Best plants for shaded areas?

[amelia88]

I really need to give my backyard a bit of an overhaul, but we are renting right now...which means that I'm limited with certain things that I can and can't do.

There's a giant tree in our backyard that blocks out a ton of the natural light that would normally be there. As much as I would love to just chop down branches and prune it back a bit, our landlord wouldn't be as impressed. As a result I'm needing some ideas on plants that grow well in the shade. Ideally ones that are year round, but that might be a bit of wishful thinking on my part!

 

[mgmine]

I'm in zone 6 so I don't know it these will work for you but hydrangea and hosta both do well in shade especially the hosta.

 

[Becky]

Periwinkles grow well in the shade, and they provide really good ground cover - might be worth a look! If you're looking for shrubs, then skimmias also do well in the shade. How much space have you got?

 

[KimmyMarkks]

Thanks this is good to know. I love hydrangeas, I think they are such a beautiful flowered plant. I really like how they come in so many different colors and hear that they are pretty easy to care for. I am going to do more research on the care for these plants. Is it true their flowers come back every year?