One of the joys of planting perennial bulbs in your garden is the knowledge that with the right care, these bulbs will produce beautiful shade loving perennial flowers year after year. Unfortunately, the number of shade perennial flowers available are limited, but spring perennial bulbs will add to your list of possibilities when designing your shade perennial garden.
When you look at the color selections for shade perennial flowers, you may be surprised to see that the color palette is a bit limited. Many shade perennial flowers fall in the color spectrum of white, blue, mauve, or pink. There are a few exceptions - the daylily for example, which is a brilliant orange color. But in general, you shade perennial flowers will belong to this color palette. Fortunately, most of these shade perennial flowers colors complement each other quite nicely, making combination schemes much easier with these shade perennial flower selections.
Here are some shade loving perennial bulbs to consider for your shade perennial garden:
1) Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis) - A beautiful white or pink shade perennial flower that is grown from a rhizome (a type of perennial bulb). These shade loving perennial flowers bloom in early spring, grow up to a foot in height, and suitable for zones 2 - 9. All parts of the plant are poisonous, however, so care should be taken in selecting the area they are planted.
2) English Bluebell (Scilla tubergeniana) - Beautiful violet-blue shade perennial flowers that smell of honey. One planting can produce over a hundred bell shaped blossoms! Small, usually between four and eight inches in height, and naturalizes well. A great selection for zones 3 to 9, although they can survive even in zone 2 if a mulch is provided.
3) Wood Anemones (Anemone nemorosa) - Shade perennial flowers also grown from a rhizome, the wood anemone are very suited to shady areas of your garden, as long as they are also moist. Generally pink or blue, they are another short shade perennial flower (4-8 inches tall) and suitable for zones 4-8.
4) Snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis) - Unsurprisingly, as the name suggests, these shade perennial flowers are white in color, and they are also very early bloomers. In fact, they may be the earliest perennial flowers you have growing in your garden (shade or not). Small, white shade loving perennial flowers (generally under six inches) grow from perennial bulbs, suitable for zones 2-9.
5) Grecian Wildflowers (Anemone blanda) - These shade perennial flowers come in brilliant fuschia and pink colors, and are great shade perennial flowers for area under shade and trees where you want some bright color. They also come in blue and white shades as well, and bear some resemblance to the daisy. These shade perennial flowers are grown from tubers, and suitable for zones 5-9 (although they may survive colder areas if mulched heavily).
Hopefully these suggestions for shade perennial flowers grown from bulbs, rhizomes and tubers will help you with your shade perennial garden plans. If you are interested in reading more about how to purchase and plant perennial bulbs, please visit the Perennial Bulbs Home Page. Otherwise, for even more suggestions about shade perennial flowers and plants please return to the Shade Perennial Garden Home Page.
