15+ Best Partial Shade Perennial Plants to Grow

by Anna Scott · September 8, 2023

“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”

Hey folks!! Welcome back! We are commencing this guide with the beautiful thought written above. So, are you looking to add magic to the shady areas of your garden area? If yes, then it would be great to grow the partial shade perennial plants in that area as not all perennials like to grow under the full sun, some tend to grow in the shade too whether partial or full.

As most plants are sun-loving, you can’t grow anything in the shady parts of your garden, but no worries as we are here with this guide. There are various varieties of best partial shade perennial plants to grow in your home garden.

This guide will direct you to the 15 best partial shade perennial plants to grow in your home garden.

Table of Contents

Best Partial Shade Perennial plants to grow

The following are the plants that love to grow in the partial shade. So, let’s throw some light on those perennials:

Mourning Widow Perennial Geranium
Toadlily
Columbine
Woodland Phlox
Autumn Fern
Barrenwort Sandy Claws
Virginia Bluebells
Red-Leafed Mukdenia
Bethlehem Lungwort
Daylily
Amsonia
Lamb’s Ear
Foxglove
Siberian Bugloss
Leopard plant

Let’s know about them in detail:

Mourning Widow Perennial Geranium (Geranium phaeum)

Best Partial Shade Perennials Plants to Grow

It is one of the best varieties that fall under the partial shade perennial plants that are in love with the shady area for their growth.
They tend to develop maroonish-colored flowers that will cherish you with their benefits.
Mourning Widow will grow about 2 feet high and does not ask for much care for its growth.
Its leaves are green in color which shows the brownish marking on its center which looks good in your garden area and makes the best shade-loving plant.

Toadlily (Tricyrtis spp.)

Another variant of partial shade perennial plants is Toadlilies, hardy in zones 5 to 8. Though it has various types, people are in love with the white-colored blooms with tints of pink color.
This plant tends to spread easily and looks attractive with its vigorous foliage. Even its leaves tend to wrap around the stems, so it depends on which variety you choose for your garden area.
Its leaves and flowers look like orchids making it a great appearance for your garden area.
You won’t believe it but yes the visitors will not be able to distract their eyes from your garden area as Toadlilies will grow generously in your home garden.

Columbine (Aquilegia spp.)

Have you ever grown columbine in your backyard? If not, then you should grow this variety in areas with partial shade as they fall in one of the best partial shade perennial plants to grow in your home garden.
This plant is sensitive and they are best known for its appearance and its bell-stricken blossoms that attract everyone.
Its blooms resemble the jester caps that come in various shades of red, orange, purple, yellow, etc.
It is also known by another name Granny’s Bonnet. This plant tends to bloom at the time of mid-spring and last till early summertime.

Woodland Phlox(Phlox divaricata)

Woodland phlox is a plant that can grow well in shady areas, though all the varieties of phlox can bear the shade for their growth woodland phlox is the best one to go for.
It tends to produce green-colored leaves that are round. It tends to grow at the time of early springtime.
woodland phlox develops five-petaled blooms and the plant will be in its dormant period at the time of summer when the level of heat is high.
It will thrive well if you provide it with well-drained soil, partial shade, a good amount of water, etc. so that the plant attaints mature size which is 12 inches high.

Autumn Fern(Dryopteris erythrosora)

Autumn fern is one of partial shade perennial plants that comes in the copper reddish shade but it turns itself into green color when it gets mature.
Being a slow-growing plant, it will grow about 24 inches high, so you have to maintain the plant’s growth by feeding it with a good amount of nutrients.
Provide it with moist soil to grow and water the plant once time in a week so that it thrives well.
As you know the plant grows slowly but it will spread at a faster pace through underground stems.

Barrenwort Sandy Claws(Epimedium Grandiflorum)

Barrenwort plant is known by the other name as Bishop’s hat. This plant is scientifically known as Epimedium Grandiflorum.
It will not grow more than 1 foot tall and 3 feet wide. It produces pink, orange, and yellow colored blooms that attract everyone, especially at the time of spring.
This plant needs a good amount of shade for its growth, even if it can bear less supply of water as its leaves support the plant and add a great appearance to your garden.
So, being a low-maintenance plant you can plant this perennial that thrives in USDA Zones 4-8.

Virginia Bluebells(Mertensia virginica)

Virginia Bluebell is a plant that is native to the Eastern parts of the US. It tends to encourage its growth at the time of winter.
It produces light green colored leaves that are oval-shaped and consist of blue-colored stalks.
It tends to grow about 24 inches high and amazes you with its benefits. Its hardiness zone is 3 to 8.
They will grow in the well-drained and moist soil. Feed your plant with a good amount of water. So, you can add these partial shade perennial plants to your garden for some magic in your yard.

Red-leafed Mukdenia (Mukdenia Rossii)

It is one of the partial shade perennial plants that is easy to grow as it does not require much maintenance for its growth.
For adding a great appearance to your home garden, you can add this plant to your backyard as it will add magic to your garden with its foliage.
At the time of spring, it tends to emerge green-colored leaves that look like maples.
It encourages the growth of the bell-shaped flowers in your garden area. Its foliage color changes as the season changes.

Bethlehem Lungwort (Pulmonaria saccharata)

Are you looking for an ornamental plant for your backyard? If yes, then it’s great as the Bethlehem Lungwort is the right choice for you.
It will give showy appearance to your home garden with its unusual foliage. It tends to grow about 12-18 inches high.
Its pointed and hairy leaves will cherish you when you visit the area as it create a swirl pattern in the garden. So, add this partial shade perennial plants to your home garden.
It tends to produce pink colored blooms at the time when the spring season begins and will turn into purple when get matures.

Daylily (Hemerocallis spp.)

Daylily is Everyone’s favorite choice because of its easy maintenance. Its world is too big as it is a creative plant. It is one of the partial shade perennial plants.
The reason behind its easy-to-care nature is the icing on the cake. It is scientifically known as Hemerocallis sp.
They tend to bloom at the time of late spring if you plan to create a lilies garden as it will bloom all around in the spring.
You will observe the new blooms every day as they try to replace the old and dull ones from the plant.

Amsonia (Amsonia tabernaemontana)

Amsonia is also known by the other name as a blue star. It is because of the blue clusters of star-shaped flowers in the plant.
Though every single flower is small in size, each flower stem is covered with various blooms that look mesmerizing and puffy look in the garden.
Its willow-shaped foliage tends to change its color from deep green to dark yellow at the time of fall.
This plant is a symbol that signifies endurance, persistence, determination, resilience, etc.

Lamb’s Ear (Stachys byzantine)

This plant is one of the best choices of partial shade perennial plants when it comes to choosing darker foliage plants that look unique in your garden area.
It tends to produce bright-colored flowers that suit best in the shade as the plant is partial shade perennial.
It will grow about 18 inches high with its silver-greenish foliage and produces pink-colored blooms.
Being a low-growing plant, it will add a great appearance to your dense garden area.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea)

Foxglove is one of the partial shade perennial plants that will add a dramatic look to your backyard.
Foxglove belongs to the Plantaginaceae family and forms tall flowers in the plants.
It tends to grow in well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter as it provides nutrients to the plant.
Though most of the foxgloves are biennials they tend to grow as perennials as they possess self-seeding nature.

Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla)

Siberian Bugloss is another variety of partial shade perennial plants whose leaves her heart, structured and or covered with small hairs which makes it easy for the plant to save itself from the creatures like rabbits and deer.
This plant will adapt to the change in a few years and feed you with its amazing benefits.
It tends to produce little blue-colored flowers at the time of spring.
The plant can attain a height of about 18 inches, so choosing this variety for your garden would be a great option.
The hardiness zone of Siberian Buglossplant is about 3 to 8 and is scientifically known as Brunnera macrophylla.

Leopard plant (Ligularia spp.)

Lastly, another variety of partial shade perennial plants is the Leopard plant which is scientifically known as Ligularia.
You can not miss growing this plant as it has spikes on its flowers and produces heart-shaped leaves that attract everyone, especially at the time of summer.
It will grow about 4 feet high. It will give you benefits if you provide the plant with a sufficient amount of nutrients.
Feed your plant with well-drained soil for its growth and a good amount of water.
It is not easy to find another variety like this plant as it produces bold-colored blooms, hardy in zones 4-8.

Wrapping up the context

In this guide, you come to know that as most plants are sun-loving, you can’t grow anything in the shady parts of your garden, but no worries as we are here with this guide. There are various varieties of best partial shade perennial plants to grow in your home garden.

So, read the whole guide for more understanding about the 15 Best partial shade perennial plants to grow in your garden. Till then safe gardening.

Thanks for reading! Happy gardening!