Jul 3, 2011 4 min read

Selecting perennials for shady places in the garden is both a challenge and an opportunity. A challenge, perhaps, because the options you have for bright colorful flowers is more limited than for the sunny garden.

But it is an opportunity because you will get to be more creative — more creative in searching for plants that aren’t as common at the garden center, and more creative in the ways you use leaf color and texture to provide interest throughout the growing season.

Many new plants offer more choices in foliage color. Hostas are a good example. Breeders have come a long way from the plain green and green-and-white leaved varieties we remember from years ago. Now there are hostas in colors ranging from deep blue-green to chartreuse to gold, and variegated varieties of all combinations.

If you take a moment to look, you’ll also see there are a greater variety of plant textures to choose from, too: simple lobed leaves, palmate shapes, finely serrated edges, feathery fronds, smooth and bumpy surfaces, and much more. Ferns are a popular choice in shady gardens because their texture is so pleasing.

Using plants with different foliage colors is an easy way you can introduce color to shady spots in your garden — and the color will remain throughout the season. Use textures to add visual interest.

However, there are many plants that flower in the shade, and these provide a nice surprise in the shade garden. Here’s a look at some that are perfect for our area in the order of their bloom time.

Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) blooms in late winter and early spring. This plant’s dark green, leathery leaves tough it out through winter. Flowers are available in several colors, but are usually white or a greenish cream color which gets pinker with age.

Virginia bluebell (Mertensia virginica) is a native plant that emerges in early spring. Clusters of pink buds open into blue flowers that fade to lilac. Virginia bluebell can grow to 2 feet tall, but the foliage dies back to the ground in early summer. The “Alba” variety has white flowers.

Bleeding heart (Dicentra) is an old-fashioned favorite. Bleeding heart grows in clumps that can reach two/three feet tall. Arching sprays of dangling pink or white flowers appear in spring. After the blooms finish, the leaves may die back to reappear the following spring.

Lily of the valley (Convallaria majalis) is prized for its fragrant, bell-shaped flowers each spring. Foliage grows about 6 inches tall and plants spread by underground stems.

Variegated Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum odoratum “Variegatum”) emerges in the spring with leaves furled, pushing up to become arching stems of up to three feet. In the spring, look for green-tipped, white flowers dangling like bells along the underside of the stems. The variegated leaves are cheerful all season long.

Phlox is typically found in sunny gardens, but several varieties prefer shade. Woodland phlox (P. divaricata) grows to 1-foot tall with blue, purple or white flowers in late spring. Creeping phlox (P.stolonifera) keeps to six-12 inches tall and forms mats which are covered with white, pink or blue flowers.

Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is a very low-growing plant that is sometimes used as a groundcover because it spreads by runners. Its sunny yellow flowers resemble single zinnias and bloom from late spring to early summer.

As I mentioned earlier, plantain lilies (Hosta) are often favored more for their foliage than their flowers, but flowers range from white to lavender. Some are very fragrant. Hostas can range in height from a few inches to more than three feet tall. The summer flower spikes also vary in height, from short to very tall — as tall as six feet or more.

Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) is an aromatic plant often used as a groundcover because it grows only about six inches tall. It has attractive whorled, lance-shaped leaves and star-like flowers that bloom in summer.

Turtlehead (Chelone) is a native plant with upright stems that can grow two-to-four feet tall. In late summer and fall white, pink or purple flowers bloom in clusters. The plant is so named because each flower looks like a turtle with its mouth open.

Finally, don’t let the name Toad Lily (Tricyrtis) fool you. There is nothing toad-like about these typically upright-growing plants. Toad lily’s exotic, purple-spotted, white or pink flowers bloom in late summer and fall — just when you want something to bloom in the garden. Two common varieties are T. hirta and T. formosana.

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Susan Brimo-Cox gardens, observes nature and writes in Ohiopyle.

Readers can send questions or comments to her at naturesgarden@brimo-cox.com.

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