Plants for North Shaded Porches in South Dakota

Ferns

• Most ferns love, cool shady spots making them perfect for that light-scarce north facing porch. Select cold-hardy varieties that you can leave outside most of the year in South Dakota. Try Southern Lady (Athyrium filix-femina), a shade-loving fern that grows in USDA zones 3 through 8. For large containers, try ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), which grows to 3 to 6 feet tall with a 5- to 8-foot spread in USDA zones 3 through 7 and likes partial to full shade. "Pictum" (Athyrium nipponicum "Pictum"), commonly known as the Japanese silver painted fern, adds texture and variation with silver-colored fronds. This shade-loving, compact fern reaches 1 foot in height with a spread of about 2 feet and is hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8.

Flowering Perennials

• Shade-loving perennials that flower abundantly are hard to find, and you'll rarely get the strong colors of full-sun plants, but to add some color, plant the pink, white and purple Japanese bleeding hearts (Dicentra spectabilis) or the white cultivar "Alba" both hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9. The delicate pink Western bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa "Adrian Bloom"), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8, is another to try. For a splash of vibrant red, plant cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis), a perennial hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9.

Foliage Perennials

• Use shade-loving foliage plants with colorful or variegated leaves to add color and interest to your containers without relying of flowers. Hostas, hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, come in a variety of foliage variations and thrive in the shade. The lungwort (Pulmonaria longifolia), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, is another foliage plant to grow in containers on a north facing porch in South Dakota. For variation, its cultivar "Cevennensis" has dark green leaves splashed with white.

Trees and Shrubs

• Grow dwarf trees in containers, but choose low-light tolerant varieties for a north facing porch. The compact, 7- to 9-foot-tall Japanese maple "Deshojo" (Acer palmatum "Deshojo") grows in USDA zones 5 through 8. In fall, the leaves turn scarlet in the fall. The compact shrub, Japanese rose (Kerria japonica) is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 9 and tolerates shade well, and the low-growing 6- to 36-inch-tall Cloudland Rhododendron (Rhododendron impeditum) is a good choice for a north facing porch in South Dakota.