There are TONS of Plants That Will Grow In the Shade

I have this keen desire to turn my entire yard into a garden. Mostly because I hate mowing the grass, and my back yard has this killer slope—and while, at one point, fairly early on, I thought to myself, "this will be good, I'll be so buff from mowing my lawn every week..." that really lost footing after the first attempt at pushing the mower uphill. Instead, it became infested with invasive weeds and wildlife. To the point that I'm a little scared to go back there now.

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BUT, the desire to turn it into a garden is still fierce. Other than the sloping issue, I'm faced with two additional, stop-me-in-my-tracks, problems:

1. I'm broke. It's not so much that I'm actually "broke," but like a lot of people that money needs to go elsewhere. Ideally, I'd build retaining walls and terrace the heck out of the back yard, but have you priced retaining wall materials lately? That takes some serious scratch. And scrounging materials isn't as easy as some of those bloggers out there might suggest. (Plus, I'm not exactly 20 anymore... that shit is harder than mowing the damn slope.)
2. My yard is completely shady. Not in the hinky way, although there are hinky parts. No, all but 10 square feet (by the roadside) is in shade for most of the day. Other than the spot by the road, the next "sunny" spot gets direct sun for about 2 hours a day. TWO. feh.

Deciding that I needed help in this arena, I started going to the free (master) gardening classes offered by our local state extension office. Full disclosure, I was a Master Gardener (with certificate and everything) when I lived in Colorado. Of course, North Carolina is a completely different climate & I didn't want to assume I knew more than the local Master Gardeners.... So I went to one class, then another, then another.

I constantly challenged their assumptions and asked annoying questions. They'd say things like "Tomatoes need full/direct sun for 6-8 hours." To which I'd respond, "but do they really?" They'd say "yes" and give me a hard stare. 

Of course, anyone who's been forced to grow tomatoes in less than ideal conditions will tell you that you can actually grow them with far less than 6 hours of direct sun. In fact, my tomato bed only gets 2-3 hours of afternoon sun, and they still grow big and strong... and they still give me tomatoes. Of course, the smaller varieties will do better than the bigger varieties—and, for whatever reason, the lighter skinned & black varieties do better than the traditional red in those conditions. But IT CAN BE DONE.

I actually found myself in a conversation about shade plants while visiting all the local garden centers the other day. A woman was bemoaning the fact that her yard is in complete shade and while she had tons of Hosta, there weren't a lot of other plants she knew of that liked the shade. "You'd be surprised," I said, and started naming off plants that actually tolerate shade well. I think I got a little overly excited, as the woman kept slowly backing away from me while trying not to make eye contact.

Just for your edification, here are just a few plants that do well in shade:

Perennials

• Hosta 
• Ferns 
• Heuchera (pronounced Hoo' ker ah), also known as Coral Bells 
• Heucherella 
• Lamb's Ear 
• Foamflower 
• Lungwort 
• Hellebore / Lentin Rose 
• Alchemilla / Lady's Mantle (clumping perennial)
• Dicentra / Bleeding Hearts 
• Jacob's Ladder 
• Lilies of the Valley 
• Astilbe 
• Trillium 
• Bee Balm 
• Forget-me-nots 
• Lilies 
• Primrose 
• Columbine 
• Siberian Iris 
• Foxglove (biennial / short-lived perrenial)
• Bellflower (biennial / perennial)

• Sempervivum / Hens-and-Chicks (cold-hardy succulent)

• Lamium / Deadnettle (ground cover)
• English Ivy (perennial vine, ground cover)

• Liriope, all varieties (perennial grass)
• Mound grass (perennial grass)
• Hakonechloa / Japanese Forest Grass (perennial grass)

Shrubs

• Azalea 
• Hydrangea 
• Mirror Plant (evergreen)
• Yesterday-Today-and-Tomorrow 
• Gardenia 

Annuals

• Fuschia 
• Begonia 
• Coleus 
• Calendual 
• Larkspur 
• Caladium (annual in all but the warmest zones, 8-10)
• Impatiens 
• Geraniums 
• Persian Shield (annual in all but the warmest zones, 9-10)
• Euphorbia (annual in all but warmest zones, 9-10)

Fruits

• Cherries 
• Gooseberries
• Rhubarb
• Blackberries
• Red/Black/White Currants
• Raspberries
• Pears
• Plums
• Alpine strawberries
• PawPaws
• Kiwi
• Huckleberries

Vegetables

Vegetables crops that will grow in light to partial shade are: 

• arugula
• beets
• broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• carrots
• cauliflower
• celery
• chard
• Chinese cabbage
• corn salad
• endive
• escarole
• garlic
• horseradish
• kale
• kohlrabi
• leaf lettuce
• leeks
• mustard
• New Zealand spinach
• parsnips
• peas
• potatoes
• radishes
• rutabagas
• salsify
• scallion
• sorrel
• spinach
• turnips
• watercress

Vegetables that will tolerate light to partial shade include: 

• bush beans
• summer squash
• determinate or bush tomatoes adapted to cool regions (usually 55 days to harvest)
• tomatillos
• ground cherries

Herbs

Herbs that will grow in light to partial shade are: 

• angelica
• basil
• catnip
• chervil
• chives
• costmary 
• garden cress
• germander
• horseradish
• lemon balm
• lovage
• mint
• parsley
• rosemary
• sweet flag
• sweet woodruff
• valerian

In fact, there are a TON of plants that love or tolerate shade—and some of them are even fruits & veg! Who knew, right? Whether those fruits and veg will bare enough to actually feed your family is another thing... but they can do it. They can survive in the shade. No matter what the people at the gardening extension office say.