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.