Do you know what kind of shade you have? You could say it depends on the amount of sun you get. Even shade-loving plants like light, and some can even take direct sun for a short time. But very few will prosper in deep shade. Deep shade doesn’t mean under the ground-brushing branches of a spruce tree. If you can’t see it, it’s not deep shade, but lights’ out—at least for anything trying to grow there.

Deep Shade Plants

Plants that thrive in deep shade are located where you can see them—up against an evergreen backdrop or even beneath a weeping tree with deciduous foliage. They’re usually in locations facing any direction but south. If your garden has enough shade to close the door on daisies, sunflowers, lavender and roses, it still has sufficient light to grow lots of beautiful plants.

Here are a dozen denizens of the dark. The first six like bright shade and don’t mind a little direct sun. You could call the next batch the deep six, for their ability to get along in deep shade, but prefer good light.

Six perennials that like bright shade:

1. Actaea sits quietly in bright shade just until you crave some color. That’s not to say its foliage isn’t attractive—it’s clothed in dark, handsome leaves that look even better when posed against paler partners like Amsonia or a chartreuse Hosta. You might find Actaea under its old name, Cimicifuga.
2. Anemone x hybrida should get enough sun to keep it from flopping but not too much to scorch it. The Perennial Plant Association named ‘Honorine Jobert’, a white-flowered cultivar introduced in 1858, the Perennial Plant of the Year for 2016.
3. It’s as if they’ve just been discovered, but Astilbe has been around well before our grandmothers’ planted them. The newer varieties have colorful leaves, and there are cultivars that bloom from early to late in the May-June garden. They can live in the same spot for several years without need of division.
4. Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’ never has a bad day. From the time it makes its peachy-red fernlike presence known until it is ready to disappear for the summer, ‘Gold Heart’ could carry the show in any shady spot.
5. Luckily for us gardeners, Epimedium is finally making its way into shadeland. With its trademark heart-shaped leaf jauntily perched on wiry stems, it has a delicate look but a beefy constitution. When it’s finished blooming in late May, its leaves color up before turning solid green for the season. Some even have fall color.
6. Rodgersia won’t be ignored. With its corrugated leaves and stiff attitude, it stands to attention as if to announce incoming royalty. Its flowers arrive slowly, and take their sweet time to open. They’re what you’d expect from a plant so upstanding—waxy and variably pink in bud and bloom.

Six perennials that like deep shade:

1. Deinanthe caerulea comes from the cool, shady woodlands of China. Be sure to put it where you can see it up close, as you’ll want to get a look at its down-facing flowers with deep purple stamens surrounded by lavender petals.
2. Kirengeshoma palmata (Yellow Waxbells) stands quietly in the background, forgotten until its foliage begins to look like huge maple leaves. Its blooms won’t disappoint either—from plump, waxy buds to the bright yellow bell-like blossoms this shade-lover will brighten up your September garden.
3. Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’ has some serious presence, considering its easy care. Perhaps that’s why it received the Perennial Plant Association’s 2013 Perennial Plant of the Year award. Its stems come up out of nowhere and grow taller by the day until they start to unfurl into bi-colored leaves.
4. It’s the flashiest native plant you can grow in the shade, blooming with bright red trumpet flowers, often twice per season. Spigelia marilandica, which is also called Indian pink, is a woodland plant, and prefers a loose loamy soil.
5. Vancouveria hexandra looks fresh all summer long, showing up in late spring with leaves like a duck’s foot in yellowish-green. As the leaves deepen in color, tiny white flowers dance above the foliage on wiry stems. It’s called inside-out flower, so they’re worth a close look.
6. If it weren’t for the silvery leaves of Viola walteri ‘Silver Gem’, the spot at the base of the conifer would be seriously problematic. The tiny purple blooms are cute, but it’s the silver and green-veined leaves with purple undersides that make it a great plant. It spreads very slowly, choking out weeds and undesirables.

Let a few of these shade-lovers darken your doorstep this spring. They’ll go a long way to color up your shady world.