I live in an older suburb, where the lots are small, the trees are mature, and the shade is abundant. I have plenty of dappled shade in my tiny yard, and the shade garden below has been a continuous work in progress.
I learned early on that this part of the yard didn’t get enough sun to support extravagant bloom. So bye bye monarda, liatris, and echinacea. Those plants were part of my short lived attempt to create a bird and butterfly garden. It couldn’t last: not enough light. I call this kind of vanished garden a ghost garden, and I have a lot of them.
After many flowers wouldn’t grow for me here, I instead I embraced the shadiness of this plot and tried plants that would, however modestly, flower in the shade, or at least add foliage interest.
So in the interest of foliage interest, I came up with this silver and purple combination: Japanese painted fern and heuchera Pewter Veil. They both like shade, and even if they don’t flower, their colors complement each other nicely.
Another purple and silver combination. The plant on the left, persicaria Red Dragon, is so invasive I’ve had to rip it out before it took over my tiny space. I ripped it all out…but here it still is. That’s why I call it The Bad Boy. It has to be controlled. But its color combination goes well with that of heuchera Silver Scrolls.
Another foliage interest plant is brunnera Jack Frost. This plant will give me delicate, blue, forget-me-not like flowers soon. Meanwhile, I get this luscious green-and-white marbled foliage, which goes so well with the tiny heart-shaped leaves of lamium.
Lamium maculatum, with its delicate heart-shaped leaves, is one plant that will flower in the shade, and it has rewarded me nicely. I planted it as a ground cover, thinking of the flowers as a secondary attraction. Now, instead, the flowers are looking glorious, so the lamium is a win-win: vigorous ground cover and vigorous flowers.
Here are many lamiums blooming their little hearts out. I have so many kinds I’ve lost track of which is which.
Here it is again, lamium blooming its little heart out.
Fooling around with dark foliage—here, geranium Mocha (front) and euphorbia dulcis Chameleon (smaller leaves, back).
More foliage interest. Lamium of some kind or other, in the back, and in the front, lamiastrum Herman’s Pride.
So that’s my shade garden. Small, and a much-loved work in progress. I’m doing what I can with the conditions I have.