Are Blooming Perennials Good for a Shaded Area?

Benefits

• Flowering plants bring color not commonly found on foliage plants to darker areas of the garden. Many white-blooming shade-tolerant perennials such as gardenias provide fragrance as well as a source of nectar for night-sipping pollinators such as moths. Shade-tolerant, blooming perennials that spread, such as trilliums, block weeds under trees while still providing a decorative ground cover.

Mixing It Up

• Blooming perennials mixed with perennials sporting ornamental foliage keep the shaded area interesting by adding color and texture. Japanese barberry, for example, provides vivid purple foliage, but few decorative flowers. But if it is planted near a showy shade-blooming perennial like astilbe, the purple foliage serves as a dramatic backdrop for astilbe's feathery white or pink plumes. Planting blooming perennials towards the edges of the shade and leaving ferns and other foliage plants that prefer deeper shade in spots of intense shade grants a wider range of options for the shaded area.

Problems

• All blooming plants need at least a modicum of sunlight to photosynthesize and produce enough energy to bloom. Blooming, shade-tolerant perennials won't actually produce blooms if the shade is too deep. This often happens under a dense canopy of several trees or under opaque structures such as covered patios where even morning and evening sun cannot reach the plants. Similarly, plants next to the north-facing wall of a building tend to get less light than those planted on any other side, and if they are underneath eaves and trees to boot, they may not bloom.

Considerations

• The natural environment of blooming perennials gives a hint as to how much shade they can take. Trilliums, for example, are native to forest floors, and can take a great deal of shade. Many daylilies, on the other hand, are native to woodland edges and do better with a half day of sun to offset the time spent in the shade.