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Not every plant needs to bask in the sun all day. These shade-loving beauties work just as hard to keep your landscape looking lush. So even if your garden isn’t sun-facing, you won’t have to worry about flourishing plant life. Here’s a list of some of the favourites you’ll spot in plenty of UK gardens.
The Best Shade-Loving Plants for Your Garden
First up, here are a couple of tips on picking and growing the right plants.
Thriving in shade is one thing, but too much dark foliage can make the space feel a little dull. Mix in pale or pastel colours to brighten up the plot and keep your garden lively.
These plants below are perfect for achieving that, among other options:
Lungwort
Lungwort bears reddish to bluish-violet flowers with pink buds that open into bell-shaped clusters. White varieties are also available for this spring-flowering plant, which works well for a clean and minimalist garden look. It’s easy to grow and care for, flourishing as long as the soil stays moist and well-drained.
Tip: Got a tower playhouse in the garden? The shaded ground beneath it can be a perfect spot for lungworts. Since the structure provides cover, the soil stays cool and moist, meeting the plants’ conditions. You can even invite your little ones to help you with planting!
Japanese anemone
Japanese anemones have bright, rounded blooms with a crown of golden stamens. The white variety is a favourite, often considered one of the loveliest white flowers. Pink and mauve shades follow close behind, adding a welcome splash of late-season colour.
These perennials bring a charming touch to your garden in late summer and autumn. The flowers can be single, double, or semi-double.
Keep in mind, though, that Japanese anemones thrive in partial shade. We recommend planting them near your garden retreat or a shade source like a gazebo, so they get the cover they need while still soaking up a bit of sun.
Blue oat grass
Blue oat grass brings life to gardens in cold climates or harsh winters. It never loses its silver-blue hue, providing year-round colour and interest. Wouldn’t it be a great addition to a flower-filled landscape?
Plant it along a fence or at the edges, and you’ll get a natural, dense screen—its tall, arching blades add texture and movement.
Begonia
Begonias are perfect for landscapes and containers. Their loose clusters of single or double flowers come in shades of red, pink, and white, with yellow stamens that add colour to your garden even in the shade.
These hardy plants can be planted in dappled or full shade, where they will not receive any direct sunlight. The soil should be rich and moist but with good drainage.
Tips: Grow them in containers and place them on patio decking, an extended platform of a summer house, or nearby. They also make a lovely feature in a potting shed as part of your plant collection.
Wood spurge
If you have trees and woodland borders around your garden, this particular variety of spurge is worth adding. Wood spurge develops lime-green flowers above dark green leaves, creating a striking contrast that suits a late spring landscape. It thrives well in dry shade with little maintenance.
Plant wood spurge along shaded pathways, beneath trees, or in neglected corners of your garden to liven up those shady areas.
Snowdrop
Snowdrop comes into season at the end of winter. It’s well-liked for its white bell-shaped dropping flowers that resemble tiny drops of snow hanging from slender stems. It can emerge from frozen soil and stay in bloom for several weeks, so you’re in for a treat with this one!
Snowdrops thrive in full shade, particularly in heavy, moist soils. Plant them at the base of hedges to soften lines, around your shed, or in rock gardens where they can get good drainage.
Bleeding heart
Bleeding heart is a shade-loving perennial grown for its pendulous spring flowers. It grows in loose clumps or mounds and has delicate, arching branches tipped with pink to white heart-shaped flowers. And each has a small droplet-like petal below—where it got its name from!
As a woodland plant, it’s best suited to cool, shady spots with moist soil, including in containers. It blooms in spring and early summer, bringing interest to spots where other plants might struggle. Not to mention, it’s low maintenance and returns each year.
These are just a few shade-loving plant options, but they will surely add colour and life to your garden all season.
A tip to remember: partial shade means plants get sun for part of the day, while dappled shade refers to the blotchy shade created when sunlight filters through overhead foliage.
Shade-loving plants are a perfect addition for people with garden rooms who want to decorate the surrounding space without depriving plants of necessary sunlight.
