Can you recommend some shade perennials?

My entire front yard is bordered on the East by the house and on the South by the garage. So the front gets *some* afternoon sun, but not a whole lot. Right now the entire thing is planted in hostas. Which are great and all, and definitely low maintenance, but also very... well... boring. I'd like to spice it up a bit. The little row of impatiens by the walkway just aren't cutting it for color any more.

Any suggestions for some good perennials that would tolerate my shady front yard and add some color and interest? I am in zone 4b, so they would have to be mighty cold hardy as well.

Thanks in advance!

Not sure about cold hardy, I'm in Alabama and it ain't been cold down here since the ice age.....but astilbes are really nice for a shady place and a bit of sun....many different colored plumes to choose from and cultivars that bloom early and late.....my wife loves them and so do I.....

Paul from Alabama

I have almost no shade at my house, so I'm probably not the best person to respond, but I agree with Paul about the astilbes. I always admire them, but don't have enough shade. I have seen shade gardens come alive with Caladiums. They are so beautiful, but have to be overwintered indoors, so maybe you could incorporate just a few for impact. Again, not winter hardy, but colorful....coleus are very inexpensive and you can try a different color combo. every year for just a few dollars. Sorry I didn't offer much in the way of perennials. I will check out my neighbors house tomorrow. She has a great yard and all shade.
Chris

My list of wonderful shade plants for some afternoon sun. Bleeding hearts all colors and leaf types. Astilbe, spiderwort, columbines ..almost all varieties. Violets, my husker red penstemon does well in mostly shade, Daylilies and Iris if it is bright shade with a little sun. Toad lilies , I have Asiatic lilies in shade and they do great. Bee balm can take some shade. I highly recommend purple perilla for shade. I grow mine in the shade and they are as pretty as any coleus (rampant reseeder not a perennial). Spring larkspur (woodland plant) Bluebells, hellebores, caladiums(if you want to dig them for winter storage or grow an annuals) four oclocks (reseed) Datura will tolerate shade (reseeds) even knockout roses will take some shade if you have an area with sun in the afternoon. Half of my house lot is shade or part shade, so I have tried most things there. Also for a very lovely shrub try black lace elderberry, Mine is doing very well. I have painted daisies in a very shady area with a dab of sun in the afternoon and they are covered in buds this year. Shasta daisies will tolerate a little shade too. Also try balsam double flowered variety another annual reseeder. Foxglove, lily of the valley...I could go on and on lol...

I had to say something more for four oclocks. An annual but easy to grow and fragrant. I planted limelight four oclocks last year and the seed packet picture does not do this plant justice. It is almost chartreuse in color and more compact and does not flop when loaded with seeds. The fuschia colored flowers show up against the plant even when they are not open. It was quite an eye catcher in my shady beds!

Just to add a few that I know are hardy to at least zone 5,same exposure as yours.Jacobs Ladder,Brunnera,Ligularia,Turtlehead,Lungwort,Lamium (Herman's Pride is a pretty variegated one),Coral Bells,Cimicifuga,Kerria Japonica,Trollius,Primrose and many kinds of Campanula.I have all these and more planted in that exposure.Fair warning-some of these require a lot of water.Oh,Japanese Painted Fern is beautiful there.

I did forget Lamium Ibrabec, I love mine. Also I grow sedum in mostly shade and it always looks wonderful, there is Lambs ears too. There are alot of perennial grasses that can take shade too.

You're so right,sedum would work,too.I have an old "Live Forever" planted in deep north shade and it loves it.I also forgot a lot of Hydrangeas like shade.For summer color,I often punch it up with annual salvia (peach,purple,red,white and there are probably other colors).They grow like crazy in shade.

Boy, I think everyone has it covered. I personally like the ligularia (a very large plant with yellow flowers) with green and yellow hosta like Golden Tiara planted nearby or the Cimicifuga with the same hosta or any yellow or chartrese color hosta. I love the Astilbe and Japanese painted fern combo also. The fern has a purpley-lavender inside and a lavender colored Astilbe looks great with it. Feed the astilbe's with organic fertilizer though, they are heavy feeders.

I don't have any myself, but my neighbor has several bleeding hearts in her shaded area and they look beautiful; I don't think they require alot of work, either because I know she isn't able to do a whole lot, physically.

I agree Amy, I love my bleeding hearts. I have pink, white and fernleaf.

Amy,
I also have a lot of physical difficulties right now and bleeding heart is virtually carefree.Most of the other plants don't require a lot of work,but some have to be watered more in hot weather and require mulch to be at their best.I think the fernleaf type lavender4ever has are especially striking.Lynn

You already got some great suggestions, but I'll add a couple thoughts.

Right now, I'm very pleased with my polemonium 'Purple Rain' and 'Snow and Sapphires.' (In fact, I wish I'd bought more of the 'Purple Rain' because it's so pretty. Next year!) I also love old-fashioned bleeding hearts (although they do go dormant in the summer; I cut mine down to the basal foliage at that time and they get a flush of new foliage that looks attractive enough).

Here's a shot of my small shade garden. I'm no garden designer, so I mistakenly used way to many plants with similar (ferny) leaf shapes, but at least you'll get the idea of what the polemonium look like with the bleeding heart and hostas thrown in for some contrast. There's also a cimicifuga (actaea) in the bunch. It's growing vigorously, but since this is its first year I can't really comment much beyond that. All these plants are thriving in this location, though, with slightly amended rocky clay soil. I'd say they're easy keepers. :)

A close-up look at the polemonium 'Purple Rain' in bloom. (Did I mention I love this plant?)

Kayly,
It's beautiful!! I too love my polemonium (Jacobs Ladder),but I only have 1 plain green variety.It's foliage looks so much like a fern.I don't have my plant notebook with me,but I'll do my best to tell you what else I have planted there that I have not mentioned yet.It's a very large bed,with another smaller bed 2 feet lower.There are several microclimate areas,sort of,that I treat in different ways,according to light,moisture,and how good the soil is.I have 3 floribunda roses,"Marmalade Skies" ,2 peach flowered shrub roses,sedum "Angelina",a variegated mint,2 types of perennial geraniums,a chocolate plant (I think it's called Rodgerisa)which is really a bog plant,so it requires a lot of water,a Filipendula Rubra,Tiarella,Ajuga "Black Scallop",and probably a few more things I forgot.It would probably look better to many people with less variety,but that's what I love about it!! Oh,yes,a variegated Euonymous,also.So with foliage I have light and dark greens,silvers,burgundy,black,white and lots of textures.Someday,I will take a decent picture and post it.I enjoy everybody's pictures so much,although some of them put my yard to shame.Lynn

I definitely agree with the polemonium - I have a couple in my shade garden, and love them. You could probably add some heucheras (coral bells) in with the hostas, which would add foliage and bloom color. My lily-of-the-valleys also thrive but I inherited them, and as beautiful as they are for those few weeks, it is difficult to get anything else to grow in with them. My Japanese painted fern likes the shade as well, as do campanula, peonies, and astilbe. Some daylilies are an option too. And, although I have yet to grow any, I hear heather does wonderful things in just about any light and any soil - you might give those a try; I certainly am here soon!

Hello to all. I am new to Dave's Garden and somewhat new to flower gardening. My better half and I are going whole hog this spring. So far we've put in thirty plants in two garden areas. I can't decide whether the cat loves or hates them. He's dug around most of them and eaten the leaves of all. Judy claims it's rabbits but I sit by the window and see the cat out there, never a rabbit. We put a chicken wire fence to keep out the "rabbits" last night. It looks terrible but we figure to take it down when the plants get established.

I've got another area where a tree and stump was removed in what J calls the orchard. I don't know why, there isn't a fruit tree in the lot; most are Chinese elms and an oak and maple. But anyway, back to the area, it's about nine feet in diameter and shaded during the hottest part of the day. I planted a blue hydrangea out there in fresh topsoil/manure/peat mix from a nursery. I added aluminum sulphate to get the acidic soil required for blue blooms. The hydrangea will get 3-5' high. I'd like suggestions for orange blooming plants 2-3' tall to place on each side. This will be my honorarium to Illinois football team colors, U of I and the Bears. I've ordered three Geum 'Eos' to place across the middle behind three Huechera 'Ginger Ale' on the front border. So far the only topsoil mix is only large enough for the hydrangea. I'll be adding more without the aluminum sulphate.

Not sure about orange shade flowers. There are nasturtium which will do ok in part sun, salmon colored astilbe or impatiens.

I've been popping in to see if anyone else knows of anything to suggest. I think orange in shade is a tough one. I can only come up with orange heuchera but I see you already have Ginger Ale. Maybe a mix of oranges would be nice? I have Peach Flambe which is pretty and then I saw Georgia Peach on this website which is good for heat and humidity. The Peach Flambe from experience reaches its orange color better if it gets some sun. Mine in full shade looks more like Caramel.

gk1153,
You said it's shaded during the hottest part of the day.Doe's the bed get any sun at all?Lynn

It's in shade from sunrise to 9:30 and again from 11 till 2:30. Then in the sun till sundown.

Some suggestions would be apricot-orange Foxglove,Hemerocallis "Orangeman".Floribunda Rose "Marmalade Skies" will bloom with about 4-5 hours of sun.Because you get some afternoon sun,some other things might work like Gaillardia, or annuals such as Calenda,Marigolds,Dahlias ,etc.You could also plant Begonia "Illumination Orange" or any other shade tolerant tender plant in a large pot and bring them in in the fall.I will try to think of what else might work.Lynn

Oooooh, I like the apricot orange foxglove. I looked it up and that's a very pretty plant and I think the color would look nice with your heuchera and geum! And the height seems right. Good suggestions. There's the Gaillardia Oranges and Lemons but I've had better success with them in full sun by me, not so much in part shade.

I, too, am trying to put in a new garden in a shady spot by my front door (our house was just finished in January). I planted primroses in February (zone 8, Pacific NW), but they are nearly finished blooming, so I'll replace then with begonias that I started from tubers last month. I used to live on the Texas Gulf Coast, zone 9, and had beautiful caladiums, but I would hesitate to try them in zone 4 or 5. They like warm soil, and even in Texas, we didn't plant them until April. Bleeding heart is also popular here, but the slugs will eat it down to nothing overnight, if that's an issue for anyone (happened to my friend). I'm also trying foxglove and columbine, as well as some evergreen shrubs against the house so that the beds aren't entirely empty looking in the winter. Also consider rhododendrons, they can grow in part sun to part shade, are just gorgeous and come in lots of colors and sizes. Be careful with four-o-clocks as the seeds will spread easily; they are considered an agricultural pest in some places. If you're new to gardening or to your area, you might check which plants are local pests. For example, butterfly bush and english ivy are classified as invasive pests in Washington State.