Full Shade Perennials

Full shade perennials form the backbone of gardens that get little to no direct sun. They thrive in spots that receive fewer than four hours of sunlight per day, including dappled shade under trees and areas with gentle morning light. Unlike annuals, perennials come back year after year, so your shady beds improve over time.

At Garden Crossings, we select full shade perennials for strong, reliable performance in low-light conditions. You’ll find options with colorful blooms, bold foliage, and interesting textures that keep your shade garden looking lush all season. These plants grow naturally in shade, so they stay healthy and vibrant even where other plants struggle.

Shadowland hosta with varigated leaves and purple blooms
Large, heart-shaped leaves with silver-white surfaces and dark green veins form a dense cluster in 'Queen of Hearts' Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera), creating a striking mounding ground cover among surrounding greenery - Photo Courtesy of Proven Winners, Inc.'Queen of Hearts' Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera) features large, heart-shaped green leaves with silvery-white veins and a slightly rough texture - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Queen of Hearts' Siberian Bugloss (Brunnera)

$19.99
$19.99

Close-up of Ragin Cajun' Spigelia features dense clusters of bright red and yellow tubular flowers and pointed green leaves, creating a striking hummingbird plant in the garden with blurred foliage in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.A dense cluster of 'Ragin Cajun' Spigelia, a native perennial prized for attracting hummingbirds, displays upright bright red flower spikes amid other blooms in a vibrant garden - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Ragin Cajun' Spigelia

$20.99
$20.99

'Rainbow's End' Hosta, known for its broad variegated foliage, stands out among green plants and pink flowers in this vibrant shade perennial garden setting - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.'Rainbow's End' Hosta features variegated green and yellow leaves, set amid blue flowers in the foreground and pink bleeding heart perennials with yellow-green foliage in the background - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Rainbow's End' Hosta

$18.99
$18.99

Close-up of 'Raspberry Splash' Lungwort (Pulmonaria), a shade-loving plant featuring clusters of pink and purple trumpet-shaped flowers above elongated green leaves with white spots - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.Clusters of small pink and purple flowers bloom among green leaves with white spots, highlighting the unique foliage of ‘Raspberry Splash’ Lungwort (Pulmonaria - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Raspberry Splash' Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

$19.99
$19.99

A close-up of the vibrant 'Rebecca Cawthorne' Perennial Violet (Viola) showcases its purple and white blooms with green leaves - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.Top-down view of 'Rebecca Cawthorne' Perennial Violet (Viola) with ruffled petals in shades of deep violet, lavender, and creamy yellow-white, accented by green leaves - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Rebecca Cawthorne' Perennial Violet (Viola)

$17.99
$17.99
'Rise and Shine' Chinese Astilbe features tall clusters of vibrant hot pink blooms above lush green foliage - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.'Rise and Shine' Chinese Astilbe features tall, feathery hot pink blooms above lush green foliage that fills the frame. Blurred greenery and a wood fence in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Rise and Shine' Chinese Astilbe

$18.99
$18.99

The 'School Mouse' Hosta, a miniature variety with wavy green leaves and light purple flowers, thrives among pine needles and soil - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.The 'School Mouse' Hosta, a charming miniature hosta with ruffled leaves, grows beautifully in garden beds with pine needles and soil - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'School Mouse' Hosta

$16.14
$18.99 $16.14

Top-down view of 'Seasons in the Sun' Hosta forming a dense cluster of large, bright golden-yellow leaves in the garden bed - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.‘Seasons in the Sun’ Hosta features lush, golden-yellow leaves that brighten shaded gardens bordered by soil and mulch - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Seasons in the Sun' Hosta

$20.99
$20.99
‘Silly String’ Hosta is a compact variety with blue-green, long, narrow, wavy-edged leaves that form a dense, fountain-like cluster—an ideal choice to add unique texture and charm to your garden - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.A cluster of 'Silly String' Hosta, featuring blue foliage and drooping, bell-shaped purple flowers, grows in a garden bed surrounded by lush greenery - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Silly String' Hosta

$18.99
$18.99

A close-up of 'Silver Moon' Clematis, a shade-loving variety with large silvery-mauve flowers featuring six broad petals and yellow stamens, set among green leaves and bamboo stakes in the background - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.A close-up of 'Silver Moon' Clematis in bloom shows six large silvery-mauve petals and yellow stamens at the center, all set against lush green leaves - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Silver Moon' Clematis

$20.99
$20.99

A cluster of 'Snowbells' Lenten Rose (Helleborus) displays white flowers with yellow centers, emerging from green stems and leaves above soil, with the blooms standing out against a dark background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.A cluster of 'Snowbells' Lenten Rose (Helleborus) blooms with white petals, yellow centers, and green stems set against a dark background. The delicate flowers slightly overlap, with green leaves at the base - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Snowbells' Lenten Rose (Helleborus)

$20.99
$20.99

Close-up of ‘Spot On’ Lungwort (Pulmonaria) features green leaves with white spots and clusters of small pink and purple flowers - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.A cluster of 'Spot On' Lungwort (Pulmonaria) shows green leaves with white spots and purple-blue and pink blooms, thriving in mulched soil with a yellow-green shade plant in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Spot On' Lungwort (Pulmonaria)

$19.99
$19.99

A top-down view of a bushy Sun King' Golden Japanese Spikenard (Aralia) with bright green leaves grows among mulch and other plants in a garden bed, with purple flowers visible on the right side - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLCLarge Sun King' Golden Japanese Spikenard (Aralia) with bright green, compound leaves dominates a shaded garden. Pink flowers and various other green plants surround the bush, with tall trees and dense foliage in the background - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC

'Sun King' Golden Japanese Spikenard (Aralia)

$18.99
$18.99

A lush clump of bright green 'Sun Mouse' Hosta, a perennial shade plant, grows in a garden bed near a stone and gravel path - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Sun Mouse' Hosta

$18.99
$18.99
'Time in A Bottle' Hosta features standout yellow-green, wavy-edged leaves and small clusters of light blue flowers - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.'Time in A Bottle' Hosta features wavy, bright yellow-green leaves that stand out among purple-blue flowers, with soil and stone paving bordering the garden bed - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Time in A Bottle' Hosta

$20.99
$20.99
Several lush blue and gold 'Touch of Class' Hosta plants with broad, heart-shaped leaves featuring creamy yellow centers thrive in soil alongside other small green shade garden plants - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.The 'Touch of Class' Hosta is a stunning shade garden plant with large blue-green, heart-shaped leaves and light green streaks, shown growing outdoors among pine needles and branches - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Touch of Class' Hosta

$20.99
$20.99

'Vision in Red' Chinese Astilbe displays magenta-purple feathery plumes above green serrated leaves surrounded by green plants - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.‘Vision in Red’ Chinese Astilbe features tall, feathery purple flower spikes above green, fern-like foliage. Tall grasses are slightly blurred in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Vision in Red' Chinese Astilbe

$18.99
$18.99
Tall, raspberry-pink plumes of ‘Visions’ Chinese Astilbe rise above green foliage, creating a striking display in shade gardens - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.'Visions' Chinese Astilbe produces dense clusters of raspberry pink blooms above deep green foliage, making it an ideal shade garden plant with vibrant flower spikes against lush leaves - Photo Property of Garden Crossings LLC.

'Visions' Chinese Astilbe

$18.99
$18.99
The 'Vulcan' Hosta, a striking shade perennial, features large white-centered variegated leaves in a garden bed, complemented by yellow-green ornamental grass and brown mulch - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.A cluster of 'Vulcan' Hosta, a prized shade perennial, boasts large leaves with creamy white centers and dark green edges, creating a lush display in the garden - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Vulcan' Hosta

$17.99
$17.99
Close-up of a 'Webmaster' Spiderwort (Tradescantia) flower with three purple petals, yellow stamens, and long green leaves. Other similar perennial flowers and buds appear among the surrounding foliage - Photo Courtesy of Proven Winners, Inc.'Webmaster' Spiderwort (Tradescantia) features slender green leaves and small purple flowers, thriving in mulched garden beds among grass and lush greenery - Photo Courtesy of Proven Winners, Inc.

'Webmaster' Spiderwort (Tradescantia)

$15.99
$19.99 $15.99
A dense patch of yellow-flowering Woodland Elf' Barrenwort (Epimedium), with delicate blooms and elongated, reddish-green leaves - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.'Woodland Elf' Barrenwort (Epimedium) is a bushy groundcover with yellow flowers and long green leaves tinged reddish-brown beside a trellis fences and rocks in a garden bed - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Woodland Elf' Barrenwort (Epimedium)

$18.69
$21.99 $18.69
A 'Wrinkle in Time' Hosta with green and yellow variegated leaves and purple, bell-shaped flowers on tall stems. Several more are slightly blurred in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.‘Wrinkle in Time’ Hosta is a standout shade perennial with green leaves edged in yellow and tall stems of small purple flowers. Ideal for borders, it thrives among other hostas and leafy plants in the garden or greenhouse - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

'Wrinkle in Time' Hosta

$18.99
$18.99
A cluster of Belarina® Rhapsody Primrose (Primula) forms a vibrant shade perennial, displaying dense, yellow-centered blooms with ruffled petals and green leaves - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.A cluster of vibrant Belarina® Rhapsody Primrose (Primula) flowers with white petals edged in purple and yellow centers, surrounded by green leaves. The softly blurred background hints at more shade perennials in bloom - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

Belarina® Rhapsody Primrose (Primula)

$18.99
$18.99

A cluster of Belarina® 'Valentine' Primrose (Primula) with double red blooms and lush green leaves grows among pine needles in a spring garden, surrounded by additional greenery - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.Top-down view of a cluster of Belarina® 'Valentine' Primrose (Primula) displays double red, ruffled blooms and green leaves, thriving in a spring garden bed with mulch and vibrant foliage in the background - Photo Courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

Belarina® Valentine Primrose (Primula)

$17.99
$17.99