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Photo collage showing Angyo Fatshedera, Mountain Snow Pieris and Brandi Rhododendron

Top 5 Plants for Shade

  1. Home
  2. Top 5 Plants for Shade
  • By Southern Living Plants Staff
  • April 26, 2020
Make gardening much easier by choosing from our list of top 5 plants for shade.

The texture alone of Soft Caress Mahonia adds a unique feature to this bamboo-like shade shrub. Add Soft Caress to an Asian garden or use as a specimen plant and enjoy bright yellow blooms in early winter. Plant in USDA zones 7-9, water as needed and shape in winter after bloom.

Angyo Star Fatshedera loves the shade.

Angyo Star Fatshedera is a vining shrub that boasts thick gum-shaped leaves that are dark green with a creamy white border in the winter. Angyo Star is shade-loving, and Hardy to 0°F USDA Zones 7B-9. Water regularly and lightly prune in the spring.

Mountain Snow Pieris loves the shade. Try it in a container or the landscape.

If pendulous panicles of ivory white blooms don’t get your attention, perhaps the heat tolerance of Mountain Snow™ Pieris will win you over. This shady shrub is a great choice for USDA zones 4B–8 and enjoys full shade to part sun. Water as needed and shape in early spring before first bloom.

Southgate® Rhododendrons love the shade.

With 5 varieties of style and vibrant color, you are sure to fall in love with one (or all) of our Southgate® Rhododendrons. The Southgate series is heat tolerant and thrives in the Deep South in addition to traditional rhododendron areas. Plant in full shade to part sun in USDA zones 6–9. Pictured above is Brandi™.

Big Daddy Hydrangea loves the shade.

Easy to grow in hot humid climates, shade-loving hydrangea macrophylla, or bigleaf hydrangea, varieties will boast bold blue or pink hues in your garden or landscape. Enjoy the blooms of Big Daddy Hydrangea or Dear Dolores Hydrangea from early summer and through fall. Water as needed and shape after the bloom cycle is complete.

Oakleaf hydrangeas like Tara Hydrangea also like shady garden areas, and offer a bonus in fall with reddish fall foliage.

 

Southern Living Plants Staff

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Plants Featured In The article

Rhododendron

Southgate® Brandi™ Rhododendron

Rhododendron ‘Brandi Michele Raley’
Hydrangea
Heaps of blue to lavender Southern Living Hydrangea bloom heads

Dear Dolores® Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Wyatt LeFever’
Hydrangea
Large white tightly formed Hydrangea bloom head of Tara Hydrangea from Southern Living Plant Collection

Tara® Hydrangea

Hydrangea quercifolia ‘BIV01’ PP30565
Fatshedera

'Angyo Star' Fatshedera

Fatshedera hybrid ‘Angyo Star’
Hydrangea
Semmes Beauty Hydrangea's delicate white blooms sit atop oakleaf-shaped foliage

'Semmes Beauty’ Oakleaf Hydrangea

Hyrangea quercifolia ‘Semmes Beauty’
Mahonia

‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia

Mahonia eurybracteata ‘Soft Caress’ PP20183
Pieris

Mountain Snow™ Pieris

Pieris japonica ‘Planow’
Hydrangea
Close-up on big beautiful round Big Daddy Hydrangea blue bloom head

'Big Daddy' Hydrangea

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Big Daddy’ PP14527

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