The 17 Best Shade Perennials for Gardens That Overflow with Color (2024)

25 Colorful Container Garden Recipes for Shade That Are Easy to Grow

Bigroot Geranium

One of the toughest shade-tolerant plants, bigroot geranium doesn't mind heat or drought. And deer and rabbits typically pass them by in search of tastier morsels. Not to be confused with zonal geraniums grown as annuals, these colorful perennials put on a spring show with pink, purple, or white flowers; some varieties also offer outstanding fall color in their woodsy-scented foliage.

Growing Conditions: Part shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 2 feet tall

Zones: 4-8

Toad Lily

Add a touch of elegance to your shade garden with graceful toad lily. This easy-to-grow flowering shade perennial offers unique flowers that are often compared to orchids. Many are spotted with shades of purple or blue. 'Tojen' is a favorite variety that offers especially large lavender flowers.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 2 feet tall

Zones: 4-9

Ajuga

Grown mainly for its attractive leaves, ajuga also produces blue flowers in the spring. Select varieties offer dark purple or variegated foliage or pink or white flowers. It makes a tough groundcover, staying low and spreading outward with creeping stems. In some regions, it can spread aggressively, so check if it's a problem where you live.

Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 6 inches tall

Zones: 3-9

Old-Fashioned Bleeding Heart

There's little wonder why the old-fashioned bleeding heart is a favorite shade perennial. Its finely cut foliage looks almost fernlike, and in late spring and early summer, it produces pink or white heart-shape shade flowers that hang from elegant, arching stems. By midsummer, bleeding heart usually goes dormant and loses its foliage. Plant it with astilbe or hosta, so you don't have a bare spot in your shade gardens.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 3 feet tall

Zones: 3-9

Hosta

Among the showiest and easiest-to-grow shade perennials, hostas come in a huge variety of sizes and shapes. Choose from miniatures that stay only a few inches tall or giants that sprawl 6 feet across or more. Look for leaves in shades of green, blue, white, chartreuse, and gold, with many cultivars boasting pretty variegation. Some hosta flowers are very fragrant, too.

Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun (depending on variety) in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 2 feet tall (depending on variety)

Zones: 3-8

Yellow Corydalis

This hardworking shade perennial takes the prize for being the longest bloomer in a shade garden. Enjoy the clusters of yellow flowers from late spring to frost. It's not just the flowers of yellow corydalis that are beautiful; the gray-green leaves of these colorful shade plants are also attractive. Deadhead the fading flowers if you don't want this plant to self-seed around your garden.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 5-8

Lungwort

Though it doesn't exactly have a poetic-sounding name, lungwort is an attractive shade plant. It earned its moniker from the silvery, lung-shape spots that dot the foliage of these flowering shade plants. The leaves look good all season long, but they make an especially pretty accent to the clusters of pink, white, or blue flowers in spring.

Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 4-8

Deadnettle

Starting in mid spring, deadnettle produces clusters of pink, purple, or white flowers. This shade plant blooms all summer, creating months of color. And even when it's not blooming, the silver-infused foliage of these flowering shade perennials brightens shady corners.

Test Garden Tip: Keep deadnettle looking its best by keeping it moist. If it dries out too much, the leaves will develop brown edges.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 8 inches tall

Zones: 4-8

Barrenwort

An underused perennial that deserves more attention, barrenwort has it all when it comes to shade perennials. The groundcover blooms in spring in shades of red, orange, yellow, pink, purple, or white; it tolerates dry shade and is deer- and rabbit-resistant. Some varieties are evergreen in mild-winter areas; others offer good fall color.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade where it tolerates dry spells but does best with regular watering

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 5-9

Brunnera

In spring, the sky blue shade flowers of Brunnera add welcome sparkle to shade gardens. It's large, robustly textured leaves keep the plant looking pretty when not in bloom, especially if you grow a variegated variety. While the plant is often short-lived, it does tend to self-seed, so you won't need to buy new plants.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 2 feet tall

Zones: 3-8

Hellebore

Also called Christmas rose, hellebore is one of the earliest bloomers of flowering shade plants. Look for its burgundy, pink, cream, green, or white shade flowers in late winter or early spring. Although it looks delicate, the Christmas rose is quite sturdy once it gets established, very drought-tolerant, and it's deer- and rabbit-resistant.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade where it tolerates dry spells, though it does best with regular moisture

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 4-8

Astilbe

With feathery flowers appearing in early summer, astilbe blooms in shades of burgundy, red, pink, lavender, and white. In addition to the attractive flower plumes, this shade plant has finely cut foliage, which is flushed with bronze in many varieties.

Growing Conditions: Part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 3 feet tall (depending on variety)

Zones: 4-8

Japanese Painted Fern

It's tough to imagine a lovelier shade perennial than Japanese painted fern. This beauty offers fronds liberally dappled with silver, burgundy, and green. Plus, it's a low-growing, slow-spreading plant for shady areas. Deer and rabbits usually leave it alone.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 5-8

Wild Ginger

Hailing from the woodlands of North America, wild ginger is one of the toughest shade plants. It produces fuzzy, heart-shaped leaves that look great from spring to fall. And it's rarely bothered by deer and rabbits. This slow grower eventually forms impressive groundcover.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 6 inches tall

Zones: 2-8

Japanese Forestgrass

With graceful foliage that looks like a waterfall, Japanese forestgrass comes in varieties that have bright gold, yellow, or white variegation. In fall, the leaves of these colorful shade plants often pick up beautiful reddish tones. 'Aureola' bears bright yellow leaves with dark green edges; 'All Gold' has even more brilliant golden foliage.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 5-9

Lilyturf

Loved for its grassy foliage and spikes of blue or white flowers in late summer, lilyturf also scores major props for being low on the menu for deer and rabbits. Plus, it's practically a plant-and-forget-it garden resident, even when it's growing in dry shade.

Test Garden Tip: Lilyturf can be a fast, almost aggressive spreader when it's happy, so plant it where it can be contained, such as along a concrete walkway.

Growing Conditions: Full shade to full sun, where it tolerates drought well but does best with regular watering

Size: Up to 12 inches tall

Zones: 5-10

Fern-Leaf Bleeding Heart

Unlike the old-fashioned bleeding heart, fern-leaf bleeding heart keeps its beautiful foliage all season long. These shade perennials bloom on and off from spring to fall (if they get enough moisture during hot, dry periods), producing delicate clusters of pink, red, or white flowers.

Growing Conditions: Full to part shade in evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: Up to 2 feet tall

Zones: 4-8