Shade Gardening

Sharing is caring!

Some plants thrive in shade. You can still have a garden even if all you have is shade. Just know, plants that thrive in shade are not the same plants that thrive in sunlight.

A shade garden is defined by the outlines of shadows cast by buildings, walls and fences, trees, and shrubs.

Types of sun and shade

Not all shade is the same. There are categories of shade. Here are the basic types of shade gardeners commonly refer to:

• Full shade. This is ground that gets less than four hours of sun per day. The number of plants that can grow in full shade is limited; they include azaleas, caladium, and lily-of-the-valley.
• Part shade or part sun. These terms mean the same; you can add partial sun or partial shade. This is ground that gets at least four hours of direct sun a day—usually in the morning or late afternoon. To this category you can add ground that get dappled sun all day—that is sun mixed with shade as you might find under a large tree. In hot summer regions, part shade can be a good thing. The key is that enough light reaches plants that morning dew evaporated before sunset.
• Full sun. This term applies to ground that gets six or more hours of full, direct sun a day. Plants that need full sun can not get by without at least six hours of direct sun; plants that need partial shade do not want more than six hours of sun direct sun each day.

Light and shade in your garden

Observing the sun and shade in your garden is important. If your garden is not sunny all day, it’s good to know when and where the shade falls.

Keep in mind, the angle of the sun changes over the course of the day and also over the course of the year. Shadows are longer and deeper in the morning and evening, just as they are even longer and deeper in autumn and winter than in spring and summer.

Make a sun and shadow map or your garden. Note the times of day it is sunny and shady and where. Update this map once a month. If you are planting shrubs and perennials this map can aid your design decisions.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Large, flat surface areas such as the side of a house, driveways, walkways, and patios will reflect light and increase sunlight exposure in adjacent planting beds.
• The north side of the house is almost always in shadow or part shadow; this is a good spot for shade-loving plants.
• The south side of the house is almost always in sunlight unless trees grow nearby to shade the area.
• Morning light is softer than afternoon light. The afternoon light is more intense.
• Some trees such as conifers and other evergreens create dense shade while other loosely limbed and leaved trees allow sunlight to filter through.
• Shade under deciduous trees will be less in autumn and winter than in spring and summer.
• In southern regions sunlight is more intense than in northern regions. In the Southwest, some plants will thrive with more shade than in other parts of the country. Consider the intensity of sunlight and hot temperatures.
• Sunlight is more intense at higher altitudes. Plants at high elevations receive more intense sunlight.

Shade and sun plant indicators

Keep an eye on the plants in your garden, they will tell you quite a bit about sun and shade:

• If plants get too much sun, leaves will wilt shortly after watering.
• If the sun is too intense, leaves will get whitish sunburn spots and even turn brown and crisp.
• If a spot is too shady, plants will grow tall, spindly, weak, and foliage will be sparse. Plants will lean toward the light.
• If a spot is too shady, plants may be leafy but will not flower.
• If plants do not get enough sun they will be susceptible to mildew and fungal diseases.

Sun-shade test

If you are unsure how much sun or shade a spot in the garden gets, try this: plant an impatiens, a red salvia, and a marigold next to each other After about 8 weeks, the marigold will be thriving if it’s sunny; if the salvia is growing better than the other two plants, it’s part sun. If the impatiens is thriving and not wilting, you have full shade.

Annuals and perennials that thrive in full shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Arum, Italian	Arum italicum	6-10
Astilbe	Astilbe spp.	3-8
Bleeding heart	Dicentra spp.	3-9
Bugbane	Cimicifuga spp.	3-8
Cast iron plant	Aspidistra elatior	8-10
Christmas rose	Helleborus niger	3-9
Coleus	Solenostemum scuttellarioides	Annual
Epimedium	Epimedium spp.	4-9
Hosta	Hosta cultivars	3-8
Impatiens	Impatiens spp.	Annual
Lenten rose	Helleborus orientalis	4-9
Ligularia	Ligularia spp.	Annual
Pigsqueak, Bergenia	Bergenia spp.	3-8
Pulmonaria, Lungwort	Pulmonaria saccharata	3-8
Virginia bluebells	Mertensia virginica	3-7

Annuals and perennials that thrive in part shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Agapanthus	Agapanthus spp.	8-10
Ajuga	Ajuga spp.	3-9
Amethyst flower	Browallia speciosa	Annual
Begonia, hardy	Begonia grandis	6-10
Begonia, wax	Begonia x semperflorens-cultorum	Annual
Brunnera, heart-leaf	Dicentra spp.	3-9
Cardinal flower	Lobelia spp.	2-9
Columbine	Aquilegia spp.	3-9
Coral bells	Heuchera sanguinea	3-9
Corydalis	Corydalis spp.	4-8
Cupflower	Nierembergia spp.	Annual
Cyclamen, hardy	Cyclamen hederifolium	7-9
Daylily	Hemerocallis spp.	3-10
Dead nettle, spotted	Lamium maculatum	3-9
Ferns	Various	Varies
Flowering tobacco	Nicotiana spp.	Annual
Foam Flower, Allegheny	Tiarella cordifolia	4-9
Forget-me-not, Chinese	Cynogolssum amabile	Annual
Forget-me-not, Woodland	Myosotis sylvatica	Annual
Foxglove	Digitalis purpurea	4-8
Fuchsia	Fuchsia spp.	8-10
Geranium, hardy	Geranium spp.	3-8
Goatsbeard	Aruncus dioicus	3-7
Goldenstar	Chrysogonum virginianum	5-9
Hellebore	Helleborus spp.	5-9
Kafir lily; clivia	Clivia miniata	9-11
Lady’s mantle	Alchemilla mollis	4-7
Lily-of-the-valley	Convallaria majalis	3-8
Lilyturf	Liriope muscari	7-10
Mimulus	Mimulus x hybridus	Annual
Mondo grass	Ophiopogon japonicus	7-9
Money plant; honesty	Lunaria annua	4-8
Monkshood	Acontium spp.	3-7
Obedient plant	Physostegia virginiana	2-9
Pansy	Viola x wittrockiana	Annual
Phlox, creeping	Phlox stolonifera	2-4
Primrose	Primula spp.	3-8
Queen-of-the-prairie	Filipendula rubra	3-8
Salvia, annual red	Salvia splendens	Annual
Sweet alyssum	Lobularia maritima	Annual
Trillium	Trillium spp.	4-8
Turtlehead, pink	Chelone lyonii	3-8
Vinca, periwinkle	Vinca spp.	Varies
Violet	Viola spp.	Varies
Wishbone flower	Torenia fournieri	Annual

Shrubs that grow in shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Acuba, Japanese	Acuba japonica	7-10
Boxwood	Buxus spp.	Varies
Daphne	Daphne spp.	Varies
Euonymous, Japanese	Euonymous japonica	7-9
Gardenia	Gardenia jasminoides	8-10
Holly	Ilex spp.	Varies
Honeysuckle	Lonicera pileata	5-9
Laurel, cherry	Prunus laurocerasus	6-9
Leucothoe, drooping	Leucothoe fontanesiana	5-8
Magnolia, southern	Magnolia grandiflora	6-10
Mahonia	Mahonia spp.	Varies
Mountain laurel	Kalmia latifolia	4-9
Pieris	Pieris spp.	Varies
Pittosporum, Japanese	Pittosporum tobira	8-10
Rhododendrons and azaleas	Rhododendron spp. and hybrids	Varies
Skimmia, Japanese	Skimmia japonica	6-9
Sweet olive	Osmanthus spp.	8-9
Viburnum, sweet	Viburnum odoratissimum	8-10

Conifers that grow in shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Cryptomeria, Japanese	Cryptomeria japonica	6-8
False cypress	Chamaecyparis spp.	Varies
Incense cedar	Calocedurs decurrens	5-8
Hemlock, Canada	Tsuga canadensis	3-7
Podocarpus; yew pine	Podocarpus macrophyllus	8-10
Spruce, white	Picea glauca	2-6
Yew	Taxus spp.	4-7
Yew, Japanese plum	Cephalotaxus harringtonia	6-9

Vines that grow in shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Clematis, large-flowered	Clematis x hybrida	3-9
Clematis, sweet autumn	Clematis ternifolia	4-9
Cross vine	Bignonia capreolata	6-9
Honeysuckle, goldflame	Lonicera x heckrottii	4-9
Hydrangea, climbing	Hydrangea petiolaris	4-7
Ivy, English	Hedera helix	5-9
Jasmine, Madagascar	Stephanotis floridunda	10-11
Silver lace vine	Polygonum aubertii	4-9
Trumpet creeper	Campsis radicans	4-9
Virginia creeper	Parthenocissus quinquefolia	4-9

Bulbs that grow in shade

Common Name	Botanical Name	Zones
Agapanthus	Agapanthus hybrids	8-10
Begonia, tuberous	Begonia x tuberhybrida	10-11
Caladium	Caladium bicolor	8-11
Crocus	Crocus spp.	3-8
Cyclamen, hardy	Cyclamen hederifolium	7-9
Daffodil	Narcissus spp.	3-8
Naked ladies	Lycoris squamigera	5-9
Squill	Scilla spp.	2-8