Shade gardening can be a challenge for even the most experienced gardener, but adding shady places to sit and sip tea makes a welcome respite on a hot summer day, especially for those of us that live here in the Mid-South.
With the following tips, you'll be surprised at how many flowering annuals, perennials, bulbs, and bushes exist that you may plant that will add color to your shady area.
Once you know which plant are are best for your area and which ones are most likely to do well, you're halfway there. Check out your local extension service website for information on shade plants that grow well in your area.
Gardening In the Shade Tips
Tips:
One of the best tips I can give you if you're really wanting color in your shade garden is to realize that many full sun annuals and perennials enjoy a little afternoon shade, particularly for those of us who live in zones 6,7, and 8.
Prune trees and shrubs to let more light in.
Consider eliminating some trees that crowd structures or fences.
Add arbors, pergolas, a summer house, a lath house, or even create a shaded patio.
Plant variegated trees and shrubs to brighten up the area
Create quick shade by planting vines that will climb over structures like rustic arbors. We planted an edible vine called kiwi for an added bonus.
Also use edible herbs and greens like lettuce, red-stalked chard, as a border in your shade garden. Look for those early varieties for better success.
Don't forget the beauty of mosses. They are very popular these days. My mom has battled it for years in a shady spot in her garden, now she has decided to let it become a moss garden! Very cool.
Consider using hardy tropical plants such as the hardy banana tree (sorry, it doesn't grow long enough in most places to actually grow bananas), as well as non-hardy tropicals such as crotons (which may later be taken inside and used as a houseplant) to add great contrast and pizazz to your shade garden.
Sedums and cactus make good shade plants. Be sure and match plants to preferred soil. Contact your local extension service to get your soil tested
Assessing your site is the first step.
First, asses how much shade you actually have. You may need to limb-up some trees to allow more sun and air flow. This will also help to fight mold and mildew problems.Learn more about assessing your site here.
Second, discern how much water your shady area gets. Are large trees or the overhang of your house acting as an umbrella, keeping rainfall away from the ground directly under it? Smaller plants compete with large trees for moisture every time it rains. And guess who usually wins!
Third, how good is your soil? Realize that tree roots compete directly with your plants for not only for water, but for nutrients as well. Especially those types of trees with surface roots. A general rule of thumb is that shade plants do best in well-drained fertile soil. If you have sandy and heavy, clay like soils, they will benefit from the mixing of organic matter like peat moss, compost, or well-rotted manure.
One of our favorite shade perennials is the hellebore, also know as the lenten rose. These plants are great for shade and can even take some morning sun. Also important is the fact that they are deer-resistant, pest-free, and drought tolerant, and they don't mind competition from trees which makes them a perfect ground-cover. Click here to learn more about these great plants and to find out where to buy them in Tennessee.
Although we love hostas, you will see that they are not on this list. We have had so many problems with deer, rabbits, slugs, and voles that they have fallen off our top ten list. We still have them and suggest your try them too. Just be for-warned...it's hard to keep them! Many gardeners now suggest planting hostas in planters (you'll still have to spray deer-off products though!.) Another option to try to grow hostas is to plant hellebores in front of them. Deer are less likely to step through them in order to get to your beautiful hostas.
Annuals for shade
Caladium (Caladium xhortulanum)
Impatiens (Impatiens Wallerana)
Edging lobelia (Lobelia Erinus)
Coleus (Coleus xhybridus)
Shade flowers aren't really planted for their flowers, rather for their foliage. Plants such as the caladium, epimedium, and Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus) are especially great foliage plants.
Below are some tips to combining foliage plants in your shade garden.
Look for interesting shades of green, red, yellow, and gray when choosing foliage plants
Yellow and chartreuse-leaved plants can brighten shadows. Try creeping Yellow Jeannie (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') as seen below, for a bright green splash of color.
White and variegated leaves reflect light, working to lighten dark, shaded spaces. Great to areas that you want to light-up at night.
Trees For Shade
When you talk to other gardeners about great trees for shade, you may not ever get past the best one...Japanese maples. My husband had his first entrepreneurial enterprise with growing these beauties in high school. Nothing comes close to the beauty of the Cut-leaf Japanese Maples. Although they can be trained as a tree, they naturally bush out like a shrub. Look for the type with good autumn color and great stem and bark color.
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Here are some great books to add to your library on shade gardening. Great for ideas and plant names.
One of our favorite shade perennials is the hellebore, also know as the lenten rose. These plants are great for shade and can even take some morning sun. Also important is the fact that they are deer-resistant, pest-free, and drought tolerant, and they don't mind competition from trees which makes them a perfect ground-cover. Click here to learn more about these great plants and to find out where to buy them in Tennessee. 
