Made in the shade: How to add color and texture with these plants

It is an exciting time of year with buds swelling, trees’ leafing out, and perennials and bulbs poking their heads through the fallen leaves and mulch.  It makes me want to look through catalogs and think about what I want to plant this year to add to items already planted.   I am particularly excited to work on a shaded area and add some color and texture.  I want to make this area radiate.

I hear many people say that they cannot have a garden because they have too many trees and too much shade.  In reality, there are a number of plants that you can grow in the shade that will make a magnificent garden where sun is shielded by trees.  Many of the ones are grown for their lovely foliage but here are some plants that have attractive blooms that will make your garden come alive with color.

One of the first things to think about is the sun and exactly how much sun your shade garden will get.  Will there be some morning or afternoon sun?  Do the trees let in some dappled light?  Most shade gardens do get some sun at some time during the day.   If not, there are still plants that will grow and look lovely.  Not much grows with a really heavy shade.

The backbone of many shade gardens is the ferns and hostas.  There are some outstanding ferns and hostas that do well in low-light situations.  I have discovered one fern that will add color to your spring garden as the new foliage unfurls.  ‘Brilliance’ Autumn Fern is a relatively new fern that is notably more colorful.  ‘Brilliance’ is loved for its emerging orange-to-green to coppery-red color fronds that are quite eye-catching in the spring as the new fronds emerge.  As the season progresses, the color of the glossy fronds changes to an equally bright green.

Hellebores are blooming now and should not be forgotten to add to a shade garden, even after they have faded.  The foliage of the hellebore adds a different texture to the garden and then in the winter and early spring, these lovely flowers will carry the garden through this season.

Heucheras, better known as Coral Bells offer a dazzling array of foliage color, texture, and shape that will help make a statement in your garden.  This amazing perennial comes in a wide variety of colors including chartreuse, red, bronze, orange, purple, green, and silver, and some are even bi-color.  They are vigorous and bare lovely, dainty colorful flowers.   I have one named ‘Paris’ that has lovely green leaves and charming pink-red flowers that make the garden shine from May to July.

One of my very favorite perennials for shade is Brunnera.   There are two varieties that I grow.  ‘Jack Frost’ was the one I grew for years and now I have started growing ‘Queen of Hearts’.  Both have large, highly frosted, leaves that look like silver foliage etched with dark green intricately patterned veins.  Spring deals a flush of misty blue flowers sprays that pare with the foliage for an unbeatable duo.  The main difference in these two plants is ‘Queen of Hearts’ has slightly larger leaves.

Two proven winners that I have added to the garden are Pulmonaria ‘Spot On’ and Aruncus 'Chantilly Lace'.  ‘Spot On’ features unique salmon pink buds that transition to rich blue flowers and the silver speckling green leaves are an added bonus.   ‘Chantilly Lace’ has beautiful sprays of lacy, cream-colored flowers. A similar look to Astilbe, but a more drought-tolerant plant that blooms later.

Do not forget coleus for the shade garden.  There are some newer varieties that will take some sun but most do best with shade.   I have an area where I plant coleus, geraniums and blue salvia and I love the combination.   Salvia is considered a sun-flowering plant but it will bloom with some morning sun and shade in the afternoon.

One perennial that blooms for me all summer is a hardy geranium, quite different from the annual geranium that is quite popular.  My hardy geranium that thrives in the shade and flowers for months is ‘Rozanne’.  I have it along the border and the blue saucer-shaped flowers are a delight.  There are other varieties that bloom in the spring that have different colored flowers but ‘Rozanna’ is my favorite because it blooms all summer long.

It is always good to have some shrubs in the shade garden and what could be better than to add some Mt. Laurel or Rhododendron for spring color.  Then hydrangeas will carry the garden into summer.  You can first add a few ‘Annabelle’ hydrangeas.  Macrophylla or Big Leaf hydrangeas bloom when Annabelle’s are about over.  These are the hydrangea that can be blue or pink or white, depending on the soil and the variety and your taste of course.  Some of the new ones like ‘Bloomstruck’, ‘Twist and Shout’ and ‘Summer Crush’ are wonderful rebloomers that will brighten your garden for months.

A few summers ago, I have the wonderful opportunity to visit Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada.  I have never seen such a display of color.  However, the shade garden that they featured stands out in my mind. It was cool looking and with a calm feeling.  It was also inviting and was a place one would want to sit and meditate.  Shade gardens can be a special place to relax and enjoy one's handiwork.

Betty Montgomery is a master gardener and author of “Hydrangeas: How To Grow, Cultivate & Enjoy,” and “A Four-Season Southern Garden.” She can be reached at bmontgomery40@gmail.com.

GARDENING EVENT: The Garden Conservancy is happy to announce that two private gardens in the Spartanburg areas will be open for a tour this spring. You can visit these gardens by going online to The Garden Conservancy and registering with the open-day program.  www.gardenconservancy.com

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: What to plant in shady areas of your garden.