I really enjoy the shadier parts of my gardens. They are so many different varieties of coral bells and hostas that do well in the shade. These are beautiful plants and are easy to care for, with the exception of dealing with slugs and deer, but there are other fun plants for those shadier spots too.
One of my favorites is ligularia. This is a larger leafed foliage plant that flowers in late summer is shades of yellow-orange. ‘Bottle Rocket’ gets up to 3′ tall with large, toothed leaves and spikes of mustard yellow flowers. ‘Britt-Marie Crawford’ is a dark leafed variety getting up to 4′ tall with clusters of daisy-like gold-orange flowers.
Mukdenia is a great plant for the shade border. Mukdenia has clusters of small, white flowers in spring. In late summer the fanned leaves start to turn red and continue to turn into fall. The plant in the photo is just starting to show its colors.
Finally, we have lungwort. Its silver, speckled leaves provide year-around interest along with colorful flowers in spring. ‘Mrs. Moon’ flowers start out pink and then change to a purple-blue while ‘Bertram Anderson’ has brilliant, blue flowers. This one is deer resistant as well.
Add a few plants to your shade garden and don’t forget to take advantage of our August Garden Rewards Coupon – Buy 2 Perennials, Get 3rd FREE!