Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Perennials for shade
All I have is shade, is there any other plant beside Hosta? I’ve heard that so many times. And the answer is still the same. YES! Let’s first evaluate shade. First note that the amount of sunlight does NOT have to be all at one time and the vast majority of us have SOME sun at points throughout the day.
- Part shade is 3 to 4 hours of sunlight
- Full shade is less than 4 hours a day
- PS – Part SUN is 4 to 6 hours of sunlight
- Full sun is 6 or more hours of sunlight
Now to plants, Bleeding Hearts are wonderful part shade plants and there are many cultivars. Hardy to zone 3 these old-fashioned plants are around for a reason.
‘Gold Heart’ not only brings those dainty heart-shaped flowers in early Spring but it’s golden foliage will light up that part shade area too.
In more shade, the foliage is chartreuse. When bleeding hearts bloom, you know spring is here to stay!
A great groundcover is Lamium maculatum. Hardy to zone 3 it grows to about 8 inches tall and will bloom in less than 3 hours of dappled sunlight June to July.
‘Purple Dragon’ produces clusters of large, purple flowers that rise above leaves that are more silver than green with a greener edge. It also tolerates poor soil. You may have to watch that it doesn’t take over areas you don’t want it in. But again, even the foliage will brighten the area and it’s not a hosta.
I will say there are a LOT of gorgeous hosta out there too. Just had to show this one…
This last “non-hosta” I share does need at least 4 hours of sunlight throughout the day. Ligularia dentata ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ is a dark-leaved form. It’s huge 6 inch leaves are chocolate maroon above and purple beneath.
In late summer, Britt-Marie puts up a multitude of Daisy-like, bright yellow-orange flowers above its showy foliage. PS, it likes moist soil and will also be fine in deeper shade.