What is a Perennial for Shade?

Perennials are plants that persist year after year in a garden. They may be evergreens or deciduous, with the visible parts of plants dying down each winter and new ones returning each spring from underground buds. Perennials that require part shade requires an area that receives 3 to 4 hours of direct sunlight each day in early morning or evening, but not at midday. Planting on the east or west side of a building provides this type of shade. Part shade is also the filtered light provided by shade trees that have had their lower limbs removed to provide direct sunlight for short periods as the sun shines through gaps in the foliage. Full shade is shade provided by the north side of a building or from the cover of dense evergreen trees. It takes a special plant to thrive in these conditions.

Hardiness Zones

Each plant listed in this guide has a hardiness rating. Although these numbers represent the cold tolerance of the plants, the higher-or southern-number will indicate which plants will or will not survive the heat of the South. refer to the map on page 121 to determine your hardiness zone.

Mulching and Winter Protection

Mulch is a 2 to 4-inch layer of organic matter laid on the soil surface to retain moisture in the soil and to keep down weed growth. Preferred mulch materials include pine needles, shredded bark, shredded leaves, and pine bark chips. Avoid peat moss, which forms a dry crust and prevents water from getting to the soil. Don’t use fresh grass clippings, which heat up, or hay, which contains weed seeds. Mulch is the best applied in fall as the plants are going dormant or in the spring before they start to grow. In cold climates, apply a 6 to 10-inch layer of winter protection around the crowns of plants after the ground is frozen in early winter, and remove it when forsythia blooms in spring. It is especially important after late-fall planting to prevent unestablished plants from heaving out of the soil during alternating mild and cold spells.

LADYBELLS
Adenophora confusa

This valuable bellflower relative from china is one of the few plants that bloom well in summer shade. Pretty spikes of purplish blue, bell-shaped blooms hang down like Chinese lanterns along the 30 to 36-inch vertical stems of Ladybells. The bloom-laden spikes sit atop rich green foliage, flowering freely from mid to late summer. This low-maintenance plant spreads but is not invasive and is long lived in areas with the right growing conditions. More heat tolerant than most of its relatives, this cheerful perennial fares well in the Southeast and much of the Southwest (except desert areas).

UPRIGHT BUGLE
Ajuga pyramidalis

Upright bugle has showy 6 to 9-inch spikes of rich violet-blue blossoms and puts on quite a show when in bloom. After flowering, it makes a refined ground cover because it spreads like a weed, this cousin is a well-mannered, clump-forming plant. It is easy to grow and requires little maintenance once established.

LADY’S-MANTLE
Alchemilla mollis

In early summer, lady’s-mantle covers itself with long lasting chartreuse flowers, a unique shade in the plant world and one that complements almost every other garden hue. The starry blossoms make great cut flowers that remain attractive for two to three weeks. Its beautifully shaped large leaves are a pleasing light green and have the delightful habit of trapping jewel-like beads of water after rain or irrigation. The Latin name Alchemilla is derived from an association with ancient alchemists, who believed this plant had many medicinal properties.

JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT
Arisaema triphyllum

Jack-in-the-pulpit is widespread in the woods of the eastern United States. heights and colors vary, even in the same area. “Jack” (the reproductive organs, also called the spadix, of this fanciful plant) stands in a “pulpit” (a cuplike structure that is covered by a spathe, a colorful bract that arches over). The unusual blossoms remain attractive for several weeks before the fruits (mature Jacks) swell to a bright emerald green, then turn to scarlet red. Although not poisonous, the fruits cause a severe irritation to the mouth. Since the fruits look like candy, take care to keep small children away. Native Americans used the tubers to make a starchy food by boiling out the irritant and grinding and drying the mash into a type of flour.

GOATSBEARD
Aruncus Dioicus

Goatsbeard has been warmly welcomed into many shady gardens because of its huge, feathery plumes of creamy white flowers. Like its relative astilbe, it is equally happy in full sun, but only where summers are not too hot and the soil is consistently moist throughout the growing season. In its native habitat, goatsbeard even grows in wet, marshy areas, so it is almost impossible to over water it in your garden. like its stubborn namesake, the mature plant requires a backhoe or dynamite to force it out of the ground; it is best left where first established.

HYBRID ASTILBE
Astilbe x arendsii

Astilbe puts on the most spectacular show of any shade-loving plant. When in bloom, 12 to 24-inch long, many-branched flower spikes shine brilliantly in lavender to rose-pink, in blood red to salmon and magenta, and in creamy, rosy, and snowy white. The lacy, fernlike foliage grows in clumps 2 to 4 feet high and nearly as wide. It remains attractive from its first appearance in spring until it is covered by winter frost or snow. Some selections have stunning bronze leaves. most of the garden astilbes are the Arends hybrids.

DWARF ASTILBE
Astilbe simplification

This group of dwarf astilbes is sometimes called the star astilbes for the starlike blossoms that grace their dense, pyramidal flower plumes. The leafy clumps attain a height of little more than 1 foot, have small individual leaves, and are somewhat slower growing than other species; the foliage of some varieties is tinted bronze or burgundy. If you’re tempted to cut the plumy flowers for indoor arrangements, you’ll be happy with them only briefly, for their blossoms quickly fade. After bloom in the garden, the browned seed heads continue to decorate plants. You can leave them standing throughout winter or you can cut them back after the first hard frost. Astilbes are most effective when massed in groups of five or more to create swaths of color running through your garden beds.

LILY-OF-THE-VALLEY
Convallaria majalis

No garden is complete without a bed of lily-of-the-valley to cut for the kitchen windowsill or bedside table. Many gardeners consider it indispensable for its uniquely fragrant flowers and broad, smooth, green leaves of a very pleasant hue. In cool-climate gardens, it is a pleasingly invasive plant that likes to romp in the woods; it will spread until it reaches either a tree, rock, log, water, or other barrier. Once planted, it is hard to eliminate and will generally outlive the one who planted it by a century or two. To ensure blooms the first year (for a daughter’s wedding, for example), make sure you buy pips ( the underground stem with a dormant flower bud at the end) guaranteed to bloom the first year. Small nonflowering pips are often sold; these take a year or two to produce blooms.