Best Flowers for Shady Spots

Written by Amy Gordon (last updated May 1, 2023)

1

Nearly every gardening tip you read mentions the importance of sunshine when planning your garden. Sunshine is obviously an important part of any plant's life, since without the nutrients that the plant receives from the sun, the plant cannot grow. Every garden is going to have some parts that do not receive as much sunshine as they should. Fortunately, if you want to decorate in these areas, you do have options. Some plants need less sunshine than others. This guide is intended to help you find the best flowers to grow in those shady spots, to have those spots look just as good as the rest of your lawn.

The best flowers to grow in shady areas are perennials. The type of perennials that you use will vary, depending on how much shade there is in the area. Some plants can live in partial shade, while others can live with almost no sun at all.

If you have an area that is partially shady, grow plants such as Columbines, Bleeding Hearts, or Shooting Stars if you are looking for flowering plants, or Bergenias if you are looking for something more shrub-like. There are other options that you can find in many gardening centers, but these are the most common, at least in the United States.

If your area is completely shaded, you will have to go with a different tactic. Try growing flowers such as the Hosta. Ferns are a very common plant to grow in complete shade, since they tend to grow natively in woodland areas under large trees where they receive little shade. Shaded plants often have other things to worry about, such as invasive root structures. Be sure to investigate the particular plant you want to grow, since they may have special needs and have certain problems while growing in the shade.

Author Bio

Amy Gordon

Amy Gordon loves keeping things simple, natural, and safe so she can spend more time having fun. Every day she learns new things about making life at home easier and she loves to share it with you! ...

MORE FROM AMY

Cleaning a Rusty Knife

Knives often become dull or rusty. You can use a manual knife sharpener, a machine, or a whetstone to bring your knives ...

Discover More

Watch Out for Frost with Bedding Plants

Bedding plants act as wonderful decorations for your yard or garden, but they are fragile. If you plant your bedding ...

Discover More

Beautiful Spring Flowers

If you want to grow gorgeous flowers in early spring, you'll need to start planting bulbs the fall before. Plant your ...

Discover More
More Gardening Tips

How Can You Encourage Flower Propagation?

If you have noticed that your flowers are not thriving as well as you would like you may want to look into propagation. ...

Discover More

Easter Flowers

In large part, Easter flowers are pretty much a matter of local tradition. That being said, there are four different ...

Discover More

Poppy Gardens

If you have ever seen the poppy flower, then you know just how beautiful these little plants can be. What's even more ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Receive an e-mail several times each week with a featured gardening tip. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is two more than 7?

2013-06-11 09:05:30

Nancy

"If your area is completely shaded, you will have to go with a different tactic. Try growing flowers such as the Hosta. Ferns are a very common plant to grow in complete shade, since they tend to grow natively in woodland areas under large trees where they receive little shade." I believe the last line should NOT say 'little shade' as that seems to be contradicting the rest of the paragraph. ???


Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Receive an e-mail several times each week with a featured gardening tip. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)