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Favourite flowers that do well in shade?

daydreamavenuedaydreamavenue Posts: 8
in Plants
Hello all!

The front garden in my new home is hidden in shade almost all the time and currently looks very bare! Help! What sort of things should I be looking at to perk it up a bit? 

Thanks in advance!
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Posts

  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 35,795
    Some of the hardy geraniums do well in shade and you can get a mix of colours.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • the enduring gardenerthe enduring gardener Posts: 122
    Japanese Anemones :)

  • B3B3 Posts: 24,450
    I had a worse one than that. It was a horrible mucky beige. But I agree there are some really good ones.
    In London. Keen but lazy.
  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 687
    Ajuga and vinca.
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • FireFire Posts: 17,116
    Anna's Red hellebores - good height and great colour that stays. Not really red, but rather a deep pink. Good though. Bumbles love them - good for early pollen. Woodruff for ground cover. Snowdrops. Loads of Scilla for the spring. Some more thoughts here.
  • hermionebla.ckmore09hermionebla.ckmore09 Posts: 1
    Japanese Anemones would be a good choice, I also plant them on my backyard.
    Himalayas salt lamps https://totalguide.org/himalayan-salt-lamp/ are becoming in demand now because of its health benefits and the great light that they provide. Try this out!
  • WilderbeastWilderbeast Posts: 1,412
    Hi daydreamavenue hostas and ferns would be top choices for me, perhaps some spring bulbs like snow drops like shade, hellebores, then pulminaria which flower now then the hostas should kick in. There are lots of evergreen ferns to provide year round green, I find this is really important I've failed quite miserably on this front and we are working on lots of evergreen choices for the year ahead
  • PosyPosy Posts: 3,601
    Forgive my spelling, I'm too lazy to look them up: aquilegia, brunnera, big lobelia, geraniums, aruncus and astilbe, monarda, hydrangea, winter honeysuckle, cornus, lamiums. All these grow in quite deep shade in my garden. Spring bulbs and lily of the valley are happy, too.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 50,227
    edited March 2020
    You need to look at seasonal colour too, not just a couple of plants that flower in summer. 
    A good structure of evergreen planting, which you can then add that seasonal planting to, is the key to a smart front garden. If you go in and out to your house that way most of the time, it also makes it more pleasurable.  :)
    Shrubs like Osmanthus and Holly [Ilex] will give a good backdrop to all sorts of other plants already mentioned. Mahonia is excellent for winter flowers. Just take care with siting those, and Holly - keep them back from pathways, as they're a bit jaggy. Some viburnums are evergreen or semi evergreen too.

    Spring bulbs, as @Posy says, are vital for this time of year, and if you plant Hellebore niger, you'll get a good succession from autumn into this time of year, when you'd have perennials taking over. Snowdrops and crocus for early colour, and some other 'typical' spring bulbs afterwards - daffs & muscari will be fine. Avoid tulips - they won't be happy.
    All those will grow in shade. If you plant in conjunction with early perennials, the emerging foliage of those will cover the bulb foliage as it dies back. Hardy geraniums and pulmomaria are mostly quite early, and then things like Dicentra, Polemonium and Astilbes will continue things through spring into summer. Native primulas are excellent too - they flower on and off all year round here, but are mainly early spring.

    Some ground cover plants, like Vinca, can get a bit thuggish, so keep an eye on them. Saxifraga urbium [London Pride] is very useful in shade too. East to pull out if it takes over, but I find it very useful for all those awkward spots where nothing else grows. Heucheras are great, all year round plants too.
      
    It's important to have different heights to get a cohesive look too. These three groupings will give you that. It also depends on what size the area is that you have, so always check the eventual sizes anything will make, so that you allow room for plants to thrive. Your own climate will also dictate eventual sizing :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • StevedaylillyStevedaylilly Posts: 1,087
    Heuchera ,Ferns and Mondo Black grass would do very well. Ok, no flowers but beautiful foliage tones and form between the green and gold of the Fern frongs, the blackness of mondo and the spectrum of foliage colour with different type of Heuchera. I have Heuchera Marmalade and Chocolate Ruffles combined with Fern Dryopteris Brilliance and Mondo Black grass in my shaded area . All do quite in my shady area as photos below 
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