Take Five: Forgiving Perennials for Shade

 In the ever-evolving search for tough plants in our challenging weather extremes, it's time to look at a few shade perennials that endure year after year in my less-than-ideal conditions. I have many fir trees that suck up most of the surrounding water, so to live here and thrive, a plant has to be able to handle dry shade. Here are five (perhaps with an extra couple thrown in) top performers to expand on my Take Five series. Some I would not do without in my shade garden. To review some recent Take Five posts you can find them here (shrubs for sun), here (shrubs for shade) and here (perennials for sun).

OPHIOPOGON

Ophiopogon species are grass-like perennials, the ones seen in cultivation are generally short with either green, black or variegated foliage. Pictured is Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Nigrescens', black mondo grass. They are evergreen, spread slowly, have lavender flowers followed by black fruit. They are terrific in the front of the border and as a contrast to silver and green foliaged shade plants. 

Also, a shout out to the little grass on the left of this photo, Carex conica 'Snowline'. It is so long lived, small, evergreen and tolerant of whatever I throw at it. I have had several of these petite grasses that even moved from my old garden and are still thriving here. They love this shady area and sparkle among green-leaved plants.

Ophiopogon planiscapus, the green straight species, is also evergreen and provides lovely foliage contrast to broader leaved shade plants. It too will spread to form colonies in time. Ophiopogon really does not receive summer water from me and it thrives, despite the fact that the genus comes from warm temperate Asian climates.

If you have a lot of greens in the shade garden, a pop of 'Nigrescens' sets them off nicely. I have a few of these in sunnier spots and they do fine, though they can get sunburned in very bright sun, but they look much more lush and happy in at least part shade.

POLYSTICHUM

So many ferns are fabulous for the shade garden, though I find some prefer much more water that what I can give them (Athyrium niponicum, for example). Not Polystichum species, however - they all seem to endure no matter what extremes they go through, even though I see them listed at many nurseries as wanting evenly moist soil and summer irrigation. I'm unclear then why mine do so well with little summer water under fir trees, perhaps they are tougher than we originally thought. This is Polystichum makinoi. A very handsome fern, it grows to about 2' tall and wide and is hardy zones 5 - 9.

Polystichum polyblepharum tassel fern, is another handsome fern, hardy zones 5 - 8, also about 2 x 2'.

Polystichum setiferum 'Bevis', soft shield fern, zones 4 - 8 and larger than the previous two at about 4' x 4' in size.

Polystichum munitum, Western sword fern in a sea of Oxalis oregana. This is one tough fern, growing in sun or shade and is very long-lived. They can get quite large in time, I've had a few older ones get to about 4' tall in really wet and warm springs and have seen even larger ones while hiking in our local forests. I have dozens of these throughout the shade garden, they were all here when we moved in and we are fortunate to have so many, even though they are quite common. Sometimes common is a wonderful thing.

These are all evergreen ferns; however, a clean up of last year's fronds in late winter gives a fresher look. I don't often do this, but last year I did give many ferns a clean up and they looked really lovely for the rest of the year. These plants add a bit of structure to my garden, a little like a yucca does in the sunny garden. They generally tolerate groundcovers at their base, in fact, it likely helps retain water in the soil when it's covered.

HELLEBORUS FOETIDUS

Full admission, I'm not the biggest hellebore fan. They are pretty and seeing them in garden centers this time of the year does get the heart racing a little, but I don't go wild for them as do some gardeners. But I adore Helleborus foetidus, the stinking hellebore. I haven't detected any foul odor, rather I appreciate the finely divided foliage. 

These little plants that truly resemble a little subshrub are practically bulletproof in my dry shade garden. They are evergreen, they do flower a funny greenish-white bloom and they do reseed a little. I think they look super with broader leaved shade plants. I have spread them around all over the shade garden in hopes that they take over someday. Hardy in zones 5 - 9, reaches about 2' x 2'.

OK, I have a couple seedlings in my garden of Helleborus orientalis that are fun to see in winter. And they are tough as nails so I suppose they stay.

Helleborus argutifolius, a light variegated form whose name I don't have. This too is a tough as nails plant and does appreciate a good clean up in late winter to highlight the current year's fresh foliage.

GERANIUM MACRORRHIZUM

I know. I know. I include this every time I have a "best of" kind of post. Geranium macrorrhizum, big root geranium truly is the best. It tolerates dry shade really well, I mean under fir trees, under maple trees, really really well. All of these are pictured in exactly those conditions. They are also semi-evergreen (they shrink down in winter somewhat) but put it all back on with abandon in late winter. The bumble bees like the flowers and the foliage has a spicy scent.

And they are kind of pretty!

Here they are in late winter, just pushing some fresh growth. Hardy to zones 4 - 8, reaches about 2' tall by about 2' wide, but colonies form, increasing its width in time.

They are good as a groundcover, as a front of the border plant too. They will certainly take more sun but for me, they are invaluable as a shade perennial. They form polite colonies, I sometimes get seedlings in the gravel but they are by no means obnoxious, in fact I wish I had more. Geranium × cantabrigiense is another with equally impressive credentials.

HOSTA 'GUACAMOLE'

I always thought of hostas as problematic - attracting slugs, wanting a lot of attention and water and nutrients, but this hosta in particular is impressive. Hosta 'Guacamole' was the 2002 American Hosta Growers Hosta of the Year, I can see why. For some reason slugs haven't bothered this (and a few other hostas in the garden, actually), it is large, stately, extremely fragrant and once established, does well with low to no summer water.

It is a sport of Hosta 'Fragrant Bouquet' and retained that quality, incredibly sweetly scented flowers.

Big, bold leaves with slightly quilted effect have the coloration of an avocado cut in half. It's a large hosta at about 20" tall with a wide spread of about 3'.

Pretty! This and Hosta 'June' and 'Wolverine' have proven to be really good garden plants. 'Guacamole' can handle more sun and will have more pronounced coloration if sited as such. Surprisingly drought tolerant once established, though would do well with much more water, too. Hardy in zones 3 - 8.

EUONYMUS 

Euonymus fortunei 'Emerald Gaiety' as a ground cover plant in my garden. I include it on this list because it is not only well-behaved, it is evergreen, spreads politely and never sulks, even on the hottest of summer days. I never give it summer irrigation and yet it still performs where most other plants might die under large trees in full shade. It also has the lovely trait of its white margins turning pinkish in very cold weather. While it's not a fast-spreader, three one-gallon containers I purchased several years ago have finally knitted together under a large Acer macrophyllum to create a lovely carpet beneath.

I never anticipated this would be such a tough plant and am quite pleased it has both resilience and beauty. It can take sun but in my shade garden it is very happy. I hesitated at first to include it on my list because E. fortunei the species is considered invasive on the East Coast of the U.S. However, it is not so considered in the rest of the U.S. It might also be true that this variegated form is not as vigorous. I will keep an eye out, just to be on the safe side. For now, it stays on the list for adding sparkle in deep shade and tolerating tree roots and drought as well as looking great year-round. I feel as if I should have planted much more of this at the beginning of my shade garden planning days. I might be celebrating the shade garden much more if I had.

It can oddly also be an upright shrub, mounding upon itself to form a taller form. It can also be trained to climb, not unlike ivy. It is about 2' in height and spreads to at least several feet. It has done so slowly for me.

SAXIFRAGA X GEUM DENTATA

Small scale, evergreen, cool looking and oh-so-easy in the shade garden, Saxifraga x geum 'Dentata' is my new go-to for edging my shade garden. If I have a blank area along my mossy path, in this plant goes.

New leaf growth in spring is bright and cheerful, also the slugs seem to leave it alone (have I just cursed myself?).

Flowers are sweet, star shaped clusters at the end of long wiry stems. The plant is about 4" tall (foliage) and spreads, I have a few patches 3' or so in width. Hardy zones 6 - 9. Again, I see many nurseries listing this as wanting evenly moist soil, but I am here to tell you they do just fine in my garden with basically no extra summer water. Perhaps our wet winters are enough for this sweet small-scale groundcover. Also, Saxifraga 'Primuloides' deserves mention. Very similar but without toothed leaf margins. 

There are other choice plants that do well for me, some notable examples are Oxalis oregana (though can be aggressive if too happy OR fry and dry out in super hot summers), Epimedium sp. of course (they just require a lot of cleaning up in late winter so have some maintenance to look their best but are otherwise superb), Aruncus dioicus - goatsbeard and Vancouveria chrysantha to name a few. 

Many perennials in my shade garden have disappeared or been replaced, some examples are Thalictrum sp., Tricyrtis sp., Vancouveria hexandra is great but doesn't want to stick around, Hakonechloa macra hates the root competition, Fuchsia sp. are also not happy nor are many Hydrangea sp., Kirengeshoma, Mukdenia, Syneilesis, Woodwardia, Impatiens omeiana, Disporum, and I am sure others I can't recall. They just don't exist any more, but as I knew from the beginning, it is all a big experiment. Hopefully my experimentation can save you some time if you have similar conditions as I do.

OK, there you have it, five-ish fantastic perennials for dry shade in my summer dry, winter wet climate. What does well for you if you have shade? Do tell! Thank you so much for reading and commenting, we love hearing from you! Happy gardening and for all of us who have snow and ice right now (so many!), may it all melt away soon. Very soon.