Plants for Summer Color in Shade Gardens

Although spring is a season of riches in shade gardes, color abounds in summer as well. Annuals will flower throughout the summer, and their colors are rich and varied. A host of perennials are available for summer color, and some bulbs, too. The airy spires of astilve and goats beard (Aruncus dioicus) bring soft masses of color. The upright spikes of foxglove (Digitalis grandiflora), bear's breeches (Acanthus mollis), black snakeroot (Cimicifuga racemosa), Rehmannia and monkshood (Aconitum spp.) add vertical line and height. Most daisies need sun, but if you love daisy-like flowers, you can enjoy some in summer with purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea), golden groundsel (Ligularia dentata), or annual cinerarias.

The lavish blooms of hydrangeas and Siberian and Japanese irises lend a more classic elegance to a shady garden, giving it more of the feeling of a traditional bed or border. Lilies, too, contribute to a more classic look, as do the lilylike blooms of lily of the Nile (Agapanthus spp.).

To bring some color up off the ground, plant summer-blooming vines in a lightly shaded garden. HYbrid clematis is available in many colors, and species clematis such as Italian clematis (Clematis viticellas) offer more delicate flower forms. Later in the season, liver-lace vine (Polygonum aubertii) or sweet autumn clematis (Clematis paniculata) will blanket a fence with masses of small white flowers that cover the plants like billows of fowm. Those of sweet autumn clematis are lightly fragrant, too. You also could plant climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomada) subspecies petiolaris up a tree trunk. Once established, it climbs by itself.