growing under the black walnut in my island garden.
Bloodroot is ephemeral, though the leaves hang out for a while after the seeds have been dispersed by ants. The flowers are white, and the arrangement forms a “square” shape, which is unlike any other flower I know of. It is a cousin of the poppy, but looks nothing like it. It is so named bloodroot because of the reddish sap that leaks from the cut roots when ripped or broken. Plants grow 6 inches tall, though the leaves get up to 10 inches before they are done. The flowers barely rise above the foliage. In fact, they come out at about the same time as the leaves. It spreads slowly to form a groundcover.
Other Shade Plants to Try in the Garden
What are some other little-known shade plants? There is still quite a list. From the ends of the earth come many wondrous plants, some of which will surely grow in your micro-climate conditions. Here is a list of some potential shade plants to consider.
- Bear’s Breeches, Acanthus mollis
- Doll’s Eyes, Actaea alba
- Blue-bead Lily, Clintonia borealis
- Shooting Star, Dodecatheon media
- Round leaved Hepatica, Hepatica maxima
- Twinleaf, Jeffersonia diphylla
- Waxbells, Kirengeshoma palmata
- Mayapple, Podophyllum peltatum
- Ornamental rhubarb, Rheum palmatum
- Strawberry Begonia, Saxifraga stolonifera
Conclusion
There are many different kinds of shade plants you can add to the garden. But these are some you absolutely NEED. Well, I think so anyways. But even if you do not or cannot grow them, I hope you enjoyed learning about them. Take the time to get to know new species, plants, and insects.
Happy planting!