Shade & Low Moisture Tolerant Perennials

Spring Bloomers

• Lenten rose (Helleborus orientalis) provides some of the earliest blooms of the season. This 18-inch-tall evergreen perennial blooms in late winter through early spring with white, pink and pale-purple flowers. It has glossy foliage and prefers light to partial shade. Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis) bloom through spring with dangling red-yellow flowers. This perennial wildflower grows to 3 feet tall and tolerates partial shade. Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis) grows to 18 inches tall and blooms from late spring through early summer with clusters of tiny, pale-yellow flowers. This perennial has fuzzy foliage and tolerates partial to full shade.

Early to Mid-Summer Bloomers

• Lily of the valley (Convallaria majali), a perennial bulb plant, blooms in early summer with aromatic, bell-shaped white flowers. This low-growing plant reaches heights to 12 inches and tolerates drought and partially shaded sites. Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia ) also blooms in early summer. This 12- to 18-inch-tall perennial tolerates partial to full shade and produces dark pink flowers. It is native to the eastern United States. The bellflower (Campanula spp.) blooms in summer with blue, white and purple blossoms. This perennial comes in a range of cultivars that grow from 9 to 60 inches tall and tolerate dry soil and partial shade.

Late Summer Bloomers

• Virgin’s bower clematis (Clematis virginiana) blooms from late summer through fall with white blossoms. This perennial grows as a twining vine and is native to the eastern U.S. It grows to 10 feet long and tolerates dry shade. The white wood aster (Aster divaricatus) blooms in late summer with flat, white flowers with yellow centers. A perennial wildflower, the white wood aster grows to 3 feet tall and has heart-shaped foliage with serrated margins. Daisy fleabane (Erigeron spp.) blooms from late summer through fall with white, orange, pink and purple flowers. These North American natives grow to 2 feet tall and tolerate dry, partially shaded sites.

Foliage Plants

• Some shade- and drought-tolerant perennials are grown for their foliage. The cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior) grows in upright, 18-inch-tall clumps of wide, slightly arching foliage. This evergreen perennial tolerates dense shade and has white and dark-green striped leaves. Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), a perennial ornamental grass, also tolerates shady, dry sites. This 5-foot-tall grass has green foliage that turns yellow in fall. It produces shiny, pendulous seed heads in summer.