12 Shade-Loving Plant Combos That Make Woodland Borders Glow

If you have a woodland garden with shady spots, creating an attractive border design can be easy once you know which plants work well together. Most shade-loving plants have similar soil needs, preferring a loamy, well-drained, moist soil environment. As a professional gardener, I am often asked to help clients spruce up shady spots with color and how to branch out from just planting an assortment of hostas. The following plant combinations will not only add plenty of color, but also provide interesting shapes and textures for your woodland borders.

When choosing flowering plants, consider their bloom times. Most fall-planted bulbs suitable for shade start to bloom in early spring, like scillas, chionodoxas, snowdrops, bluebells, and muscari. These are perfect to plant near hostas and don't start popping up until mid April or later. In fact, many partial to full shade-loving perennials and bulbs make great companion plants for hostas, allowing endless combinations of colors and shapes. Just be sure to give your hostas room, and divide them often to give your other plants space.

Shade-loving plants that light up the woodland border with color and texture include primroses, ferns, astilbes, lenten roses, coral bells, epimediums, forget-me-nots, Solomon's seals, woodland or tall phloxes, brunneras, and many others. Most of these are easy to grow and maintain, and it can be exciting to create new combinations of plantings to brighten your woodland shade areas from spring through autumn.

One of the easiest ferns for woodland gardens is the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris), a robust plant hardy in USDA zones 2 to 8. Its feathery leaves and upright shape provide gorgeous texture as a backdrop for smaller plants. Planting a colorful flowering ground cover in front of them creates a striking scene. I like blue Serbian bellflower (Campanula poscharskyana) for its cascading habit and colorful, long-lasting blooms. The deep violet-blue flowers look gorgeous beside yellowish-green ferns. Hardy in USDA zones 4 to 7, it thrives in partial shade at the front of the woodland border.

Sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum) is an excellent ground cover for partial shade. Its tiny white flowers in spring add brightness to the woodland border. The spiky, shapely leaves are attractive all season and it spreads gently to fill in beneath larger perennials. It's hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8 and not too fussy about soil. I like it planted with variegated varieties of hosta; the lighter leaf coloring really shines when the sweet woodruff blooms. Hardy in zones 3 through 9, variegated hostas tend to keep their colors best in partial to full shade.

Coral bells (Heuchera saxifragaceae) come in a wide variety of foliage colors that often shift subtly as the season progresses. Their shapely leaves (scalloped, rounded, or pointed) and brilliant hues make them a real star in a shady border garden. Orange coral bells look stunning planted with spotted dead nettle (Lamium maculatum) as a ground cover. Both plants are hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8 and like well-drained, loamy soil. Some striking orange coral bells to try are 'Southern Comfort,' 'Delta Dawn,' and 'Peach Crisp.'

Brunnera (Brunnera macrophylla), also known as Siberian bugloss, is a handsome shade perennial. The heart-shaped silvery leaves with deep green veins are very eye-catching, and it also produces lovely sky-blue flowers similar to forget-me-nots. For some stunning contrast of color, shape, and texture, plant it alongside a compact variety of astilbe (Astilbe japonica). Both plants are hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8. Some of the shorter varieties I love include 'Younique Salmon' (a cute rosy pink dwarf), 'Fanal' (carmine red), and 'Peach Blossom' (pale pink).

Epimedium, also known as a barrenwort, is a shade-loving ground cover that forms thick matted roots. The leaves take on bronze tones in summer, and the delicate spring-blooming flowers come in white, pink, peach, or yellow. Planted next to Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra), the combination creates a pleasing contrast in textures, colors, and shapes, They make suitable companions as both are hardy in USDA zones 5 to 8. This combination works nicely with forget-me-nots (USDA zones 3 to 8), with their graceful sprays of tiny pastel flowers adding clouds of color.

Japanese painted ferns (Athyrium niponicum) have striking colors that light up shady gardens. These light green ferns with silvery and lavender accents are fairly easy to grow (best in USDA zones 3 to 9), requiring only partial to full shade and a rich, well-drained soil. Underplant them with spotted dead nettle. This shade-loving ground cover also has attractive, shimmery leaves of pale green with darker edges, and flowers ranging in shades of white, pink, yellow, or purple. My favorite varieties are 'White Nancy' (white flowers) and 'Pink Pewter' (pale pink flowers).

For a classic combination in the shade border, it's hard to beat hostas and tall astilbes with large, feathery plumes. The pink and lavender flowered varieties look wonderful with blue or variegated hostas, and the colors complement the pale purple flowers most hostas produce. Pairing assorted solid and variegated hostas with one variety or color of astilbe is a great way to tie this look together. My favorite tall pink astilbes are 'Maggie Daley' (lavender pink, 28 inches), 'Bressingham Beauty' (salmon pink, 36 inches), and 'Delft Lace' (apricot pink, 24 to 26 inches).

Planting broadleaf hydrangeas in your shady woodland border should follow one simple rule: Choose a cold-hardy variety. Two excellent cold-tolerant hydrangeas that bloom well in partial shade are 'Bloomstruck' and 'Mini Mauvette.' Both varieties are hardy in USDA zones 4 to 8. My Mini Mauvette, with its round mauve flowerheads, does very well in my partial shade garden and looks gorgeous blooming alongside various kinds of tall garden phlox (Phlox paniculata), also hardy in zones 4 to 8. Try these colorful phlox: 'Bright Eyes' (two-tone pink), 'Laura' (magenta with white accents), or 'Cosmopolitan' (hot pink).

Lenten roses (Helleborus orientalis) are known to show off their lovely blooms when there's still snow on the ground. They lend gorgeous color to the shade border, blooming for weeks in spring. They pair well with spring-blooming bulbs like snowdrops, scillas, and grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum). Cold hardy in USDA zones 3 to 9, lenten roses need winter sun to form buds, so plant them under deciduous, not evergreen, trees and shrubs. Underplanting some grape hyacinths in shimmery blues will complement their subtle colors that include pink, plum, red, ivory, and yellow. 

With graceful, curving stems and small, bell-shaped flowers, Solomon's seal (Polygonatum) adds classy beauty to the woodland border. It makes an excellent ground cover to fill in large areas, spreading via a rhizomous root. The variegated varieties with creamy white flowers add light and texture in dark spots. This plant's hardy nature — it thrives in USDA zones 3 to 9 — makes it easy to grow. Try planting Solomon's seals with astilbes in light, airy colors like white and pale pink, to add some visual interest to a green shade border.

Despite their delicate appearance, primroses (Primula) are one of the first flowers to bloom in spring woodland gardens, bringing gorgeous color early in the season. Some varieties hold their flowers aloft on stems, while others are more compact. They grow nicely when planted along the front edge of a woodland border or throughout through the lawn beneath trees, much like squill (Scilla), another early bloomer, creating a carpet of colorful blooms. Try pairing butter yellow or hot pink primroses with the cobalt blue of squill for a fetching spring display.

Woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata) is a must-have for the shade garden. It's a low growing, clumping perennial that produces colorful flowers of pale to dark blue, purple, or white, and blooms for weeks in mid spring. It's a lovely plant to pair with colorful heucheras, especially those with red, pink, orange, or gold foliage, to provide some assertive spring color in the shade bed. Woodland phlox increases reliably, is easily divided, and thrives in USDA zones 3 to 8 in moist, well-drained soil and partial shade.