Here’s a plant list of part shade to full shade perennials for your garden. Note these plants can be considered “shade” or “part shade” plants.
And this is where gardeners have to adjust for their individual gardens.
What is “part shade” in my USDA 4 garden may very well give the same plant too much sunlight in a USDA zone 7 or 8.
Consider these as guidelines and not hard and fast rules.
Note the primary symptom of “not enough sunshine” is if the plant grows longer and leggier and reduces its flower output. Get it into more sunlight. Paler, yellowing leaves indicate too much sunshine (rule of thumb)
- Astilbe
- Acaena
- Acanthus
- Aconitum
- Acorus
- Actaea
- Adenophora
- Aegopodium
- Agapanthus
- Agastache
- Ajania
- Ajuga
- Alchemilla
- Allium
- Amsonia
- Androsace
- Anemone
- Angelica
- Aquilegia
- Arctostaphylos
- Arenaria
- Artemisia
- Arum
- Aruncus
- Asarum
- Astilbe
- Astilboides
- Astrantia
- Aubrieta
- Bellis
- Bergenia
- Boltonia
- Brunnera
- Calamintha
- Caltha
- Camassia
- Campanula
- Cardiocrinum
- Centaurea
- Ceratostigma
- Chelone
- Chrysanthemum
- Chrysogonum
- Cimicifuga
- Clematis
- Convallaria
- Coreopsis
- Corydalis
- Cyclamen
- Cypripedium
- Darmera
- Delosperma
- Dianthus
- Diascia
- Dicentra
- Digitalis
- Dodecatheon
- Doronicum
- Draba
- Dracocephalum
- Epimedium
- Eupatorium
- Euphorbia
- Farfugium
- Ferns
- Filipendula
- Fragaria
- Galium
- Gaura
- Gentiana
- Geranium
- Geum
- Grasses – many of the ornamental grasses will handle light shade.
- Gunnera
- Hakonechloa
- Hedera
- Heliopsis
- Helleborus
- Hemerocallis
- Hepatica
- Hesperis
- Heuchera
- Heucherella
- Hosta
- Houttuynia
- Hypericum
- Iberis
- Iris
- Jovibarba
- Juncus
- Kirengeshoma
- Lamiastrum
- Lamium
- Lathyrus
- Lewisia
- Ligularia
- Liriope
- Lithodora
- Lobelia
- Lonicera
- Lunaria
- Lychnis
- Lysimachia
- Macleaya
- Meconopsis
- Melissa
- Melittis
- Mentha
- Mertensia
- Myosotis
- Nepeta
- Origanum
- Oxalis
- Pachysandra
- Pardancanda
- Persicaria
- Petasites
- Phalaris
- Phlox
- Phormium
- Physostegia
- Phyteuma
- Platycodon
- Podophyllum
- Polemonium
- Polygonatum
- Primula
- Pulmonaria
- Pulsatilla
- Ranunculus
- Rheum
- Rodgersia
- Rubus
- Sagina
- Sanguinaria
- Sanguisorba
- Saxifraga
- Sedum
- Selaginella
- Semiaquilegia
- Sempervivum
- Sidalcea
- Silene
- Sisyrinchium
- Solidaster
- Stachys
- Symphyandra
- Symphytum
- Teucrium
- Thalictrum
- Tiarella
- Tradescantia
- Tricyrtis
- Trillium
- Trollius
- Veronica
- Veronicastrum
- Vinca
- Viola