Shade Plants - Beyond Hostas and Heucheras

 If you are like me you may get sick of seeing and using the same shade plants over and over again. I have found myself searching at nurseries for something a little different. Here is a list of plants that I have grown and loved that work in shade.


Lenten Rose (helleborus) blooms late winter Feb-May and is hardy from zone 9-4a. How could you not love something that starts to flower while there is often still snow on the ground. They like moist but well drained soil and grow best in part shade but I have one in almost full shade that seems to thrive. They have clusters of pendant flowers in colors that range from almost black to every shade of pink you can think of. Helleborus are slow to establish but long lived and if they like where they are a very easy plant to grow. They also make an excellent cut flower!

Foam flower (tiarella) is a small mounded plant who's flowers looks like little bottle brushes. They have pretty leaves that hold up all season and even in a mild winter. They work well in shade to part shade with moist rich soil and can even form a ground cover. They are hardy from zone 8-3.

Perennial foxglove (digitalis grandiflora) June-July and are hardy from 7a-4a. This is not the incredibly tall foxgloves of old English gardens they are only about 2-3 feet high with soft yellow flowers with brown speckles but unlike other foxgloves this one is a true perennial. After they bloom if you cut the flowers stocks back the may flower again in the fall. this guy does best with well drained soil and part shade.

Snakeroot (cimicifuga) 'Brunette' A common problem with shade gardens is that most shade plants bloom in the spring- this guy blooms in July-August. I like this variety for it's almost black leaves which really makes a statement.They have long airy upright spikes of white flowers and a prefers moist but well-drained soil. They are hardy from zone 9-3.

Ladies mantel (Alchemilla) This is one of those plants I will tell people is my favorite, I have many favorites but what ever. It has a wonderful chartreuse flower flower which looks great blue or purple cut flowers. The bloom time is long, starting here early June and blooming for about a month.They can spread easily by seed if you don't cut the flowers back after they bloom, I'm personally  happy to see little babies but some people are not. They are hardy from zone 8-3.

In flower

After a rain droplets of water stay n the edge of the leaves