A large number of flowers usually only show their full splendor in a sunny location. But there are also some that only grow and thrive in the shade or partial shade.
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Some like it shady
Not every area in the garden is spoiled by the sun. Large trees and shrubs in particular cast their shadows over the areas below. Not every plant grows here in partial shade or shade. However, there are also solutions for this, because shade flowers with blossoms or simple ornamental leaf plants get along very well with such conditions. They are persistent and become more beautiful every year. Once planted, they require little maintenance. Below we have listed some shade flowers by flowering time.
flowering time in spring
The first heralds of spring point to the reawakening of nature. These shade flowers bloom in spring.
Altai-Bergenie (Bergenia cordifolia)
- Growth: sprawling, wide clumps
- Growth height: 20 to 40 cm
- Growth width: 35 to 40 cm
- Flowers: simple, umbel-shaped, pink
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: Oval to heart-shaped, evergreen, margins are finely serrated, leathery, glossy green, turning red to brown in autumn
Duftveilchen (Viola odorata)
- Habit: runner-forming, spreading, basal rosette of leaves
- Growth height: 5 to 15 cm
- Growth width: 20 to 25 cm
- Flowers: simple single flowers, plate-shaped, fivefold, five blunt sepals, straight spur, blue-violet, white, pink, very fragrant
- Flowering time: March to April
- Leaves: ovate to kidney-shaped, notched, evergreen
Tip: These flowers do best in the light shade of deciduous trees and shrubs.
Spotted Arum (Arum maculatum)
- Growth: tuberous rhizome, upright, clumpy
- Growth height: 15 to 40 cm
- Growth width: 20 to 30 cm
- Flowers: green-white bract (spatha), funnel-shaped, growing yellow to blue-violet spadix, gives off a smell of carrion
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: arrow-shaped, entire, basal, glossy green, veined with white or spotted
- Special feature: red poisonous berries appear from June/July, a source of food for birds
Large-flowered elfflower (Epimedium grandiflorum), sockflower
- Growth: clump-like, cushion-like, short rhizomes
- Growth height: 10 to 25 cm
- Growth width: 20 to 30 cm
- Flowers: simple, long spurred, in panicles, yellow, white, pink, violet, dark red
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: tripartite, cordate, smooth, light green to brownish green, deciduous
Spotted Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis)
- Growth: clumpy, cushion-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 cm
- Growth width: 25 to 30 cm
- flowers: simple, cupped, blue to pink
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: lanceolate, finely hairy, entire, silvery shimmering, deciduous
- Special feature: bee-friendly
Hänge-Goldglocke (Uvularia grandiflora)
- Habit: clump-like, rhizome-forming, arching hanging flowers
- Growth height: 40 to 60 cm
- Growth width: 30 to 40 cm
- Flowers: bell-shaped, yellow, single flowers up to 5 cm long
- Flowering time: April to June
- Leaves: lanceolate, soft, entire, dull green, deciduous
Heart-shaped foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)
- Growth: carpet-like, forming runners
- Growth height: 20 to 25 cm
- Growth width: 10 to 20 cm
- flowers: simple paniculate, yellowish white
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: Roundish to heart-shaped, lobed, finely hairy, leathery, green, copper-colored in autumn and winter
Dog tooth lily (Erythronium dens-canis), dog tooth
- Growth: onion, upright, clumpy
- Growth height: 20 to 40 cm
- Growth width: 15 to 25 cm
- Flowers: racemes, protruding stamens, fragrant, white, yellow, pink
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: Mottled green-whitish or brown, broad, tongue-shaped, 10 to 25 cm long
Japanese forest poppy (Hylomecon japonicum)
- Growth: clump-forming, upright, ground-covering
- Growth height: 10 to 25 cm
- Growth width: 20 to 30 cm
- Flowers: Cup-shaped, yellow, four to five petals, 5 cm in size
- Flowering time: April to May
- Leaves: Broadly lanceolate, serrate margin, green, deciduous
Note: These shade flowers can also tolerate up to four hours of sun a day. However, they bloom longer in the shade.
Kaukasus-Vergissmeinnicht (Brunnera macrophylla)
- Wuchs: grundständige Blatthorste, breitbuschig
- Wuchshöhe: 20 bis 40 cm
- Wuchsbreite: 30 bis 40 cm
- Blüten: kleine einfache Einzelblüten, in Rispen zusammenstehend, ähnlich dem Vergissmeinnicht, hellblau
- Blütezeit: April bis Mai
- Blätter: herzförmig, rau, stumpf, groß, dunkelgrün, im Herbst gelb, laubabwerfend
- Besonderheit: Nahrungsquelle für Insekten
Leberblümchen (Hepatica nobilis)
- Wuchs: flächendeckend, teppichbildend, horstig, rosettenartig
- Wuchshöhe: 7 bis 15 cm
- Wuchsbreite: 15 bis 20 cm
- Blüten: endständige Einzelblüten, schalenförmig, violett, blau
- Blütezeit: März bis April
- Blätter: nierenförmig, dreigelappt, gebuchteter Rand, glatt, ledrig, derb, glänzend dunkelgrün, wintergrün
- Besonderheiten: bienenfreundlich, giftige Pflanzen
- Note: Typical for these shade flowers is the closing of the flowers during the night and in rainy weather.
March cup (Leucojum vernum), spring knot flower
- Habit: ovoid bulb, 4 to 5 cm tall, upright, flowers overhanging
- Growth height: 10 to 30 cm
- Growth width: 10 to 20 cm
- Flowers: Single flowers, bell-shaped, white petals, green spots at the top, single, ovary above the flower, slightly fragrant
- Flowering time: February to April
- Leaves: lanceolate to linear, basal, erect, dark green
- Special features: slightly poisonous, leaves are already drawn in in May
Flowering time in summer
These shadow flowers shine with their flower heads. One prettier than the other.
Akelei (Aquilegia)
- Growth: clump-like, upright flower stalks, inclined leaves
- Growth height: 40 to 80 cm
- Growth width: 25 to 30 cm
- flowers: bell-shaped, fivefold, spur growing backwards, blue, violet. pink, white
- Flowering period: May to July
- Leaves: In threes, alternate, pinnate, blue-green above, grey-green below
- Special feature: contains nectar in the spur, flowers are poisonous
Brown cranesbill (Geranium phaeum)
- Growth: clump-forming, upright
- Growth height: 50 to 70 cm
- Growth width: 15 to 20 cm
- flowers: cupped, light brown to black-violet
- Flowering period: May to September
- leaves: palmate. lobed, deeply dissected, light green, deciduous
Feather-leaved Schaublatt (Rodgersia pinnata)
- Habit: spreading, clumps, very short rhizomes, upright
- Growth height: 40 to 120 cm
- Growth width: 70 to 90 cm
- Flowers: Single flowers, in panicles, yellowish-white or pink
- Flowering period: June to August
- Leaves: lanceolate, multi-parted, coarse, serrated edge, dull dark green, deciduous
- Special feature: suitable as a container plant
Funkie (Hosta), autumn leaf lilies
- Growth: fleshy rhizomes, clumps, sprawling, leafy flower stalks
- Growth height: 40 to 100 cm
- Growth width: 40 to 50 cm
- Flowers: pendent bell-shaped flowers, in spiked inflorescences together, white to lilac
- Flowering period: July to September
- Leaves: cordate to spatulate or lanceolate, wavy margin, soft, deciduous, creamy white, yellow-green, steel blue, dark green or multicolored
Goldnessel (Lamium galeobdolon)
- Growth: clump-forming, rampant, carpet-like
- Growth height: 20 to 30 cm
- Growth width: 30 to 40 cm
- Flowers: yellow single flowers, in panicles
- Flowering period: May to July
- Leaves: Evergreen, silvery spots, acuminate to oval, margin serrate, finely hairy
Tip: These shade flowers are particularly suitable for natural planting.
Great goat’s beard (Aruncus dioicus)
- Growth: clumpy, spreading, upright
- Growth height: 150 to 180 cm
- Growth width: 90 to 100 cm
- Flowers: in panicles, yellowish-white, up to 50 cm long
- Flowering period: June to July
- Leaves: Pinnate, roughly serrated margin, smooth, large, coarse, dull deep green, deciduous
- Special feature: bee-friendly, good cut perennial
Porcelain flowers (Saxifraga x urbium)
- Habit: forms rosettes, clump-like growth, light to red-brown stems
- Growth height: 5 to 20 cm
- Growth width: 10 to 15 cm
- Flowers: Star-shaped single flowers, white, red, pink, single, in panicles
- Flowering period: May to July
- Leaves: grey-green, leathery, tongue-shaped, rounded, notched
Astilbe (Astilbe)
- Growth: bushy, upright, clump-forming
- Growth height: 30 to 40 cm
- Growth width: 30 to 40 cm
- Flowers: in panicles, white, pink, red
- Flowering period: June to August
- Leaves: pinnate, smooth, glossy dark green, margin serrate, deciduous
Note: The infructescence of these flowers remains long after the flowering period. These shade flowers are extremely bee-friendly perennials.
Purpurglöckchen (Heuchera)
- Growth: hemispherical, cushion-like, clump-forming
- Growth height: 15 to 90 cm
- Growth width: 40 to 50 cm
- Flowers: racemes of bell-shaped flowers, in long-stalked loose panicles, white, pink, red
- Flowering period: May to August
- Leaves: Roundish, notched, finely hairy, edges ruffled, from yellow-orange to dark green to dark red/violet
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum), Fragrant claret
- Growth: rhizome-forming, slightly overhanging flower stalks
- Growth height: 80 to 150 cm
- Growth width: 35 to 40 cm
- Flowers: hanging below the stems, bell-shaped, single flowers, white, slightly fragrant
- Flowering period: May to June
- Leaves: Broadly lanceolate, acuminate, entire, dull green, deciduous
- Special feature: well-known native wild perennial, blue berries are poisonous
Traubensilberkerze (Actaea racemosa)
- Growth: clump-like, rhizome-forming, upright
- Growth height: 80 to 200 cm
- Growth width: 80 to 120 cm
- Flowers: candle-like racemes, dense, white, slightly fragrant
- Flowering period: June to August
- Leaves: Maple-like, pointed, pinnate, up to 60 cm long, green
- Note: Herbal active ingredients from the rhizome are used in natural medicine.
flowering time in autumn
With their blossoms, these shadow flowers herald the approaching end of the garden year.
Autumn cyclamen (Cyclamen hederifolium)
- Growth: carpet-like, upright, tuber
- Growth height: 10 to 15 cm
- Growth width: 10 to 15 cm
- flowers: bell-shaped, solitary, pink to violet
- Flowering time: September to October
- Leaves: cordate, serrate margin, smooth, green with leaf markings, deciduous
Japan-Herbstanemone (Anemone hupehensis)
- Growth: clump-forming, spreading, upright
- Growth height: 60 to 80 cm
- Growth width: 30 to 40 cm
- Flowers: simple, cupped, purple, pink, white, yellow center
- Flowering period: August to October
- Leaves: ovate, tripartite, finely hairy, roughly serrate margin, deep green, deciduous
- Special feature: bee-friendly
flowering time in winter
When nothing else blooms, these flowers delight with their delicate blooms.
Christrose (Helleborus niger)
- Growth: rhizomes, bushy, upright
- Growth height: 15 to 25 cm
- Growth width: 30 to 40 cm
- flowers: cupped, white
- Flowering time: November to January
- Leaves: Palmate, leathery, coarse, serrate margin, dark green, evergreen
Caution: It is poisonous.
