Plants for the shade!

Gardening in the shade presents more challenges than gardening in partial to full sun. There are simply fewer plants to choose from that give showy flowers or fragrance and are suitable for shady areas.

There's shade, and then there's deep shade! The north side of your house will be in the shadow of the building, but may be bright enough in the summer for many plants. The dappled shade under many deciduous trees is suitable for many flowers and ground covers. But some trees—Fruitless mulberry, for example, cast such deep shade that only a few plants will persevere. And larger trees may have roots competing for water and nutrients, so special care may be needed.

Plants on the following list can tolerate light to moderate shade. Deep shade is especially difficult! But there are choices. See the individual notes for deep shade tolerance.

Annual flowers

Begonia semperflorens  (Fibrous begonia) The star of the shade garden! Available in white, pink, and red. Bronze-leafed types can also tolerate full sun. Grown as annuals because the tops freeze off in winter, but they do usually resprout. Some other begonias are hardy enough to grow outside; e.g. Begonia richmondensis.

Impatiens walleriana  (Impatiens; Busy Lizzie) America's favorite bedding plant due to the abundant bloom in a range of strong, hot colors. Not as shade tolerant as Begonias, but not good in full sun either. Stunning in light shade or morning sun. Downy mildew has been a serious problem in recent years; look for new resistant varieties as they become available.

Lobelia erinus (Lobelia) The vivid blue flowers make this a popular companion to the others.

Tropaeolum majus (Nasturtium) Even if it's too shady for them to bloom, Nasturtiums have lush attractive foliage, and are very easy to grow. Great for kids to plant: totally reliable.

Ferns:

many are unhappy about our low humidity during the summer here. But the following can tolerate it as long as they are watered regularly. Mulch the soil for ferns with good quality compost.

Cyrtomium falcatum (Holly fern). Adaptable, with large fronds that make a great contrast to leafier plants.  More 'typical': looking ferns suitable here include:

Dryopteris erythrosora (Autumn fern)

Microlepia strigosa (Lace fern)

Nephrolepis exaltata (Southern sword fern)

Polystichum munitum (Western sword fern)

Polystichum setiferum (Soft shield fern)

Rumohra adiantiformis (Leatherleaf fern) One of the best. Very tough. Foliage lasts for many days in flower arrangements. Spreads slowly by runners.

Woodwardia fimbriata (Western chain fern) Big, dramatic, adaptable.

Perennial ground covers

Campanula porscharskyana (Serbian bellflower) Sky blue flowers, soft green foliage.

Glechoma hederacea (Ground ivy, also available in a variegated form.) Rampant spreading plant used as a lawn substitute.

Helxine soleirolia (Baby's tears) Mossy looking spreader for moist areas.l

Ophiopogon japonicus (Mondo grass) Very slow growing lawn-looking plant. Tolerates deep shade, root competition.

Vinca minor (dwarf Periwinkle) and V. major (Periwinkle) Classic ground covers for shady, fairly dry areas. Periwinkle blue flowers in spring.

violas: V. hederacea (Australian violet) and V. labradorica (Labrador violet) are pretty, woodsy looking plants, better mannered than their rampant cousin V. odorata.

Perennials

Easy care plants that flower year after year, or have attractive foliage in the shade include:

Acanthus mollis (Bears breech) has big jagged shiny leaves and tall spikes of white flowers. Incredibly tough plant which spreads slowly by underground runners. Gives a tropical look without any fuss.

Anemone hybrida (Japanese anemone), which flowers in late summer.

Aquilegia. Columbines are important spring bloomers for partial shade, attract hummingbirds, and reseed freely. Foliage gets mites and mildew in summer--just cut it to the ground and it resprouts nicely.

Aspidistra elatior (Cast iron plant). This plant will grow in very, very low light and can take incredible abuse. Shiny green leaves (there is a striped form available). Flowers are at ground level, beetle-pollinated, and not showy. But you can't kill Aspidistra!

Bergenia cordifolia and B. crassifolia have pink flowers in winter, large shiny leaves all year.

Corydalis cheilanthifolia and C. lutea : underused perennials with yellow flowers, foliage like bleeding heart, very easy to grow (will reseed).

Digitalis (Foxgloves)

Helleborus species: H. argutifolius (Corsican hellebore), and H. orientalis (Lenten rose) have attractive, shiny foliage and beautiful flowers. Will tolerate deep shade.

Heuchera : Coral bells are classic shade perennials with graceful little nodding pink, red, or white flowers. Nice plantings can be seen under the redwoods in the UC Davis Arboretum.

Houttuynia cordata 'Chameleon' (Chameleon plant) is a moderately invasive plant with leaves splotched with pink and white. Tough. Will tolerate deep shade.

Lamium maculatum (Spotted nettle) has forms with silvery leaves and pink or white flowers. A mint-looking plant which spreads steadily but not rampantly.

Liriope species (Turf lilies) are tough, grassy-looking perennials. Look for L. gigantea, L. muscari (several varieties), and L. spicata ('Silver Dragon' is a nice striped variety). Will tolerate deep shade.

Melissa officinalis (Lemon balm) has crinkly leaves and a fragrance of lemon mint. The tea is said to be relaxing, and the plant is pretty all year around.

Rehmannia elata (Chinese foxglove): underused perennial flower which blooms most of the summer in light shade.

Ruscus aculeatus (Butcher's broom) is a plant grown for tough foliage. Botanically interesting (look up 'cladodes' for more info), and will tolerate deep, deep shade.

Thalictrum aquilegifolium and other species (Meadow rue) have foliage resembling Columbine, interesting flowers.

Tradescantia x andersoniana  (Spiderwort) has grassy foliage, pretty flowers in blue, pink, or white.

Zantedeschia aethiopica  (white Calla lily). The callas with colorful flowers are incredibly fussy and easy to kill. But not the old-fashioned white Calla! Tall plants to 3' plus, with clean white flowers in April – June. The foliage dies down briefly after the flowers, then resprouts and looks clean all year long.

Shrubs

large evergreen shrubs for shady areas are a whole separate article. a sampling of low-growing shrubs includes:

Abutilon (Flowering maple): always in flower, and available in a whole range of warm colors, these vary from low, spreading plants to some which reach 8' or more! Hummingbirds love the flowers, which resemble little nodding hibiscus.

Euonymus fortunei (Wintercreeper). Very tough, tolerant shrub with a naturally spreading habit. Can be trimmed as a shrub, or even trained as a vine. 'There  are forms with green, white variegated, and gold variegated leaves -- 'Emerald Gaiety' is one of the nicest.

Mahonia repens  (Creeping mahonia) is a spreading shrub with yellow flowers in late winter, followed by blue berries popular with the birds.

Nandina domestica  (Heavenly bamboo):  'Filamentosa', 'Firepower', and 'Harbour Dwarf' are nice low-growing forms.

Ribes viburnifolium  (Evergreen currant) is one of my favorites for dry shade. This California native has shiny leaves, pink flowers in mid-winter, and red berries for the birds.

Sarcococca ruscifolia  (Sweet Victorian box) has clean dark green foliage, and powerfully fragrant blossoms in January.

Vines

Most vines won't give much bloom in shady areas. The following will grow and provide nice foliage, and will bloom to varying degrees depending on how dense the shade is.

Akebia quinata  (Japanese akebia) has tidy leaves and grows moderately fast to 15' or so. May even set an edible fruit.

Gelsemium sempervirens (Carolina jessamine) is a well-mannered grower with yellow flowers in spring. But the flowers are toxic to European honeybees and livestock.

Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer'  (Lilac vine) has purple flowers in winter. Pretty rampant! Cut it back hard after the bloom to control the overgrowth. Short-lived.

Lonicera species (Honeysuckles)  L. japonica is a rampant, invasive vine. The deciduous vining species are more manageable but have less fragrant flowers; Gold Flame has showy flowers which attract hummingbirds

Mandevilla species. Most are evergreen vines with big showy pink, red, or white flowers--but are much too tender to grow here. M. laxa, the Chilean jasmine, is different: hardy, deciduous, with large fragrant white flowers in the summer.

Pandorea jasminoides (Bower vines)  Clean, well-mannered vines, bloom all summer. Recovered even from the hard freezes of '90 and '98. Bloom on last year's growth, so prune after they bloom if at all.

Parthenocissus : P. quinquefolia  is Virginia creeper, and P. tricuspidata is Boston ivy. These clean-looking vines have attractive foliage, nice fall color. But beware! The suction disks on tendrils root into structures, damaging wood and paint. Silvervein creeper (Parthenocissus henryana) is more restrained.

Solanum jasminoides  (White Potato vine). A reliable producer of white blossoms all season long. Very vigorous.

Tecoma capensis  (Cape honeysuckle). Bright orange flowers start in fall, last until frost. Sprawling woody vine to 8' or so. The related Tecoma stans hybrids are bushier, prunable, and now available in a range of colors.

Trachelospermums : T. asiaticum is Asian jasmine, and T. jasminoides is the familiar Star jasmine. Widely used in sunny areas, but both will grow in shade and have nice clean foliage. Asian jasmine hardly ever blooms; Star jasmine's powerfully fragrant blossoms are much less abundant in shade. Some people may consider that a good thing'.




We love our shady parts of the garden in the hot summer months! Try some of the foregoing to brighten the darker corners of your yard.







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© 2008 Don Shor, Redwood Barn Nursery, Inc., 1607 Fifth Street, Davis, Ca 95616
www.redwoodbarn.com
Feel free to copy and distribute this article with attribution to this author. Click here for Don's other Davis Enterprise articles