top 10 shade-loving plants 2025
top 10 shade-loving plants 2025
Are you looking to create your own woodland garden? Are you struggling to know what to plant in that difficult, shady patch of your garden? It can often be a challenge to know what to plant in those shady areas of your garden, although there are a lot more plants suited to these areas than you may initially think. Luckily, we have compiled a list for you to help get you started. Keep reading for our top 10 shade-loving plants 2025.
Epimedium
Epimedium make a fantastic choice for shade gardens and will even tolerate dry shade! Ranging from evergreen varieties like 'pubigerum' and deciduous varieties as pictured above 'purple pixie' all sport heart shaped leaves that help smother and carpet the ground with green to bronze colour. Delicate sprays of flowers follow in a variety of shape, colour and from spring to early summer. Hardy down to -15°C you won't have to worry in the winter.
Fatsia japonica 'Spider's Web'
Checkout this stunning evergreen shrub! A variegated form of the popular 'Castor Oil Plant' perfect for adding a bit of brightness to a shaded corner, border or container. Whilst you can enjoy the foliage year-round, unusual spherical flowers appear during the autumn for additional interest. Once mature, you can expect this Fatsia to reach up to 2.5m tall, a great statement for your garden, hardy down to -10°C will do well in most UK gardens, including urban areas and courtyards.
Viburnum Rock 'n' Rolla
An exquisite, compact, evergreen Viburnum perfect for containers, small spaces...and part shade! Reaching only 1.2m tall this wonderfully low maintenance shrub is a must-have for your garden! Clusters of bright pink buds are produced from December until April, each opening to display illuminating, white, fragrant blooms, followed by blue-black berry interest in the summerm making it the ultimate wildlife friendly plant for pollinators and birds!
Cotinus 'Candyfloss'
Normally known for their large burgundy or golden green disc-like foliage, the variety 'Candyfloss' has equally interesting blooms, as the name suggests fluffy plumes are held during the summer to create a magical impact for your garden. Whilst they do love the sun, 'Candyfloss' also tolerates north facing gardens too! Just make sure it's not underplanted near a tree for example to ensure it gets the best light possible during the summer months.
Trillium
Trillium may be a harder plant to grow but the pay-off is totally worth it. This clump-forming and long-lived woodland wildflower will create a spectacular carpet of elegant flowers. Large, striking flowers sit upon a ‘shelf’ of foliage during spring and each year the number of flowers increase, giving you a plethora of blooms. Trillium grandiflorum is a wonderfully graceful, RHS award-winning variety that is ideal for illuminating dark, shady areas with its brilliant white, three-petaled flowers.
Erythronium 'Pagoda'
We've listed a lot of cool toned plants, so now let's look at something with a real pop of intense colour! A true herald of spring, 'Erythronium Pagoda' showcases marvellously mottled foliage from March through to July, bringing low-growing interest to shade borders or woodland style planting schemes. Sunny yellow blooms accompany the foliage March to April, overtime they will naturalise with ease in the garden, provided you give it shelter and shade.
Helleborus orientalis 'Single Yellow'
Here at Hayloft, we absolutely love our Hellebores, it's no surprise it's made it to our top 10 shade-loving plants 2025 list. Whilst other plants slumber, Hellebores bring a magical touch to your garden with their luxuriant blousy blooms and abundant evergreen foliage. They may look dainty in appearance but don’t be fooled as they are sturdy plants that will survive the cold temperatures of winter and remain awe-inspiring, even in the shadiest of gardens! Why not cheer your winter, shaded garden with this buttercup yellow flowering variety?! Amazing!
Fuchsia 'Carmel Blue'
Treated more as an annual, this half-hardy Fuchsia makes the perfect addition for containers in the shade for summer and autumn interest. Bright white bell-shaped blooms with perfectly purple petticoats, appear from June to October. To future-proof this plant, softwood cuttings can be taken when fresh green growth is produced during spring and summer, or simply pop your container in a frost-free environment over the winter to enjoy again the following year.
Geranium 'Rozanne'
A classic perennial Geranium that's frost hardy down to -20°C and below that provides a carpet of weed suppressing foliage and bright blue blooms throughout summer and autumn (up until the first frosts!). An excellent choice for borders in partial shade, giving low-growing interest most of the year. Unlike a number of other geraniums, 'Rozanne' is a sterile hybrid, meaning you won't find it growing anywhere in the garden you don't want it to!
Hydrangea 'seemannii'
A wonderful choice to grow against a wall or garden fence in the shade, this climbing, evergreen Hydrangea will sure brighten a dark spot in an outdoor space. Big, white blooms appear from June to September and are well sought after for using in fresh and dried flower arrangements. Whilst they can reach a height of up to 12m and spread of 3m, they are extremely slow growing, so very unlikely to outgrow a space anytime soon!
