Shrubs and Perennials to Light up the Shade

I’m a big fan of shade gardens, and of the many, surprisingly colorful plants that tolerate shade.  So it makes me crazy when I see people buying flats of annuals every year (impatiens, anyone?) and nothing else for their shady spots, missing out on all the fabulous shrubs and perennials that bring light and color to shade gardens.  So I give you a few of the “Best and the Brightest” in my own shade garden.

Above left, the variegated Euonymus fortunii stays nice and short – under 18″ – so it’s useful in small spaces.  Super easy-care, it doesn’t even need pruning (at least in the 10 years I’ve grown this one.) 

The bottlebrush buckeye on the right grows to 8 feet tall by 10 feet wide, and spreads into an actual grove of them.  A great woodland plant, it’s just as low-care as the Euonymus, and an Eastern native, too.

Above are two plants that are commonly found in gardens today, precisely because they’re such do-ers.   Hostas are about the toughest perennials in the world and foolproof for any gardener – unless there are deer in the garden.  Towering over them here is a contender for the title of toughest, most self-sustaining shrub in the world – the Acuba.  It can take sun OR shade and survives both severe drought and record blizzards with nothing but the occasional storm damage, followed by fast and full recovery.  Barely hardy in Zone 6, it’s fine on the Cape but best grown as a houseplant in most of Massachusetts.

Now have you all heard of these next perennials? Clockwise from upper left, Euphorbia amygdaloides, is about 2 feet tall and evergreen.  The chartreuse blossoms you see (actually bracts) look great for months.  Visitors are awed by this plant – I’m telling ya. 

Next is Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum) – not the common type but this variegated green-and-white type, which really does brighten even the darkest shade, all season long.  Its spring flowers are nice but short-lived; we grow this one for the leaves.

On the bottom right is hardy begonia (Begonia grandis) with lovely foliage and these stunning flowers in late summer.  They seed freely so once you have a few, you’ll soon have as many as you want (and ones you don’t want are easy to yank).

Finally, Hakonechloa grass is a stunner, paired here with the perennial Geraniums ‘Johnson’s Blue’, which can take light shade or full sun.