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Are you dreaming of warmer days yet? My dreams tend to be made of all the beautiful perennial flowers, trees, and shrubs that bloom in Spring. Best of all, every one of these picks is hardy to zone 2 or zone 3!!
You’ll be surprised at how many beautiful plants you can grow, many of them with pink and white blossoms. Whether you’re planning out your front yard, landscaping a back yard, or looking for some flowers to grow in pots, there’s something for you on this list.
Shade is the enemy of every beginner gardener. It seems like your eye is drawn to every sun loving plant in the greenhouse and there are no exciting options for your shady flower garden.
I’ve compiled 17 shade-loving perennials that are easy to grow in your landscape.
Disclaimer: I garden in USDA Hardiness Zone 2/3 and my advice and plant selections are based on my experience in that growing zone. The good news is that unless you live in the Arctic or the Desert, my picks should work for you! Please let me know in the comments if you have any plant suggestions for your particular growing area.
While a tag on a plant may claim to tolerate full shade, even shade loving plants like some morning or evening sunshine.
Will the shade plant live in true full shade? Of course. But it won’t thrive.
If you are trying to create a flower bed in an area of your yard that never sees the light of day, you are better off to put in a rock garden, deck, or some sort of hardscape.
A medium-sized plant that comes in lovely shades of white, pink, red, and purple. Very hardy summer blooming perennial that likes moist to well-drained soil.
Bergamots also come in white, pink, red, and purple, and will tolerate all light conditions. It can spread out easily, so make sure you remove any unwanted plants every year.
Bleeding hearts hold a special place in my heart. My family has a plant that was my great-grandma’s and everyone in the family has gotten part of it over the years whenever it needed to be divided.
This stunner comes in pink or white and blooms from late Spring to Early Summer.
Orange daylilies (like the one pictured) get a bad rap for taking over a yard if not maintained.
Any other colour of day lily is more well behaved. I highly recommend picking out something unique from your local greenhouse or a seed catalogue.
They flourish in any kind of light condition, although they may not bloom if they have too much shade.
16 Shade-loving perennial plants for your next flower bed.Click To TweetA Spring-blooming plant with lovely green foliage and delicate white blooms.
Hostas come in so many beautiful shades and variations of green, you’ll find it hard to choose just one! A great shade plant for almost any soil condition.
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Goat’s beard comes in all sizes and looks lovely paired with astilbes or underneath a tree.
Need a plant that you can’t kill that will grow anywhere? Goutweed is for you. Just be warned, it can easily spread where you don’t want it, so either plant it in a contained area or be willing to dig out rogue plants every year.
Goutweed is hated so much by flower gardeners that it is the most hated perennial on my list of most regretted perennial flowers.
Japanese Spurge or Pachysandra is a good ground cover for underneath a tree. Be warned, it is has a habit of spreading and sends out lots of runners.
Laminum comes in many colours and makes an attractive groundcover under a tree. It can be invasive, but the flowers provide an important source of nectar for bees.
A lovely, tall plant with pretty yellow flowers. Keep it in part shade for more height and blooms.
One of the first Spring flowers to bloom in the garden. The delicate white flowers have a beautiful scent. Lily of the Valley makes a great ground cover underneath a tree, but can be invasive if unwanted new growth is allowed to grow.
Think you can't have a beautiful flower garden in the shade? Here's 15+ plants you'll want to growClick To Tweet
Many of my readers love ostrich ferns, but they are my most-hated perennial.
Why?
Try pulling out over 300 of them in your backyard.
No, I’m not exaggerating.
I’m sure I’ll still have tons this Spring. Anyone want a fern?
The purple bellflower will grow in almost any light or soil condition. Avoid the variety shown if at all possible, unless you have a patch of soil that everything else dies in. (If I sound negative, it’s because it’s my second most hated perennial that I’m currently doing battle with in my backyard.)
The clumping purple bellflower is much better behaved and is beautiful in floral arrangements.
Saxifrage works best in rock gardens or at the edge of a flower bed. There are a huge variety of colours to chose from, you’ll want to grow them all!
You can use it as a ground cover or grow it between rocks in a pathway.
Put mulch over the plant in winter to ensure it survives.
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Siberian Bugloss is an excellent ground cover under trees. You’ll want to try the Jack Frost Variety for it’s variegated leaves and delicate blue blossoms.
A beautiful plant for a woodland garden. It does well as a ground cover or in a flower bed. Beware the berries, as they are poisonous to animals and children.
Whether you’re looking for a ground cover or something stunning for a front yard flower bed, there’s sure to be a flower in this list for you.
Have any suggestions? I’d love to hear them! Please make sure you state your location and hardiness zone if you know it. (I’m writing from zone 2/3.)
Perennial plants are a good investment. Plant once and have flowers that bloom for years. However, some plants that seem innocent enough literally take over the garden and quickly spiral out of control. Others bloom for such a short time that they don’t seem worth the trouble. Here’s a list of 28 perennials I’d rather not see in my next garden.
Disclaimer: This post contains plants that are problematic in USDA hardiness zones 2 and 3. Some of these plants may not be problematic in your area. If you have difficult growing conditions, you’ll want to put these plants on your next shopping list. 🙂
This post also contains affiliate links. If you purchase something from my link, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks!
When we bought the current house we’re in, it was winter and our showing was at night. In those conditions everything seemed maybe a bit overgrown, but fine. How wrong we were.