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Plants for deep shade

Plants that grow with less than two hours of sun: the north side of a house, under evergreens, between buildings.

Deep shade is less than two hours of direct sun a day: the north side of a house, under conifers and big evergreens, a passage between buildings. Flowers are few down here, because flowering takes energy that only sun provides. So a deep-shade bed is designed with leaves.

Play the leaves against each other: bold against fine (a hosta beside a fern), plain against marked, and above all, light against dark. Chartreuse, silver and white-variegated leaves catch what light there is and seem to glow; dark green ones disappear. One pale plant repeated down a dark bed does more than any flower.

Every plant here is listed by NC State as tolerating deep shade.

98 plants: 37 perennials, 34 ferns, 2 bulbs, 6 grasses and 19 shrubs.

The dozen to start with

  • Caladium

    Caladium

    20 in · grown for its leaves · variegated leaves

    Paper-thin, heart-shaped leaves in mixtures of white, pink, red and green, veined and splashed, from early summer until the first cool nights.

  • Japanese painted fern

    Japanese painted fern

    18 in · grown for its leaves · silver leaves

    Arching fronds brushed with silver and burgundy brighten dark corners all season.

  • Lily of the valley

    Lily of the valley

    8 in · early May to late May

    Arching sprays of small, white, intensely scented bells in May, between pairs of broad green leaves.

  • Japanese forest grass

    Japanese forest grass

    18 in · grown for its leaves

    The plain green species: a cascading mound of bright green, bamboo-like leaves that all flow in one direction, like water over a stone.

  • Bleeding heart

    Bleeding heart

    2½ ft · early May to early June

    An old-fashioned favourite with arching stems of heart-shaped flowers in late spring.

  • Japanese pachysandra

    Japanese pachysandra

    8 in · grown for its leaves

    Whorls of glossy, toothed, evergreen leaves form a uniform carpet under trees.

  • Christmas fern

    Christmas fern

    20 in · grown for its leaves

    The most useful native fern: leathery, dark green fronds that stay green through winter, in a tidy clump that never spreads.

  • Ostrich fern

    Ostrich fern

    4 ft · grown for its leaves

    Tall, feathery fronds form an elegant green vase that gives height at the back of a shady bed.

  • Japanese holly fern

    Japanese holly fern

    24 in · grown for its leaves

    Thick, glossy, dark green fronds with large, pointed leaflets like holly leaves.

  • Sweet woodruff

    Sweet woodruff

    8 in · early May to early June

    Whorls of bright green leaves make a soft, even carpet under shrubs and trees.

  • Japanese aucuba

    Japanese aucuba

    6½ ft · grown for its leaves · variegated leaves

    A rounded evergreen with large, glossy, leathery leaves, plain green or splashed with yellow as if dusted with gold.

  • Summersweet

    Summersweet

    6½ ft · mid July to mid August

    Upright spikes of white or pink flowers with a rich, spicy fragrance in the heat of late summer.

A bed planned only from these plants

The planner was given only the plants on this page that suit zone 6 and shade, and designed this 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed from them when the page was made.

A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) bed at eye level in mid August: Green-and-gold, Christmas rose, Dixie wood fern, Interrupted fern, Southern wood fern, Toad lily, Hardy begonia, Bottlebrush grass.
A 16 × 8 ft (4.9 × 2.4 m) English border in zone 6, shade, seen from the path in mid August.
3. Dixie wood fern33. Dixie wood fern33. Dixie wood fern34. Interrupted fern42. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose21. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold12. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose21. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold12. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose22. Christmas rose25. Southern wood fern55. Southern wood fern55. Southern wood fern56. Toad lily66. Toad lily66. Toad lily68. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass87. Hardy begonia77. Hardy begonia77. Hardy begonia78. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass88. Bottlebrush grass81. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold11. Green-and-gold1
From above, to scale. Each circle is one plant, as wide as the room it needs.

The plants

  1. 1 Green-and-gold × 24, yellow
  2. 2 Christmas rose × 13, white
  3. 3 Dixie wood fern × 3, dark green leaves
  4. 4 Interrupted fern × 1, green leaves
  5. 5 Southern wood fern × 3, dark green leaves
  6. 6 Toad lily × 3, purple
  7. 7 Hardy begonia × 3, pink
  8. 8 Bottlebrush grass × 8, green

Planned as an English border: 10 of the 10 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. Hardy begonia stands beside toad lily, a proven pairing. Christmas rose and green-and-gold finish the front edge.

The planner's own design check: 9 Excellent, 4 Good, 3 Satisfactory. It flags one thing to watch: Nothing on this plan is highly poisonous or an aggressive spreader.

Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.

All 98 plants

Show all 98, by where they go in a bed

Front of a bed 40

Middle of a bed 38

Back of a bed 20

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