20 Shade Plants That Will Beautify Your Garden

• Height/Spread: 2 inches to 4 feet tall, 5 inches to 6 feet wide 
• Shade: Part shade to shade, Dappled
• Perennial in zones: 3-9

Gardeners love growing hostas because they add beautiful texture and greenery. They have striking foliage in a variety of patterns, shapes, sizes, and colors like green, chartreuse, blue, and variegated shades. They have thick pest-resistant leaves but are a favorite of deer and rabbits. 

Hostas are excellent groundcovers and grow well in rich, well-amended soil and regular water. They can survive outside during winter and live for 30 or more years if properly cared for. You can try the Shadowland Empress Wu, Mouse Ears or Blue Angel variety. 

• Height/Spread: From just one centimeter to several feet tall, there is a of size for every landscape.
• Shade: Part shade to shade, Filtered. 
• Zones: There is a fern suitable for nearly every zone

Ferns are a reliable favorite that has been around on Earth for 300 million years. They have a variety of attractive grounds that spread into a beautiful ground cover over time.

Most require rich soil and plenty of moisture, but some varieties can survive in challenging locations with little water. Just make sure you choose a variety that can survive your garden’s climate. You can try the foxtail fern. They are easy to care for and will survive even if you forget to water them. 

• Height/Spread: 1 to 4 feet tall and wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade but needs shade in the afternoon in hot summer climates.
• Zones: Most 4-8

Many people love the astilbe plant. The narrow, dense, and fuzzy pink-lavender plumes of the Astilbe provide a beautiful color contrast against the lacy ferns, making it a go-to choice for many gardeners. 

This shade plant prefers rich and moist soil and should be planted during spring. If you plant them in the summer, they might dry out. You can plant them from seeds, but it will take a few years for the plant to reach a substantial size. It is better to divide and transplant mature plants instead.

• Height/Spread: Range from six inches to three feet tall and six to 18 inches wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zone: 9–11

There are many varieties of begonias, and are popular plants for containers. Most begonias are annuals, but some are perennials. These perennials are grown for their striking foliage in green, pink, purple, and white. 

They survive in most conditions, including full shade with moist, loamy, well-drained soil high in organic content. If you are planting begonias, buy starter plants from the garden centers, as they are the easiest to grow. Ideally, choose a site with dappled sunlight or morning sun and afternoon shade. 

• Height/Spread: 2 to 5 feet tall, 3 feet wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 10-11

One of the most popular summer plants for the shade is Coleus, painted nettle, or poor man's croton, depending on location. It comes in a variety of colors, forms, and patterns, with new varieties introduced regularly.

At maturity, this plant produces insignificant flowers, which have to be pinched out to encourage more brilliantly colored leaves. Coleus prefers moist, rich, loose, well-worked soil that drains well. It needs water when the top inch of the plant is dry. You can grow Coleus from seeds, as it only takes three or four weeks to mature. 

• Height/Spread: 2 to 20 feet tall, 5 to 10 feet wide
• Shade: Full or partial, depending on the variety
• Zones: 4-9

Hydrangea flowers are truly stunning in any garden. They are revered for their large, mophead shrubs that flaunt flower clusters in shades of blue, pink, purple, and white. The best time to plant hydrangea is fall or early spring in the early morning or late afternoon. This allows the plants to establish a healthy root system comfortably before blooming. 

Hydrangeas grow well in loamy, moist, well-drained soil. They should be deeply watered three times a week to encourage root growth. Some popular hydrangeas you can try in your garden landscape are French, mophead, lace cap, and endless summer. 

• Height/Spread: 15-30 feet tall, 15-20 feet wide
• Shade: Partial to none
• Zones: 3-9

Witch hazel is a popular landscaping plant that produces striking, fragrant, and delicate ribbon-like yellow flowers in the dead of winter when the garden looks lifeless. These shrubs are easy to grow and do not need any care once established.

These plants need rich, loamy, moist soil with good drainage but can adapt to different soils. Adding a layer of mulch on top of the soil can help the plant to retain moisture. You need to water them consistently, but once established, natural rainfall is enough water. 

• Height/Spread: 2 to 8 feet tall, 2 to 8 feet wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 5-9

Boxwood is a slow-growing evergreen shrub with over 100 species of varying characteristics such as height, shape, growth rate, etc. These plants have small, rounded, light green, and leathery leaves that add texture to your landscape.

They are easy to care for and respond well to pruning. They prefer evenly moist, well-drained soil but can survive in mildly acidic to mildly alkaline soil as well. 

Boxwoods need to be watered deeply every week, but avoid overwatering as the soil will become soggy. Once mature, these plants can survive with a deep watering every 2 to 4 weeks.

• Height/Spread: Grows up to 3 to 5 feet high and spreads 18 to 24 inches.
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 4-9

One of the most popular shade plants with flowers is foxglove, also known as purple foxglove, lady’s gloves, fairy bells, and lady’s gloves, among many others. They are primarily grown for their beauty because of their beautiful bell-shaped, tubular flowers in shades of pink, purple, or white. 

Its bright colors attract people and animals, but it is worth noting that all parts of the plant are poisonous. It contains cardiac glycosides, and ingesting it can result in death. It is advisable to plant them in areas of the garden you do not frequent often. 

• Height/Spread: 6 to 20 inches tall, 8 to 20 inches wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 3-8

After a long and cold winter, you will see primrose everywhere, from your neighborhood parks to garden centers. This plant has over 500 species with colorful and fragrant flowers that come in a variety of shades like blue, pink, red, yellow, and orange. 

If you are looking for a specific shade of primrose, buy primrose that is in bloom. Once established, the expanding clumps of the primrose might need dividing occasionally, but other than that, they need very little care.

They combine well with many other woodland plants, like hosta, iris, bleeding hearts and ferns.

• Height/Spread: 8 to 18 inches tall, 12 to 24 inches wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 4a–9a

Thanks to new cultivars and hybrids, coral bells come in a rainbow of colors instead of a few drab colors. Some varieties are grown specifically for their beautiful and densely packed flowers. 

Coral bells thrive in arid climates and need more sun in colder climates. They need well-drained, moist, humus-rich soil that’s neutral to slightly acidic, with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. They do not require much care except for the first year when they need water regularly. 

• Height/Spread: 1 to 3 feet tall, 12 to 30 inches wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 3-8

Another one of the many plants that like shade is a heartleaf brunnera. It is a low-growing, trailing succulent with crunchy pale–green stems, striking heart-shaped green foliage, and tiny sky-blue flowers.

The flowers are reminiscent of forget-me-not, which is why, this plant is nicknamed false forget-me-not. The best time to plant a heartleaf brunnera is in the spring, and it will continue to bloom through early summer in ideal conditions.

This plant grows well in organic, well-drained soil in a broad pH range from 6.0 to 8.0. Avoid growing it in soggy soil. Water the plant until it is established, and after that, water it when needed. 

• Height/Spread: 12 to 18 inches tall, 12 to 24 inches wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 4-9

Japanese forest grass is a rare grass that thrives in shady conditions. This plant is grown for display purposes and does not have much functional use. It has arching, lance-shaped variegated leaves, is slow-growing, and does not spread invasively.

Japanese forest grass grows well in any moist, well-drained organic. If your garden soil is dense, amend it with compost or peat moss. It requires frequent watering and moist soil and will not survive in arid conditions. You can add water-retentive organic material to retain the moisture it requires.

• Height/Spread: 6 to 24 inches tall, 6 to 24 inches wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 10-11

One of the many popular shade plants with flowers is Impatiens. They come in practically any color you desire and add a splash of color to your garden all season. They are low height and have a shallow root system, making them suitable containers like hanging baskets, window boxes, or deck railing planters.

Impatiens need well-drained soil enriched with organic material and at least two inches of water per week. However, you might need to increase the water content when the temperature rises above 80 degrees Fahrenheit. 

• Height/Spread: 3 to 5 feet tall, 3 to 5 feet wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 4-9, 14-24

At first glance, you might miss the flowers of the sweet box, but the sweet scene will grab you, hence the name sweet box. It has dark, glossy, evergreen leaves, tiny and sweet vanilla-fragranced ivory flowers, and lovely shiny berries that change from red to black when ripe.

These plants need humus-rich, moderately fertile, moist, but well-drained soil that does not dry out in summer. They also need water regularly while they are establishing. Once established, they only need watering during prolonged periods of very hot weather.

• Height/Spread: 4 to 6 feet tall, 2 to 4 feet wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 4-7

Often mistaken for astilbe, this aptly named plant has tall and wispy white blooms with tiny cream flowers. They are native to the northern hemisphere in North America, Europe, and Asia and are relatively easy to grow.

It should be planted in the spring so it has the entire growing season to get established. A location where the soil is moist and acidic to neutral is perfect. 

• Height/Spread: 2 to 20 feet tall, 3 to 15 feet wide
• Shade: Part shade to shade
• Zones: 4-9

Rhododendrons are a striking blooming specimen with over 1000 species and 25,000 cultivars and hybrids. They come in a wide range of sizes, flower colors, and shapes.

It is fairly low maintenance. Consistent irrigation is crucial during the first year, but once it is established, you water it every two to three weeks during dry and hot weather without rain.

• Height/Spread: 3 to 20 feet tall, 3 to 20 feet wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 6-8

An azalea shrub in spring bloom can do wonders for your garden. These loosely branched, easy-care shrubs come in many colors and can grow in nearly any garden, instantly adding beauty to drab areas.

They are best planted in the spring or early fall and will usually flower in their first year but may take as much as ten years to mature. They love acidic soil with drainage and need water to bloom.

• Height/Spread: 1 to 3 feet tall, 1 to 3 feet wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 4-8

Toad lilies are perhaps one of the most popular shade perennial plants because they add a beautiful touch to any garden.

This perennial plant has white to light purple speckled flowers reminiscent of Phalaenopsis orchids. The flowers are attached to a tall and arching stem with leaves that appear to be arranged in a ladder-like fashion.

They are fertile, moist, and organically rich soil that should never dry out. It requires consistent watering, but avoid making the soil soggy. 

• Height/Spread: 10 to 25 feet tall and wide but dwarf varieties do not exceed 4 to 15 feet tall and wide
• Shade: Partial shade to full sun
• Zones: 5-9

Japanese maple trees are commonly used in Japanese landscaping and garden design. There are hundreds of varieties, but the most popular breeds display small leaves that have five to nine palmate lobes that turn to brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow, or purple during fall. 

They also have a small reddish-purple flower that becomes a samara, a dry, winged fruit with half-inch-long helicopter seeds.