Shade.  A gardener’s headache.  All the beautiful and brilliantly colored plants require hours of sun.  What’s left is dull and colorless.

Not true!  While most flowers do require hours of full sun, there are attractive foliage plants and even colorful flowering plants that flourish in shade.

First off, know that there are different levels of shade, from part to deep. Deep or full shade means a spot never gets direct sunlight, or only a very short amount of mild, morning sunshine. Part shade means about 4 hours of sun—but mostly morning sun, not blazing-hot afternoon sun.

To garden successfully in the shade, know the size of your planting area, your cold hardiness zone (in Dakota County and most of middle Minnesota that would be zone 4), your shade level and your soil conditions.  You also need to know if you want to grow perennials - which regrow every year - or annuals - which live for one growing season and then die. (You can grow both).

With this information in hand, you can select your plants.

If you haven’t heard of that shade “staple”, the hosta, know that hostas - perennials with leaves in many color combinations and textures - are not only easy to grow but can survive in deep shade.  They even have flowers, usually violet but white as well.

While many hostas prefer part shade - particularly those with gold tones and those with edging or centers of white or cream - “blue” hostas need deep shade to protect the waxy coating on their leaves.

Hostas can grow in a wide range of soils, although they prefer moist soils rich in organic matter.  While spring is the preferred planting time, hostas can be planted all summer.  Be sure to give them extra water then so the roots develop without drying out.

Other shade plants include Lenten rose, Jacob’s ladder, astilbe, Dutchman’s breeches and its relative, bleeding hearts . . .  and shrubs such as hydrangeas and rhododendrons.   Many native plants, especially the spring blooming ones, are also shade lovers.

Lenten Roses, also known as Hellebores, are shade plants producing delicate, long-lasting flowers in late winter and early spring. They need little to no moisture and are hardy to zone 4.  These are the pluses.  Although lovely, a major minus is that these flowers hang downward under their leaves so you must practically stand on your head to see and enjoy them.  They can be found at nurseries or ordered online.

Dutchmen’s breeches (their delicate white flowers look like breeches hanging on a clothes line), their relative Bleeding hearts and lily of the valley, tiny, bell-like flowers with a beautiful fragrance, are other spring perennials you might want to add to your shade garden.  All are hardy in zone 4 and require similar conditions:  shade, little to no moisture and well-drained soil.

Then there are native plants, most of which thrive in shade.  Spring Beauty, which, as the name suggests, blooms in the spring, Lady’s Slipper, Jack-in-the Pulpit, Trillium (big white flowers) and May Apples all love shade.  Generally, not available at big box stores, look for these charming natives at native plant nurseries or online. 

There are also summer blooming shade flowers to consider.  Brunnera is a perennial with tiny blue flowers that loves shade but does not tolerate droughts or dry soil. As long as you water it and keep it away from too much sun, it will bloom beautifully.  It is hardy to zone 3.

Another perennial with tiny flowers, coral bells, also grows in shade and has a variety of colored foliage.  This delicate blooming plant joins foam flower, Jacob’s ladder and astilbes, additional summer blooming shade perennials.  All of these plants need to be well-watered, especially when growing under tree shade (which can dry them out).   

Foam flowers have small, poofy flowers that grow in clusters and like partial and full shade. Be careful not to underwater or overwater foamflower - both are fatal.

Jacob’s Ladder has attractive blue and purple flowers and has the added bonus of being rabbit and deer resistant.

Astilbes grow large (up to 5 feet depending on the variety), and have showy plumes of tiny flowers in shades of pink, red, white and royal blue that will liven up any shady area.  They are also, reportedly, deer resistant.

If you are looking for a shade loving plant that will also attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your garden Black Bugbane is your flower.  These fragrant, tall, fluffy flowers sport dark purple leaves that will turn white by the end of the summer.  Grow them in partial to full shade with medium moisture.

Then there are the annuals.  Among those you may want to consider are coleus, a leafy plant with incredible colored leaves:  pink and green, purples and yellow and dark reds and almost everything in-between.  Impatiens are another pretty annual in multiple colors - red, pink, orange, white and violet.  These plants bloom well in shade but are susceptible to dry conditions so be sure to keep them well watered.  Shade begonias, with similar colored flowers - except orange and violet - have smaller flowers but are studier plants, tolerating some dryness.

There are beautiful shrubs that tolerate partial to full shade as well.  Check out white hydrangeas, single and double flowered rhododendrons and their relatives, the azaleas.   All these shrubs have beautiful and abundant flowers in multiple colors and can be found at most big box stores.

Shade, even deep shade, is no reason for a gardener to despair.  With planning, a combination of annuals, perennials and shrubs will provide texture and color in shade from spring through fall.

REFERENCES

“HOSTAS”, https://extension.umn.edu/search?q=hostas in Minnesota

Sansone, Arricca, “25 Best Shade Perennials That Thrive Out of the Sun”, https://www.countryliving.com/gardening/garden-ideas/g24882877/shade-perennials/?

Spring Hill Nursery, “Astilbes”, https://springhillnursery.com/pages/astilbe_growing_tips_and_benefits

Spring Hill Nursery, “Jacob’s Ladder”, https://springhillnursery.com/products/touch-of-class-jacobs-ladder?

Weisenhorn, Julie,  GARDENING IN THE SHADE, https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/gardening-shade

Photo credits:

University of Minnesota Extension (1,5), CallyL, Pixabay (2), www.flickr.com (3,4)