5 Shade Loving Perennials

Hostas - Hostas are almost always green, although a few cream varieties are available. They come in so many different shades of green, that you can make a flower bed using only different hostas in different shades.

Hostas are grown for the foliage. They do bloom, usually little tiny flowers on top of spiky stems. But gardeners grow them for their leaves.

Hostas can take a bit of sun, but they do much better in the shade. They can grow in deep shade, so they are great for under trees.

This plant is called Lady's Mantle. These flowers are just beginning to open and they are a beautiful yellow color.

Lady's Mantle grows fairly large, so give it a bit of extra room. You can divide the plants (like all perennials) in the Fall or early Spring.

One of the prettiest features of this plant is the cup shaped leaves. After a rain, the leaves seem to fill with water! Very pretty!

This pretty small plant is called Lily of the Valley. They really love the shade and they have pretty, dainty white flowers. You can also find Lily of the Valley plants with creamy pink flowers.

These grow great in a shady spot, under trees or in a woodland garden. And they spread, every single year. You don't need to divide them to get more plants. They do it on their own!

This plant is called Bleeding Heart. Look at the dainty shape of those flowers; they are gorgeous!

Bleeding Heart grows quite large and wide too. It blooms for a long time and usually the flowers are pink and white.

The foliage is beautiful too. This plant is really striking as a focal point for a shady flower bed. Pair it with low growing Lily of the Valley plants around it. Very pretty!

This pretty plant is called Lungwort. Large green leaves have silver spots on them. The foliage is very pretty!

The flowers are really unique; small flowers in different colors on the same stem! Flowers range from pink to purple to blue. Such a pretty color combination.

Lungworts can take some sun, so if you have a spot where you have morning sun and afternoon shade, Lungwort will work perfectly there.

There you have it - 5 Pretty Perennials that Love the Shade! They are all very easy to grow.

Here's how to plant Perennials. They are usually larger than annual plants. You need to prepare a planting hole for them.

Dig your planting hole and dig it deep and wide. This is the time to add lots of compost to the planting hole. Water the hole really well. Also make sure your potted perennial is really watered well too before planting.

Tip your plant upside down, making sure to hold onto the plant. Knock the bottom of the pot and pull the plant out.

I like to rough up the roots, exposing them a bit. You don't want to just plop a root bound plant into the planting hole. It won't grow properly with the roots all wrapped together.

Set the plant in the ground and start backfilling with the soil and extra compost if you have more.

You may want to stand back and see how the plant sits in the hole; you can turn it around to that you site it so it looks the best.

Firm the soil all around the plant; just use your hands to make sure there are no air pockets. Add more soil if you need to.

Then water well. Make sure you water newly planted perennials and annuals regularly. This will help them settle in and start growing.

I love my shady flower bed. I also made a flower bed with perennials that love the sun.

Plant some perennials this year and enjoy them for years to come. Perennials are very low maintenance and look after themselves quite well.

I love gardening and growing beautiful flowers. Come over to Country Living in a Cariboo Valley to see my flower beds (and vegetable garden!)