{"id":10154,"date":"2018-03-23T12:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T16:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=10154"},"modified":"2018-01-06T17:43:00","modified_gmt":"2018-01-06T22:43:00","slug":"favorites-for-the-shade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2018\/03\/23\/favorites-for-the-shade\/","title":{"rendered":"Favorites For The Shade"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here are ten of my favorite perennial plants for shady areas (USDA hardiness zones 4-7). All prosper in\u00a01-2\u00a0 hours of early morning sunlight and in humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil. \u00a0Mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Astilbe chinensis<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Fairy Wings (Epimedium)<\/p><\/div>\n

Hosta<\/strong> \u2013 unquestionably the shade favorite of\u00a0 U.S. gardeners. \u00a0A low maintenance plant that returns every spring with lush beautiful foliage and white or purple trumpet-like flowers. \u00a0Choose from over 35,000 registered cultivars\u00a0of different\u00a0leaf shapes, variegations, sizes and textures. \u00a0Select those that are proven performers in your region.\u00a0Blue leaf types grow best in moderate shade.<\/p>\n

Chinese Astilbe \u2013<\/strong> colorful feathery plumes\u00a0in summer and lacy, fern-like foliage. \u00a0Flower colors range from white to dark purple depending upon the species. Astilbes are at their best in a shady area that receives 2-3\u00a0morning sunlight and adequate soil moisture.<\/p>\n

Assorted Ferns<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0six choices to start planting: Autumn fern (<\/strong>evergreen), <\/em><\/strong>Christmas fern (<\/strong>evergreen), <\/strong>Japanese painted fern, Lady fern, Royal fern, and Northern maidenhair.<\/p>\n

Variegated Solomon\u2019s Seal (<\/strong>Polygonatum odoratum<\/em> Variegatum) \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>pendulous, white, bell-shaped flowers appear in pairs beneath arching stems in spring. Plants\u00a0grow 1-2 feet tall and\u00a0 blooms are\u00a0slightly fragrant.<\/p>\n

Heart shaped brunnera<\/strong> (Brunnera macrophylla<\/em>)\u00a0, <\/em>aka<\/em> Siberian bugloss, is a rhizomatous, clump-forming perennial with attractive heart-shaped mottled green foliage and\u00a0airy light blue forget-me-not-like flower heads. Leading cultivars are \u2018Jack Frost\u2019, \u2018Sea Heart\u2019, and \u2018Looking Glass\u2019.<\/p>\n

Fairy Wings <\/strong>(Epimedium spp<\/em>.) aka bishop’s hat, spread via shallow underground rhizomes; plants spread slowly form close-knit colonies. Tiny flowers rise through last year\u2019s foliage, before emergence of new spring foliage. Some epimediums have evergreen foliage.<\/p>\n

Foamflower<\/strong> (<\/em>Tiarella cordifolia<\/em>)<\/em>\u00a0– clump-forming perennial that spreads rapidly by runners (stolons) to form dense, 1-2 feet wide clumps of foliage. Semi-glossy, heart-shaped, 3-5 lobed leaves (4 inches across)\u00a0develop directly from stolons. Foliage is evergreen where winters are mild, otherwise turning reddish bronze in autumn and winter.<\/p>\n

Old-fashioned Bleeding Heart<\/strong> (Lamprocapnos<\/em> spectabilis<\/em>) \u2013 Asian species and hybrids produce larger and showier flowers. Irrigating plants during dry spells keeps them looking good with repeat bloom.<\/p>\n

Bigroot Geranium<\/strong> (Geranium<\/em> macrorrhizum<\/em>), aka cranesbill \u2013 vigorous ground cover\u00a0filled with magenta-pink flowers that are conspicuously red veined in spring; develops into\u00a0a dense leafy mat; foliage turns red in fall. Leading cultivar is ‘Bevan’s Variety’.<\/p>\n

Bugbane<\/strong> (Actae racemosa<\/em>) aka black cohosh, grows\u00a04-6 feet (foliage + flowering spikes). Numerous small creamy white fragrant flowers on wiry stems rise\u00a0well above the foliage in mid-summer.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Painted fern and bleeding heart (L. exima)<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here are ten of my favorite perennial plants for shady areas (USDA hardiness zones 4-7). All prosper in\u00a01-2\u00a0 hours of early morning sunlight and in humus-rich, moist, well-drained soil. \u00a0Mulch to conserve moisture and suppress weeds. Hosta \u2013 unquestionably the shade favorite of\u00a0 U.S. gardeners. \u00a0A low maintenance plant that returns every spring with lush […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[444,736,1218,1188,751,1319,1351,1301,652,1423,1037,969,521,674,645,806,1357,1092,1012,628,853,551,627,843,812,729,777,961,630,705,706,646,1095,283,455],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10154"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10154"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10154\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10160,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10154\/revisions\/10160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10154"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10154"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10154"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}