Articles

Well-Mannered Groundcovers for Shade

Foamflower is a highly desirable native flowering groundcover for shade.

Back when one-size-fits-all gardening was a thing, ground covers for shade were seemingly as easy as one-two-three: creeping myrtle (Vinca minor), English ivy (Hedera helix), and Japanese spurge (Pachysandra terminalis). That is before they all began invading wildlands. All were neatly arrayed under an equally ubiquitous Norway maple or Bradford pear– both equally invasive and troublesome.

It was bound to happen. Introduce lots of one vigorous, spreading plant species, and you increase the likelihood that it will become a pest itself by invading local native plant communities. It did not take long for all three non-native, go-to ground covers to be added to the invasives lists of many U.S. states, particularly in the Southeast and Northwest.

Unfortunately, going ubiquitous presented additional problems in the garden. As anyone who has ever tried to maintain the “perfect” lawn and garden can attest, mass plantings are easy pickings for mass invasions of pests and diseases. Japanese spurge loses a lot of its allure when it’s riddled with Volutella blight, as is all too common these days.

Well-Mannered Groundcovers for Shade

Fortunately, excellent (and arguably superior) ground cover alternatives abound, many of them native. Feeding the soil with quality compost, such as Fafard Premium Garden Compost Blend, at planting time will encourage good establishment from the start.

Twilight Aster

Twilight aster blooms for a long period in summer and fall.

Who says ground covers have to hug the ground? Some situations call for something taller. Twilight Aster (Aster x herveyi ‘Twilight’ (aka Eurybia x herveyi)) spreads by rhizomes into large swards of broad-leaved rosettes that give rise in summer to leafy 2-foot-tall stems. Plants are crowned with clusters of pale lavender flowers for many weeks in late summer and fall. An incredibly adaptable thing, ‘Twilight’ can handle situations from dry shade to damp sun. This eastern U.S. native goes dormant in winter.

Sedges

Many native sedges are evergreen and make lush groundcovers for shade.

Botanically speaking, they’re not grasses, but sedges provide much the same look for shade with their clumps of narrow-bladed leaves. Masses of low sedges such as Carex pensylvanica and Carex rosea (both eastern U.S. natives) make excellent low-foot-traffic lawn substitutes. For a bolder look, try a clump of seersucker sedge (Carex plantaginea), whose strappy puckered evergreen leaves contrast effectively with lacier shade subjects such as ferns.

Green-and-Gold

Green-and-gold is semi-evergreen and bears loads of bright golden blooms in spring that attract native bees.

Green-and-gold (Chrysogonum virginianum) is a hardy, attractive woodland native. “Green” references the dense spreading rosettes of fuzzy, crinkled, heart-shaped leaves that hold their color and substance through much of winter. The “gold” is provided by the numerous little yellow “daisies” that spangle the plants in spring and repeat sporadically until fall. Native to woodlands in the Southeast U.S., Chrysogonum virginianum is hardy well north of that, to Zone 5.

Robin’s Plantain

This is one of those rare plants you can plug into the garden just about anywhere – sun or shade.

Often occurring as a rather doughty lawn weed, this plantain (Erigeron pulchellus) is a nearly evergreen eastern U.S. native that occasionally assumes much more pulchritudinous forms. The cultivar ‘Lynnhaven Carpet’, for example, grows into handsome carpets of broad fuzzy gray-green leaves that are decorated in spring with pink daisies on 18-inch stems. It’s one of those rare plants you can plug into the garden just about anywhere – sun or shade. Another delightful selection of robin’s plantain is ‘Meadow Muffin’, with contorted leaves that give its rosettes a bit of a cow-pie look.

Allegheny Spurge

Allegheny spurge has leaves that are elegantly splashed with silver mottling, lending the plant a distinguished look totally lacking in Pachysandra terminalis. (Photo by Zen Sutherland)

Although not a rapid runner like the aforementioned Japanese spurge, our Southeast native Allegheny spurge (Pachysandra procumbens) far outdistances it as a desirable ornamental. The whorled evergreen leaves – arrayed in mounded 6-inch-tall clumps – are elegantly splashed with silver mottling, lending the plant a distinguished look totally lacking in Pachysandra terminalis. Things get even splashier in spring when conical clusters of frilly white flowers push from the ground, along with the fresh-green new leaves, as the previous year’s foliage fades. It’s one of those early-season garden scenes that makes your heart leap up. Allegheny spurge thrives in moist humus-rich soil, so give it a dose of Fafard compost if your soil is overly sandy or heavy.

Ragwort

Golden flowers light up this native naturalizer in late spring.

Golden ragwort (Packera aurea) and its near look-alike roundleaf ragwort (Packera obovata) provide quick cover for more informal garden areas. Low swaths of bright green rounded leaves emerge from their rapidly spreading roots in early spring, followed a few weeks later by heads of small yellow “daisies” on 2-foot stems. Use golden ragwort in moist garden situations, and roundleaf ragwort in moist to dry niches. They’re both native to much of central and eastern North America.

Creeping Phlox

This evergreen woodland creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) from eastern North America will expand into a ground-hugging carpet.

Don’t let its rather dainty appearance deceive you: this evergreen woodland creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) from eastern North America will expand into a ground-hugging carpet of small spoon-shaped leaves. It also provides a spring garden highlight when it opens its clusters of proportionately large round-lobed flowers, poised on 6-inch stems. Blue-, pink-, violet-, and white-flowered selections are available, but probably the best for ground cover is the vigorous cultivar ‘Sherwood Purple’.

Whorled Stonecrop

A native sedum that thrives in shade? Yes!

If you think stonecrops are drought-loving sun plants, you’re probably not acquainted with Sedum ternatum. Hailing from moist partly shaded habitats over much of central and eastern North America, it makes an excellent small-scale ground cover in similar garden conditions, although it also succeeds in sunnier, drier sites. Its dense low hummocks of fleshy ear-shaped leaves are studded with sprays of white flowers in spring. This highly effective shade plant is still rather rare in gardens – perhaps because of its family associations.

Foamflower

Frothy 6-inch spikes of white flowers appear in spring above spreading expanses of handsome maple-shaped basal leaves. These features of foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), combined with a tough constitution, make for one of the best and most popular native ground covers for easter U.S. gardens. Its variety collina is a clumper rather than a runner, so it’s a better choice where a less rambunctious ground covering plant is required.

Barren Strawberry

Semi-evergreen leaves and bright golden spring flowers make this handsome bee plant a real winner in the garden.

Dense swaths of strawberry-like leaves expand steadily and tenaciously to provide attractive semi-evergreen ground cover in most any garden niche, from dry shade to full sun. Saucer-shaped yellow flowers dot the plants in spring, with a few repeat blooms later on. Recently moved to the genus Geum, barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides aka Geum fragarioides) is one of the best native ground covers for eastern U.S. gardens – under whatever name.

What Are Some Low-Maintenance, Noninvasive Groundcovers For Shade?

Pennsylvania Sedge is a lush, grass-like, non-invasive groundcover that grows well beneath trees.

“I need a straight answer. I have read so much, I am confused after reading so many articles. I need a low-maintenance, noninvasive ground cover on a mostly shady hillside. If it is invasive, it will end up causing me issues as I am unable to maintain anything that needs to be dug out by roots to stop it from spreading. I am in zone 6b. Thank you in advance.” Denise of Charleroi, Pennsylvania

Answer: All groundcovers will spread, so expect them to cover the hillside. Even native, noninvasive groundcovers may spread beyond bounds, but generally, it is not a problem when dealing with natives adapted to your region. Here are four excellent options that I recommend for your shady hillside in southwestern, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Native Groundcovers for Shade

  1. Allegheny Spurge (Pachysandra procumbens, Zones 4-9) is a handsome native groundcover that is low-growing and will spread to 3 feet or more. It has white spring flowers that feed bees, and deer don’t care for it.
  2. Maple-Leaved Alumroot (Heuchera villosa var. atropurpurea, Zones 4-7) forms mounds of textural, burgundy leaves make this hardy perennial a great groundcover for shaded spots. Any Heuchera can be planted in masses to cover a lot of ground. Warning: Do not cover their crowns with mulch.
  3. American Ginger (Asarum canadensis, Zones 3-8) is a pretty, low-growing, slow-spreading groundcover with bright green, heart-shaped leaves. They produce unusual maroon spring flowers that are beetle pollinated.
  4. Evergreen American Wild Ginger (Asarum arifolium, Zones 5-9) is similar to American ginger but its leaves are evergreen beautifully mottled leaves. It is one of my favorite native groundcovers.
  5. Pennsylvania Sedge (Carex pensylvanica, Zones 3-7) forms fine, grassy clumps of foliage that are very attractive. It will tolerate both dry and moist shade.
  6. Christmas Fern (Polystichum acrostichoides, Zones 3-9) is an evergreen fern that grows well in dry shade once established and spreads. Plant multiple specimens to cover a lot of ground. It is my favorite groundcover for shade. (Click here to learn more.)

For a truly beautiful groundcover planting, plant many of these different plants in sweeps. Clear the ground before planting them and give them added water as they are becoming established. Working up the soil before planting and amending with Fafard® Premium Natural & Organic Compost will help the plants grow better from the start. The addition of leaf mulch will help keep weeds away.

Happy gardening!

Jessie Keith

Fafard Horticulturist

Surefire Perennials for Shadier Gardens

Bowman’s root is an underused perennial that tolerates both sun and some shade.

Where have all the flowers gone? If your shade garden has you asking this question around late June, you might consider adding a few of the following perennials to your plantings. They’ll answer the “where have they gone” question with an emphatic “They’re still here!”.

Of course, even the most shade-tolerant perennial may languish if conditions are too dark, dry, or lean. You can improve impoverished or overly heavy soil by digging in a couple of inches of Fafard Premium Natural & Organic Compost before planting your new prizes. In areas with very dense low shade from overhead branches, consider removing a few of the branched culprits.

American Ipecac and Bowman’s Root

Gillenia trifoliata is a much underused native perennial wildflower whose fall color is as spectacular as its blooms.

American ipecac and Bowman’s root (Gillenia stipulata and Gillenia trifoliata), which also goes by the botanical name Porteranthus, is a durable shade- and drought-tolerant eastern U.S. native that starts summer with a flurry of starry white flowers on bushy, feathery-leaved, 3-foot plants. As with many of the best garden perennials, they’re rarely available because of their incompatibility with the mass-market plant production mill that dominates most of American horticulture these days (click on the plant name links for good sources).

Gillenia takes a while to get going, and they look doughty on a garden center display bench. Don’t let this deter you. Once they’re up to size, they’ll anchor your shade border for decades with their ferny presence and delightful June-to-July blooms. They’ll also go out with a fiery salvo each fall when their leaves turn sunset tones of purple, orange, and yellow. Few perennials offer so much beauty for so little effort.

Poke Milkweed

Poke milkweed opens its starburst clusters of down-facing white flowers on 4-foot stems in early summer. (Image by D. cerulea)

Bummed because your garden is too shady for milkweed and its attendant monarch butterflies? Good news: it probably isn’t. You just need to grow the delightful milkweed species that naturally occurs in woodland edge and clearings throughout much of the eastern United States, poke milkweed (Asclepias exaltata). It opens its starburst clusters of down-facing white flowers on 4-foot stems in early summer, making an excellent complement to Gillenia, for one. The common name of this clumping, noninvasive perennial refers to the large elliptical leaves, which bear something of a resemblance to pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). Plants sometimes go dormant in late summer, so don’t be alarmed if it dies back a few weeks after blooming.

Yellow Fumitory

Shade gardens light up with the bright yellow flowers of this fumatory.

We profiled the little charmer, yellow fumitory (Corydalis lutea), in last month’s piece on long-blooming perennials. Whether in sun or shade, it bears repeat flushes of golden-yellow flowers from spring to fall atop handsome 10-inch hummocks of lobed blue-green leaves. Plants multiply reliably via self-sown (or rather ant-sown) seedlings.

Black Cohosh and Appalachian Bugbane

Black cohosh produces white wands of flowers that look very pretty in early summer.

Two big bodacious perennials for partial shade are black cohosh and Appalachian bugbane (Actaea racemosa and A. rubifolia). These two eastern U.S. natives produce imposing bottlebrush spikes of white flowers that entice summer bees and wasps with their pungent (but pleasant) mineral fragrance. The spikes can tower as high as 5 or 6 feet in sites with fertile moist soil (although Appalachian bugbane tends to be somewhat shorter than its compatriot). Robust shrubby clumps of compound foliage provide the foundation for this floral majesty, with Appalachian bugbane making a bolder statement thanks to its large, maple-shaped leaf segments.

August Lily

August lily opens its large fragrant funnel-shaped flowers in midsummer.

Hostas are sometimes referred to as “flowering foliage plants”. This species is one of the main reasons why. As the common name suggests, August lily (Hosta plantaginea) opens its large fragrant funnel-shaped flowers in midsummer, on stout stems that rise above the lush clumps of creased, yellow-green, 10-inch-wide leaves. Hybrids include lilac-flowered ‘Honeybells’, and ‘Royal Standard’, which complements its white flowers with rich green leaves. All forms and hybrids of the species are relatively sun-tolerant.

Turtlehead

The flowers of these eastern North American natives do indeed resemble something you’d find at the north end of a turtle.

Even the most earthbound imagination will readily grasp what the common name is about, for the flowers of these eastern North American natives do indeed resemble something you’d find at the north end of a turtle. All are tall, moisture-craving, shade-tolerant perennials that bloom in summer. Chelone glabra starts things off in July with white “heads” poised at the tips of 3- to 6-foot stems. Two other widely available species – Chelone obliqua and C. lyonii – offer rose-pink flowers a bit later in the season. The compact cultivar Chelone obliqua ‘Tiny Tortuga’ carries its bright pink flowers on slowly spreading, glossy-leaved plants that top out at around 18 inches tall.

Cardinal Flower and Great Blue Lobelia

Lobelia cardinalis thrives with lots of moisture and dappled shade.

If you love hummingbirds, you need some of these eastern North American natives in your garden. Cardinal flower sports brilliant red hummer-magnets in August, just about the time great blue lobelia decks itself with (you guessed it) bright blue blooms. Both stand around 3 feet tall in flower, dying back to evergreen rosettes after blooming.

Native to damp woodland edges and the like in the wild, Lobelia cardinalis thrives with lots of moisture and dappled shade. Lobelia siphilitica is more drought- and sun-tolerant, but also grows happily in part shade. Cardinal flower comes in many forms including some with purple leaves (e.g., ‘New Moon Maroon’) or white or pink flowers. It also has occasional dalliances with great blue lobelia that result in typically purple-flowered hybrids classified as Lobelia x gerardii. These are well worth seeking out, as is another comely blue-flowered eastern North American native, Lobelia spicata.

Yellow Sages

Jupiter’s distaff (Salvia glutinosa) is a European native with yellow flowers that attract bees.

Not all perennial sages are blue-flowered sun-lovers. Several Eurasian salvias have yellow flowers and a preference for shade. Salvia koyamae sends up spikes of pale yellow flowers in late summer, over handsome 18-inch clumps of bold heart-shaped leaves. Also well worth growing is Jupiter’s distaff (Salvia glutinosa), a European native that’s larger than Salvia koyamae in all its parts. A first-rate foliage perennial, it’s particularly effective during its early- to mid-summer blooming season.

Yellow Toad Lily

This toadlilies yellow, maroon-speckled flowers bloom in July and August.

Most toad lilies flower from the end of summer into fall. Not so with the Japanese native, Yellow Toad Lily (Tricyrtis latifolia), whose 2-foot stems are decked with erect branching clusters of yellow, maroon-speckled flowers in July and August.

Grapeleaf Anemone

Silver-pink, saucer-shaped blossoms toss in the August breeze on branching 3- to 4-foot stems.

Like yellow toad lily, Grapeleaf Anemone (Anemone ‘Robustissima’) is an anomalously early-blooming member of a group of perennials (hybrid Japanese anemones) that typically flower in late summer and fall. The silver-pink, saucer-shaped blossoms toss in the August breeze on branching 3- to 4-foot stems. Plants grown from questing underground rhizomes that eventually form large colonies. Exceptionally sun-tolerant compared to most Japanese anemones, it thrives in full sun to half shade.

Collectible, Colorful Coleus for Containers and Beds

Collectible, Colorful Coleus for Containers and Beds Featured Image
The colorful coleus ‘Henna’ is so pretty that it is a stand-alone container plant. (Image by Jessie Keith)

If coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides) did not already exist, it would be necessary for gardeners to invent it. Its virtues are numerous—beautiful, easy to grow and propagate, repellent to varmints, available in endless varieties, and lovely from early spring through the first hard frost. You can even overwinter plants that you are especially fond of in the house. As if those qualities were not enough, it is also shade-loving, equally at home in beds, borders, containers, and window boxes.   

Coleus Offers More for Less

Coleus cuttings in glass vases
Coleus cuttings can root in water in just a week to two week’s time! (Be sure not to propagate patented varieties.)

When I was a beginning gardener, high on ambition and low on cash, I would pick one or two of the most beautiful or unusual coleus at the beginning of each gardening season. The minute I got the plants home, I took as many cuttings as possible and rooted them in glasses of water. Coleus is a rooting superstar; after a week to ten days, cuttings sprout roots.  After another week they can be potted up. 

I repeated the process through the first couple of months of the gardening season. Before the arrival of mid-summer, I had all the coleus that I needed for my containers and borders. By the time fall arrived, I had a coleus surplus that I could give away or overwinter. By overwintering and picking new varieties each year I developed a very handsome coleus collection.

Now that I am slightly more solvent, I revel in the annual cavalcade of dramatic colors, leaf shapes, and other innovations. Plant breeders have even come up with sun-tolerant coleus, like the plants in the ‘Stained Glass’ series, which is a boon for those of us who have beds that are sunny at one end and shady at the other.

Coleus Madness

Coleus in bowl containers
Coleus was first popularized in the Victorian era.

So how did this plant-world prodigy find its way to our shores?  Hailing from tropical areas in Southeast Asia, Africa, and Australia, coleus made its first appearance in the United States in 1851, during the Victorian era. Then as now, gardeners were mad for colorful plants, and coleus caught on. By the end of the nineteenth-century, gardeners could choose from over 150 different varieties. The colorful leaves were especially desirable for the popular carpet bedding planting schemes, where annuals were massed in designs reminiscent of the patterns found on oriental carpets.

Coleus went in and out of fashion in the twentieth century, but it is definitely back in vogue now.  Like the Victorians, we are spoiled for choice.

Coleus with Shapely Leaves

Fancy Feathers Copper
The name Fancy Feathers Copper says it all. (Image thanks to Terra Nova Nurseries)

As card-carrying members of the mint family, all coleus have stems that are square in cross-section and leaves that grow opposite each other on the stems.  Many varieties bear toothed or serrated leaves that are shaped like elongated ovals or shields.  But breeders have gone out of their way to make sometimes dramatic changes in leaf configuration.  Some varieties, like ‘Inky Fingers’, feature maroon and bright green leaves with deeply dissected edges. Going even further, Terra Nova’s Fancy Feathers™ Copper and similar types, produced leaves that are long, narrow, and form mounding mops of leaves. New in 2020, Hort Couture’s Under The Sea™ Fishnet Gold has the benefit of undulating leaves with dissected edges that are gold with brilliant red venation (wow).

Coleus in Fancy Forms

Freckled leaves
Freckles has large leaves that look like a splash of sunshine. (Image thanks to Proven Winners)

With coleus, color is king and leaves come in practically every color except blue.  Monochromatic varieties, like lime green Terra Nova® Green Lantern or burgundy ‘Beale Street’ can be used in subtle ways or combined with contrasting colors to make splashy containers or border plantings.  But subtlety goes out the window when it comes to fancy-leafed varieties that may combine two, three, or even four colors on a single leaf.  For a one-plant-planter that looks like a party, invest in the brilliant orange and yellow Freckles Coleus by Proven Winners or the equally gaudy Under The Sea™ ‘Electric Eel’, which combines splashes of bright magenta with darker red and a wavy chartreuse edge.

Coleus Sizes

Terra Nova® 'Macaw' (Image thanks to Terra Nova)
The tiny Terra Nova® ‘Macaw’ just reaches 4 to 8 inches. (Image thanks to Terra Nova)

Coleus plants can be relatively tall, sprouting to 36 inches or more, or petite enough to tuck into tight corners.  Tiny, showy Terra Nova® ‘Macaw’, with its pointy, maroon and cream leaves rises to only 4 to 8 inches.  A little bigger, at 8 to 10 inches, ferocious ‘Yellow Dragon’ would wake up any container or window box.  On the opposite end of the height scale, the appropriately named Coleosaurus reaches for the sky at up to 24 to 36 inches tall.  Mid-range plants, like the green and yellow ‘Butter Creme’, stand 18 to 26 inches tall. And sometimes it is not the height that makes plants giants. The 2 to 3 foot Kong Red coleus has giant leaves of red, green, and burgundy that really stand out in the shade garden.

Coleus Growth Habits

Colorblaze Chocolate Drop coleus spills from the container below a purple Pennisetum. (Image thanks to Proven Winners)
Colorblaze Chocolate Drop coleus spills from the container below a purple Pennisetum. (Image thanks to Proven Winners)

Many coleus plants have a mounding habit, while others tend to sprawl or even trail.  Trailers, like green-edged ‘Burgundy Wedding Train’ or Proven Winners’ ColorBlaze® Chocolate Drop, are especially good for hanging baskets, and containers positioned on plant stands or plinths. They also make good “spillers” for the edges of large, mixed container plantings that also feature tall “thriller” plants and mid-size “filler” specimens.

Coleus Growing

Healthy coleus
Remove coleus buds and flowers to keep energy invested in beautiful leaves rather than “meh” flowers.
Fafard Professional Potting Mix with RESiLIENCE pack

Coleus, like many of its mint family relations, is ridiculously easy to grow.  Unlike some other mint species, it is not thuggish or invasive. Plant starter specimens in well-drained, fertile soil, like Fafard Professional Potting Mix, and provide consistent moisture. The coleus will grow rapidly in warm weather and partial to full shade. Feed regularly with a balanced fertilizer and pinch back stems to remove any oncoming flower buds or encourage bushy growth. The removal of flower buds is essential because coleus will invest energy in flowers and seeds rather than pretty foliage, which will negatively impact the plant’s looks quickly.

If you neglect your plant and it becomes “leggy” with long stems and fewer leaves, simply cut it back by two thirds. It will look better almost immediately and be completely revitalized within several weeks.

Coleus Vendors

Coleus in garden beds
Adding coleus to garden beds always boosts color in a big way!

Many mail-order coleus vendors are sold out by June, but garden centers and big box stores generally have a good supply.  Proven Winners and Rosy Dawn Gardens are two good vendors. If you can’t find named varieties like the ones above, you can usually find specimens with similar colors and shapes.  Part of the fun of coleus hunting is discovering wild new combinations amid the tried and true