what are the planting options for a dense shade garden?

Question

shrubs herbs flowers anything pretty

Answer 1

Bleeding Hearts are very easy to grow. They come in several colors, including red, white and pink. They are not a flashy flower but bloom early in the spring and I think most people learn to love their delicate flowers, especially because they have a lot of flowers.

Astilbe are also easy to grow. Their flowers look sort of like plumes of smoke. They also come in a lot of different colors and are very easy to grow though they do best with a lot of water.

I used to think hostas were not very pretty. They are basically grown for their foliage, not their flowers though they do send out these flowers shooting out on big stems. But there are hostas now that are almost lime green. These brilliant green hostas look fabulous in shade because their color is so brilliant and they make a great background for other plants. Also, the Patriot Hosta has leaves with big bands of white and look great in shade gardens.

Many Huchera varieties do well in shade. These plants are widely diverse in their leaf colors and flower colors.

Most of my flower gardens are in deep shade. I have surprisingly have had a lot of success with Siberian Iris. These are such beautiful flowers on a plant which is very easy to take care of (but they do best with more water.)

Many of the plants which have blue flowers, like Jacob's Ladder, seem to do better in shade.

When I first started gardening, I hated my shady yard because I couldn't grow some of those real glitzy flowers. But people just go crazy when they see those big lime green hostas and the blue flowers planted among them.

Most impatiens and coleus love shade. They are usually annuals but come in a zillion colors. If you have a pot of either or both, fertilize and water them a lot.

Answer 2

Columbines, Foxgloves, Astible, Goatsbeard, impatiens, begonias, coleus, for starters!

Answer 3

Hostas and ferns love shade.
I have many different varieties of both and once mature, they are beautiful together.
Some of my Hostas are 3-4' wide.

Answer 4

I happen to know that impatients like shade and they bloom all season long . they have some really nice colors now too.

Answer 5

bleeding heart
coleus
inpatients
begonias
lilly of the valley
pansies
petunias
hostas
colombine
snapdragons
good luck!!! happy gardening!

Answer 6

Most plants that grow in full canopied forests are adapted to light before the leaves break. They bloom before the canopy fills in leaving them with little direct light. Some of these will do quite well on the north side of buildings or where they get only indirect light all day if their other growing requirements are met. Some like ephemerals, plants that go dormant during the dry season like tulips or shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), vary widely in their light requirements. Tulips are out, as are iris, as they need full sun but shooting stars grow in forests. Look at bleeding heart, hostas, ferns, lily of the valley. Solomon's seal or any of the Polygonatum family might work well. Sweet woodruff blooms white and is fragrant, Vinca (periwinkle), Kenilworth ivy (this is a trailing plant Cymbalaria muralis with no relation to English ivy) are possible ground covers. I grow Aegopodium podagraria 'Variegatum' or variegated gout weed with oxalis and sweet woodruff under my fir trees, in sandy soil, by adding lots of compost and watering. Mixed in are trilliums, hostas, ferns and merrybells. However I live in zone 7 so summer heat is only in the 90's briefly. My problem is the drought during July and August every year. So ephemerals like the shooting stars and merrybells are great then. The ground covers help keep the soil moist and cool. I mulch them every spring after the winter rains to replace whatever is leached out.
For very early color in an ephemeral I like Ranunculus ficaria but note this is considered invasive in parts of the country.
Aruncus dioicus (Goat's beard) http://www.grownative.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_id=29

If you get dappled light or the sun peaks in morning and evening options expand a bit. There are numerous plants, such as hostas, lungworts and primroses, that perform beautifully in morning sun but cannot tolerate the heat of midday or early afternoon. You have likely seen how lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.) droop if the hot sun hits them. Conversely, sun-lovers such as black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia spp.) and purple coneflower (Echinachea spp.) can withstand half shade if it is in the morning.
Moister soil helps plants handle more sun. So if you have a plant that likes full to partial sun, and your soil is dry, it may do better for you in partial sun than in full sun. And typically a plant that likes full to partial shade will need moister soil in a spot with additional sun. So if you have dry soil, put this one in a shadier spot.

The health of a plant is directly dependent upon the quality of the soil—find out what type of soil a plant needs first then consider the light requirements. For instance, lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) does well in dry shade, but put it into the damp, woodsy soil it prefers and it can spread like wildfire. Other rampant growers can be controlled by dry shade also.
For afternoon shade and steady moisture
Daphne is a small evergreen shrub with bluish green foliage, It is slow to grow and very fragrant. A small one (2x2') is Daphne x mantensiana that reblooms in summer and fall sometimes is good for a small nook. There is the very pale Daphne x burkwoodii 'Briggs Moonlight' or Daphne x transatlantica 'Summer Ice' is a bit taller with less variegation. There are many species and cultivars to choose, some for more shade some for less but all bloom early with spirit lifting fragrance.
Skimmia are perfect shade shrubs. Dark green, white flowers, and red berries. Oh yes, it is fragrant, too. Skimmia reevesiana is a very attractive dwarf variety. They grow well with rhododendrons.
Rhododendrons for Shade
http://www.rhodyman.net/rhodysh.html

A very old fashion shrub with graceful arching stems of spring blooming bells is Deutzia. My neighbors had one I helped prune into its natural shape. Trim some branches to the ground to thin it or it becomes an entangled blob. Deutzia gracilis ‘Nikko’ flowers in May then has fall foliage color (2x4')
Cimicifuga ramosa 'Hillside Black Beauty' or 'Brunette' wants moist shade so pairs well with Cranesbill Geranium phaeum 'Samobor'. The burgundy figures on the geranium leaf echo the dark foliage of the bugbane. Epimedium rubrum would blend well with these. http://www.paghat.com/cranesbillsamobor.html
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/ornamentals/Cornell_Herbaceous/plant_pages/Cimicifugaramosa.html

For moist areas Luxuriant fringed Bleeding Heart, Dicentra x `Luxuriant, would pair well with a pink Astilbe x arendsii 'Bressingham Beauty' or 'Cattleya'. Choose a Maid in the Shade series azalea like Rosy Cheeks' with golden throat ed dark rose flowers. Its fragrance can rival that of a rose.

Look for large glossy leaves to bring shine to the shade. Try Ligularia tussilaginea large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves that are splattered with yellow spots. Plant these behind the fine feathered fronds of a maidenhair fern and the evergreen clumps of silver mottled leaves of wild ginger (Asarum) and a few begonias for color.

London's Pride (Saxifraga), rockfoil Saxifraga x arendsii, or Saxifraga moschata 'Peter Pan'. Mossy saxifrages need a cool semi-shaded site.
Mapleleaf viburnum, Oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia), Summersweet Clethra (Clethra alnifolia) Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens), dead nettle (Lamium maculatum), foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia), toad lilies (Tricyrtis sp.), and of course hosta.

Answer 7

try this site
http://seedlingsrus.com/ShadeLovingPlants.html