I want to plant more flowers, and I have a shaded area at the front of my property that could really use some color. Are there any tall flowers out there that thrive in the shade? Do Cannas only do well in full sun? Even flowering hedges would do if they're nice and colorful:) Any suggestions?
Thanks! Angie
Hydrangeas, certain kinds of calladiums, calla lilies of all colors... zemedelec
Where are you? Choices depend on location. And when you say "flowers," do you mean only the showy kind, or would plants that have more subtle flowers do, as well?
Mike Prager Beaufort, NC (on the coast in zone 8a) (Remove spam traps from email address to reply.)
Hi Mike,
I'm in Mount Pleasant, TX, which is East Texas:) Anything that has some color to it, whether flashy or subtle:)
Thanks! Angie
suggestions?
In deep shade bugbane does well. In lighter shade you can try species lilies like Martagon lily. You can also try a tall flowering vine like virgin's bower on an obelisk. Where are you? What zone are you in?
Cannas only in sun.
You don't say your zone.In my usda zone 8, the following applies:
For a hedge in deep shade, Japanese Aucuba would be lovely. The flowers are too small to notice, bukt the leaves are spotted green & yellow so quite dramatic, & if you have both male & female plants, you'll end up with long-lasting bright red berries bigger than the end of your grampa's thumb. These can become large bushy shrubs -- they just love the shade.
Shade flowers tall or taller:
Greater Solomon's Seal is three feet tall, loves shade, nifty foliage & dangly white flowers in pairs.
Some varieties of uphright mahonias get five, six, even ten feet tall, big yellow flowers, which become tasty berries in autumn. They do great in a sizeable proportion of shade.
Some Himilayan jack-in-the-pulpit varieties have leaves & flowers three or four feet tall, & such remarkable leaves & flowers at that. They like the bright edge of shade.
Some varieties of columbine are quite tall, & do great in dappled shade.
Astrantia or Millwort can get four or five feet tall, loves dappled shade.
Monkshoods vary from two feet to seven feet depending on kind, they're the delphiniums of the shade corridor, but to my thinking way nicer than delphiniums.
Various Snakeroots need very moist soil in shade, will get six feet tall with big foxtail flowers.
Dicentris spectibalis (I'm mispelling that but don't want to look things up), i.e., the bigger Bleeding Heart, huge flourishes of pink or white heart-locket flowers in deep to moderate shade.
Disporum species, "Fairy Bells," dangling bell-flowers yellow or white, the lilies of the shade corridors.
Globeflowers. Short foliage, but bright yellow flowers raise to four or five feet in the air; bright edge of shade garden.
Lobelias. Many kinds, some are quite tall, moist shade.
Ligularia. Many kinds, most in the four feet range, tall foxtail flowers, & fascinating foliage, bloom spectacularly even in deep shade.
Lunaria money plant. Big white flowers; one variety has variegated leaves; four or five feet tall; seeds like paper-window silver dollars. Biennial but almost guaranteed to self-seed & persist beyond that second year.
Many more things, that's just what comes to mind from my own shade gardens.
-paghat the ratgirl
Cannas grow best in sun, but they will grow just about anywhere and are inexpensive. I gave some to a neighbor (if you grow cannas, sooner or later you will be giving them away!) instructing them to plant them in full sun. They planted them on the north side of their house, which was shaded by a large tree. The cannas grew surprisingly well and bloomed well. You might buy a few rhizomes and give it a try. Here is a picture of a row of cannas that I planted on the edge of the woods on the north side of my house. It only got sun in the late afternoon.
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