Perennials are popular with gardeners because they add bloom and elegance to a garden. Gardens often have shady locations, so flowering perennials are needed for shade. Shrubs that grow in shade serve a variety of functions - serving as a leafy foil for other plants, brightening dark areas with bright flowers, or impressing with dramatic foliage. Small or low-growing shrubs can even be used as ground cover. Here are some popular perennials that thrive in shade.
Azalea loves acidic soil
Who doesn't love azaleas? Celebrate the return of spring with a colorful collection of azaleas. These spectacular shrubs thrive in partially shaded locations with rich, acidic soil. They like moist, well-drained soil. Azaleas grow in a variety of colors, and some newer varieties even offer a special display of flowers in the fall. They grow up to 1.8 m high and wide.
Flowering perennials for shade: Mountain laurel
Flowering mountain laurel plants are spectacular spring bloomers,which thrives well in partial shade. A great landscape plant with large clusters of pink or white flowers with purple markings. The plant prefers rich, slightly acidic soil and is a wonderful companion for azaleas and rhododendrons. Mountain laurel is also resistant to rabbits and deer. Its height reaches up to 4.5 m.
Daphne is semi-evergreen
Daphne produces small, pink-white, intensely fragrant flowers in early summer. This is a semi-evergreen shrub that thrives in nutrient-rich, slightly moist soil. Plant daphne as a low hedge, as a specimen plant or as a foundation plant on a sheltered side of your garden. Its size is 1.2 m high and 1.2 m wide.
Kerria is one of the best perennials for shade
Kerria, also known as Japanese golden rose, is one of the best flowering shrubs for shady locations and blooms with bright yellow flowers in April and May. These easy-care plants tolerate both dry and wet soils and heavy shade. The plant can spread through underground shoots. It grows up to 1.8 m high and up to 2.4 m wide.
Snowball is easy to care for
Viburnums are very easy to care for. These sturdy and colorful shrubs thrive in the sunor in partial shadeand are not picky about the soil. They have almost no problems with illnesses. Viburnums produce clusters of white flowers in spring, followed by blue-black or red berries in summer. Some viburnums are evergreen, while others have bright yellow foliage in the fall. The plants come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit almost any landscape situation, making them very popular with many gardeners. Their size reaches up to 2.4 m in height and width.
Chaenomeles thrives in all types of soil
The Japanese quince, Chaenomeles, is a very shade-tolerant tree. The flowers appear on bare trunks in spring shortly before the leaves emerge and are particularly striking. It is insensitive to all types of soil, including clay, and can be planted on a wall.
Pieris is evergreen
If you have earthy soil, acid-loving shrubs like Pieris (Japanese lavender heather) are a good choice. It has evergreen foliage that provides year-round interest. In the spring months the plant is further enhanced by the bell-shaped flower clusters. It combines well with other shrubs such as rhododendrons and camellias.
Enkianthus is a deciduous shrub or small tree in the blueberry family (Ericaceae) with a narrow, upright habit of overlapping branches and tufted foliage. This shrub usually grows to a height of 2.4 m. Plant in full sun to partial shade in acidic, moist, organically rich, well-drained soil. It suffers from dryness and drought, but tolerates loamy soils well.
Oakleaf hydrangea tolerates dry soils
The oakleaf hydrangea is one of the most colorful hydrangeas all year round. This plant, which comes from America, thrives in light shade and develops showy panicles of creamy white flowers in early summer. In fall, its huge, oak leaf-shaped leaves turn spectacular shades of yellow, orange and burgundy. And in winter you can enjoy the papery, cinnamon-colored bark of the oak leaf hydrangea. This amazing plant also tolerates drier soils than other hydrangea species. It loves well-drained soil and grows to a height of 2.4 m.
Sarcococca produces winter flowers
This is a great shrub for shade. Sarcococca (fleshberry) is known for its fragrant winter flowers and glossy, evergreen foliage. These plants lift your spirits in the short winter days.Plant themon a path or door so you can smell the scent, and mix with other winter flowers such as hellebores and snowdrops. They are also useful in dry shade under trees.
Choose the hardy Schefflera
Hardy Schefflera such as Schefflera rhododendrifolia and Schefflera taiwaniana add a touch of exoticism to a garden. The large, divided leaves make them particularly architectural. They belong to the Aralia family, which also includes well-known plants such as fatsia and ivy, both of which also like to grow in the shade.
Skimmias has nectar-rich flowers
Evergreen skimmias are excellent shade shrubs that stay green year-round and brighten shady areas with their bright, fragrant flowers and brilliant red berry clusters. The nectar-rich flowers are very popular with bees.
