Ten favourite: flowers for shade
Shade loving plants at Tom Stuart-Smith’s garden at Chelsea Flower Show 2024
We’re long term fans of shade gardening, and the lush green plants, like ferns, that tend to do well in these locations. But finding flowering plants for shade can be a little more challenging than foliage plants. Here, we’ve rounded up ten of our favourite flowering plants that do well in shade, most of which do best in part shade or dappled shades. From the towering spires of elegant foxgloves, to the feathery, showy astilbes, and humble but reliable geraniums, these are the plants we wouldn’t be without in areas with lower light levels.
Foxgloves
Foxgloves are one of our very favourite flowering plants full stop, but are especially good for gardens with plenty of partially shaded areas. Naturally growing at the edge of woodlands and along hedgerows, they do well in areas with similar light levels.
They’re a biennial plant, meaning they spend their first year growing foliage and roots, flower in their second year, and then die. In a spot where they’re happy, they’ll self-seed freely, so you’ll find plenty of new plants popping up, however, do be aware these won’t grow with flowers in colours the same as the parent plant. You can also easily sow them from seed, growing in a pot for a year and planting out the following year.
Check out our foxglove guide for more info.
2. Geraniums
Lots of geraniums do well in partially shaded spots, like Geranium ‘Rozanne’ shown opposite.
A real classic plant for the garden, geraniums establish happily, need little care, and tend to flower for months at a time (depending on the variety you choose). They also cope well with relatively low levels of sun, so they’re an essential for us in a shade garden.
The choice of cultivars is huge, with different flower colours, different heights, different flowering times and different growth. For some of our favourite varieties and to find out more about growing this cheerful plant, take a look at our geranium plant guide.
3. Astilbes
Astilbes are one of our favourite plants for making real impact in a shady spot. The gorgeous dissected foliage is covered by plumes of feathery flowers from late Spring all the way through to Autumn, in a range of whites or oinks.
They prefer a damp spot in part shade, so they grow especially well for us here in Swansea, with our often drizzly conditions! This makes them a great choice for boggy conditions or rain gardens.
Most astilbes grow to around a metre tall, so this is a really eye-catching plant for shade.
Read more about growing astilbes in our astilbe plant guide.
4. Hydrangea
Many hydrangeas — like our favourite Hydrangea ‘Limelight’ in the photo — can cope with partially shaded conditions, so if you’ve got a semi-shaded location, you can enjoy a huge number of the glorious mop-headed hydrangeas.
For deeper shade spots, take a look for the oak leaved hydrangea (botanical name Hydrangea quercifolia) which does especially well in shady spots, and has amazing large leaves, with lobes similar to oaks.
All hydrangeas benefit from a bit of ongoing care, most especially a prune every year in late Winter. Take a look at our hydrangea guide for more info on growing and caring for these gorgeous plants.
5. Astrantia major
Another of our all time favourite plants! Our own garden is filled with astrantia, and we love to see the gorgeous pin cushion flowers fill the borders from June to August.
Also another plant that does well in damper locations, these will need plenty of watering in any dry spells, but are otherwise cheerfully low-maintenance. They do well in part shade, or dappled shade, and work as underplanting for canopies that aren’t too dense.
Read more in our astrantia guide.
6. Thalictrum
Delicate thalictrums are a really glorious plant, with tiny circular flower heads held above thin, almost invisible stems and feathery, elegant foliage. Thalictrum flowers tend to come in whites or purples, like this Thalictrum delavayi opposite.
It’s another plant that does best in a moist and partially shaded location, and it’s a relatively late flowering plant, tending to flower from July until September.
7. Aquilegia
A cheerful cottage garden plant, aquilegias are easy to grow from seed and will pop up all over the garden once happy, so you’ll never need to plant them again.
They grow well in sun or part shade, and flower from early Spring, so make a welcome addition to the garden as it’s just shaking off its winter clothes.
Read more about growing aquilegias, as well as some of our favourite varieties, in our aquilegia plant guide.
8. Tellima grandiflora
A really gorgeous ground cover plant for shade, Tellima is a similar plant to the better-known heuchera, but we find it grows far better and is less prone to attack from pests.
The leaves of tellima grandiflora are an elegant green-purple, that look especially good in early Spring when new. Around May time, the small flowers appear, dotted above the foliage on spikes. This is a plant that looks best planted en masse and is perfect for the front of a shady border, or under trees and shrubs.
9. Anemone x hybrida
Many anemones do well in shade, such as the classic wood anemone, that thrives under deciduous trees.
Anemone x hybrida, often called the Japanese anemone is another easy-going plant for a shady spot. It flowers in late Summer, and is a large plant that grows to over a metre tall, filling the garden with blooms.
It does best in part shade, and can cope with a drier spot than many of the other plants on this list. Often seen in front gardens in towns, growing happily against walls.
See more in our Anemone x hybrida guide.
10. Lamprocapnos spectabilis
The gorgeous Lamprocapnos spectabilis was previously called Dicentra spectabilis, but is known more often by its common name: Bleeding heart, for its distinctive heart-shaped flowers, with a drop falling from the bottom.
This is a low-growing plant, that flowers around May, and does best in part shade or dappled shade in a damp spot, so water well if needed. The two most used varieties of plants have flowers in vibrant pink, as is in the picture opposite, or pure white, but we’re especially fond of a relatively new variety, Lamprocapnos spectabilis ‘Cupid,’ which has a muted, soft pink flower colour.
Bleeding hearts dislike root disturbances, so are best left in position once happy, rather than moved or divided.
