Add Excitement to Shade with Perennials
Top perennial plants that thrive in shaded areas
By Maureen Gilmer, landscape designer, author and LandscapingNetwork.com columnist
The truth about a newly planted landscape is that it's in full sun until trees mature enough to cast shade. As shade increases the sun loving plants you started out with begin to fail for lack of light. At some point it is essential to redesign the planting to suit the new sheltered environment using plants that are just as bright and colorful as their predecessors.
Perennials for Shade
Ajuga reptans Carpet Bugle
Astilbe Koblenz Astilbe
Brunnera macrophylla Siberian Bulgoss
Epimedium versicolor Fairy Wings
Heuchera hybrids Heuchera Coral Bells
Helleborus niger Christmas Rose
Dicentra spectabilis Bleeding heart
Lamium maculatum Spotted Deadnettle
Pulmonaria officinalis Lungwort
Tiarella polyphylla Foamflower
Plants that evolve on the forest floor are the best problem solver for shady, moist conditions beneath shade trees.
The best source of plants will be those that originate in forests around the world. This environment is known as the "understory" where perennials thrive in the decomposing leaf litter that makes soils slightly acidic. Take your cue from the natural world with plants that evolved to solve your shade tree problems with beautiful herbaceous plant and their bright flowers.
Related:Shade Tree Solutions
Shady Shrubs for North Foundations
Add Excitement to Shade With Perennials
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Maureen "Mo" Gilmer is a landscape designer, author, and speaker about horticulture topics and landscape design. |
