Filling your garden with these varieties will add color to your yard even through a heat wave.
Without further ado, here are 32 shade-loving perennials to consider adding to your collection this year.
Want more gardening tips?
The Spruce / Sarah Crowley
This annual is relatively low maintenance, and also deer resistant.
you’re free to plant it in full shade, but it prefers partial shade.
Astilbe is a slow-growing plant, which means it will bloom for several years before dividing it.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
They can bloom for up to a month in the summer.
However, its large leaves still provide beauty long after the flowers wither away.
Simply trim the old stalks when the flowers are done blooming.
The Spruce / LetÃcia Almeida
Hostas take their time to grow and reach full maturity within about four years.
This sprawling plant grows slowly, reaching maturity within about three years.
This plant prefers partial shade, as too much sun can fade the color of the delicate blooms.
Wirestock / Getty Images
Begonias do not spread quickly, but the growth rate and size depend on the variety.
You’ll find them in a variety of colors, including pink, white, red, and orange.
The plant then keeps on blooming for about two months after.
The Spruce / Jayme Burrows
This perennial is fast growing, so it does require dividing about once every three years.
While coral bells do thrive in the shade, they do best if they receive partial sun as well.
It grows at a steady rate and requires very little maintenance.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Lungwort
Lungwort shows off blue or pink blooms, and sometimes both at once.
This plant can spread rapidly, so confirm to divide it in the spring or fall.
Lungwort likes its soil just right, so avoid letting it get too dry or wet.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Foxglove starts blooming in early summer and continues for two to three months.
They begin blooming in early spring and keep producing new flowers until fall.
These rapid-growing plants increase by about two feet in size each year.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
The blooms make their appearance in June and continue into July.
This plant is best for areas that receive at least partial sun.
They grow fastest in soil that’s moist but also well-drained.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
You’ll find them in shades of pink, purple, white, and brown.
You’ll want to water your flowering ginger more during its growing season than dormant season.
Daylily
Daylilies are another plant that comes in countless varieties.
The Spruce / Claire Cohen Bates
While most daylilies do prefer full sun, some prefer afternoon shade in hotter climates.
They bloom in June or July and continue showing off for up to four to five weeks.
You only need to water these low-maintenance plants when the weather is extra dry.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
However, the blooms themselves last long, with a May to September bloom period.
This plant absolutely thrives in the shade and can even handle full shade.
Plus, it’salso deer-resistant.
The Spruce / Heidi Kolsky
Dead Nettle is alsopretty low maintenance, especially if you plant it in full shade.
You’ll want to water it more often if it is in only partial shade.
Turtlehead is a late bloomer and doesn’t start showing off until August.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
However, the blooms last well into fall and for up to six weeks.
Although itthrives in full sun, it can make due in partial shade.
Aster
Asters aren’t just for fall displays.
Yellow Corydalis
This plant self-seeds and can become invasive, so you’ll need to take steps to keep it contained.
It blooms from late spring to early summer, and it does well in partial shade.
Some varieties also sport beautiful red berries next to the blooms.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
It does well in partial shade because too much sun can cause it to wilt.
Drumstick Allium
Tim Mason / Getty Images
Drumstick Allium is a jot down of ornamental onion.
This plant does prefer full sun, but it can tolerate some partial shade as well.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
This bulbous herb is easy to grow and also deer-resistant.
It can thrive in either full sun or partial shade.
Depending on where you live, big root geranium may even prefer more shade if the summers are hot.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
The gorgeous purple blooms keep going from April to July.
It especially loves dappled light, which makes it great for planting near a tree.
It blooms at the height of summer in July and the color sticks around into September.
The Spruce / Autumn Wood
it’s possible for you to prolong the life of this perennial by dividing it every other year.
you might add a little variety to your shade garden by mixing blue, purple, and white varieties.
It truly blooms all summer long, with the first buds appearing in June to the last in August.
Tim Mason / Getty Images
Unlike other geraniums that are annuals, this one will come back year after year with a little TLC.
Be sure not to plant them too deep, which can prevent flowering.
Planting hardy geranium in partial shade will help the plant go longer between waterings.
Nadezhda Tonkova / Getty Images
This plant shows off its blooms from early summer to early fall.
The foamy bell heucherella variety shows off lovely pale pink blooms from early to mid-summer.
Spiderwort blooms beginning in late spring and its color sticks around into early summer.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Its leaves grow fast each season and reach up to three feet at its peak.
Spiderwort is a great option if you want to attract pollinators to your yard.
Actaea
At 3 feet tall, Actaea is already a pretty sizable plant.
RukiMedia / Getty Images
But when it blooms, its flowers rise to 7 feet tall.
The show-stopping blooms on black vines start taking off in late summer and last until the fall.
Unlike other blooming plants, Actaea actually produces more flowers in the shade than sun.
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
Although the plant prefers partial shade, it can still thrive in full shade.
Fuchsia does especially well in humid environments.
But when the time comes, it will surprise you with blooms between June and August.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
Sweet Alyssum
Sweet alyssum starts blooming in the early spring and fades a bit into the summer.
However, it gets a second bloom time in the fall.
This flowering plant appreciates morning sun and afternoon shade.
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
In fact, you’ll often find it growing under trees.
Wirestock / Getty Images
The Spruce / Adrienne Legault
The Spruce / Evgeniya Vlasova
The Spruce / Kara Riley
pcturner71 / Getty Images
The Spruce / Kara Riley
