The Best Perennials To Grow In The Shade – Expand Your Growing Areas: Want to know what the best plants are for growing in the shade in your yard? Different plants need different amounts of shade to grow and do well. Most plants do best in full sun.
Today, we’re going to show you six plants that do well in shade and are great for growing in areas of your yard that don’t get a lot of sun.
The Best Perennials To Grow In The Shade
You can find great plants to grow even if you have to work with a spot that gets only late-day partial sun, under a big tree canopy, or next to a tall barn. Some are liked for their lush leaves, and others have pretty flowers with bright spots of color.
Bleeding Heart
This plant grows best in cool weather and has pretty heart-shaped flowers that fall off the stem one by one. About 20 pink, red, or white flowers can grow on each stem of a bleeding heart plant. The flowers show up in the spring and early summer.
Also See:7 Nectar Plants for Hummingbirds You Aren’t Growing Yet
Bleeding hearts need dirt with a neutral pH and should be put somewhere that won’t get too windy. They are selfish, but they don’t need to be split up very often. In fact, they’d rather not be moved.
When the flowers on a bleeding heart plant are done growing, the leaves and flowers will start to die off. You can extend the growing season by planting other flowering annuals in the same spot when they aren’t there.
They can get as tall as 3 feet and 6 inches. It’s safe to grow bleeding hearts in zones 3–9.
Lilyturf
Lilyturf, which is sometimes called liorope, is a great plant for shady areas to use as a ground cover or along the edges of a bed. It has pretty leaves that look like grass and are large and striped green. Late summer and early fall are the times when they bloom with purple and white stems.
Lilyturf needs a pH between 6.0 and 7.0, which is slightly acidic to neutral, and should be put somewhere that gets some shade. Each plant can be up to two feet wide and 6 to 12 inches tall.
In zones 5 through 10, lilyturf can stay in the ground all year. If you live somewhere cold, you will need to bring it inside for the winter and put it on show as a houseplant.
Hostas
Many people choose hostas as their favorite beautiful annual to grow in the shade. They are great for making borders or even going around the trunks of big trees. Their big leaves come in different shades of green, white, and even blue, and they often have designs that change color.
Hosta plants do have flowers, but they aren’t always very beautiful and can take away from the beauty and energy of the plant’s leaves. For this reason, a lot of farmers like to cut off any flowers.
Hostas do best in full shade and dirt that is between 6.0 and 6.5 on the pH scale. The different kinds can be as little as a foot wide or as big as six feet wide or more!
Hostas do well in growing zones 3 through 9, and they are easy to split and move to different spots. Read this piece called “How To Keep Hostas Healthy” to learn how to keep your hostas strong and full of life.
Hellebore
This plant comes back every year and blooms in early spring. You can see the blooms from late winter to mid-spring because they last a long time. Hellebore has evergreen leaves and flowers that hang down. The flowers have five wide petals that are white, pink, purple, and sometimes yellow.
Hellebore needs a pH level of 7.0 to 8.0 in the soil and some to full shade to really grow well. They can get as big as 2 feet and as wide as 2 feet.
They grow best in zones 4 through 9, but it depends on the type of hellebore. Even though they grow seeds on their own, make sure to separate new babies so they don’t get too crowded.
Astilbe
False goat’s beard is another funny name for astilbe. It is a great annual plant to grow in the shade. The dark green leaves look like ferns, and the flowers are tall and almost fluffy.
They are soft shades of white, pink, purple, and red. Their flowers bloom from early summer until late fall, which is a long time.
They need dirt with a pH of about 6.0 and some to all shade.Depending on the type, they can be anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet tall and 6 inches to over 5 feet wide. Their blooms can get pretty tall, but they don’t need to be staked because their roots are pretty thick.
Astilbes can grow in zones 3–9. To keep it from getting too big, this annual will need to be split every three to four years. This will also help the plant keep making bright flowers every season.
Wild Ginger
The ginger you find in grocery shops is not the same as the ginger you find in wild ginger, despite its name. Wild ginger is grown in the eastern part of the United States. It has big leaves that look like kidneys.
Their flowers show up in late spring or early summer, but are hard to see because of all the leaves. The blooms are small and bell-shaped. They are a dark red color that is almost brown.
In order to grow well, wild ginger needs dirt with a pH between 5.0 and 6.0. It also does best in damp, wooded areas like under trees. The plant spreads quickly because its roots creep along the ground.
It can grow in zones 3–7 and is great for covering the ground. Be careful, though, because once it’s in place, it can grow up to 6 to 8 inches in all directions every year.
To Conclude
There are some spots in your growing area where the sun can’t reach, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy beautiful plants. Anyone of the plants listed above can grow well in the shade; they don’t need sun.