Gardens in the Shade

There's nothing more inviting on hot days than shade, especially if you have plants growing in your shady spots...

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Item # 33450 		Ceratostigma plumbaginoides
Hardy Plumbago

each $5.99
3 to 6 $5.79
7 or more $5.59
Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’
Item # 41564 		Dianthus gratianopolitanus ‘Firewitch’
Firewitch Garden Pink

each $4.99
3 to 6 $4.79
7 or more $4.59
Tradescantia tharpii
Item # 95752 		Tradescantia tharpii
Tharp's Spiderwort

Each $4.99
3 to 6 $4.79
7 or more $4.59
  • Topic: Plant Selection
  • Author: Cindy Bellinger
  • Keywords: shade, gardening in the shade
  • Date: June 2006

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You got the umbrella up, the awning. Lath covered patios, portals and those shade trees are finally giving some relief from the hot summer sun. There’s nothing more inviting on hot days than shade, especially if you have plants growing in your shady spots. Many annuals find shady corners to their liking, plants such as violas, petunias, tuberous begonias, coleuses and fuchsias.

But it’s not just annuals. Perennials that take nicely to shade include:

  • Lamium has silver leaves and pink or white flowers—White and Red Nancy varieties. Both tolerate a wide range of soils and moisture
    levels. These are perfect to brighten dark shady areas.
  • Aquilegia caerulea (Rocky Mountain Columbine) likes cool shady spots for its big blue and white flowers.
  • Pulmonaria ‘Mrs. Moon’ is a groundcover valued for its ornamental silver spotted foliage and blue flowers in the spring. It likes rich composted soil.
  • Dianthus ‘Horatio’ (Horatio Garden Pink) is wonderfully fragrant and likes speckled shade and sun.
  • Ajuga reptens Bungleweed ‘Burgundy Glow’ is a groundcover and likes any kind of soil.
  • Tradescantia ‘Concord Grape’ Spiderwort is a bluish-green grass that grows in dense drifts and likes dry shade.
  • Ceratostigma plumbaginoides ‘Hardy Plumbago’ is a groundcover that weaves into flowerbeds and likes any type of soil. It has deep blue, long lasting flowers. And the leaves turn red in the fall.

Whether you’re planting annuals or perennials, most shade plants benefit from organic matter such as compost. They also like a little more water and definitely moist soil, so keep them mulched.

There’s something about plants growing in a shady spot. It makes the whole garden feel lush and fertile.