Shade Garden Under Trees: Foliage Over Flowers

Embrace the Shade with Texture and Color

Deep shade under mature trees limits flowering options. Focus on foliage:

Best Shade Perennials

• Hostas: ‘Guacamole’, ‘Plantaginea’ (fragrant), dozens of varieties.
• Ferns: Japanese painted fern, ostrich fern, autumn fern.
• Pachysandra – evergreen groundcover.
• Lungwort (Pulmonaria) – silver-spotted leaves, spring flowers.

If You Need Flowers

Impatiens and begonias bloom all summer in deep shade. But if nothing grows (not even grass), accept it: mulch heavily and call it a woodland floor.

Privacy Screen in Shade

Eastern hemlock is classic but threatened by woolly adelgid. Alternatives: yew, boxwood, or shade-tolerant viburnums.

Resource

Bluestone Perennials custom search for shade plants.