previous
  • Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
    Fast-Growing Trees for Impatient Gardeners
  • Make a Succulent Topiary
    Make a Succulent Topiary
  • Elephant's Ears
    Elephant's Ears
  • Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
    Garden Confidential: A Plant Walks into a Bar
  • Pretty in Pink
    Pretty in Pink
  • Mulch for a Healthy Garden
    Mulch for a Healthy Garden
  • 6 Tips for Weed Control
    6 Tips for Weed Control
  • Thoughts From a Foreign Field
    Thoughts From a Foreign Field
  • Dwarf Citrus Trees
    Dwarf Citrus Trees
  • Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
    Slideshow: Beautiful Clematis
  • Comfortable Alfresco Dining
    Comfortable Alfresco Dining
  • Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
    Plant an Easy-to-Water Strawberry Jar
  • Building a Compost Bin
    Building a Compost Bin
  • Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
    Indeterminate or Determinate Tomatoes?
  • Designing with Curved Terraces
    Designing with Curved Terraces
  • Containers as Focal Points
    Containers as Focal Points
  • Fragrant Plants for Pathways
    Fragrant Plants for Pathways
  • Stylish Shady Containers
    Stylish Shady Containers
  • Plants that Spark!
    Plants that Spark!
  • Colorful Selections for Shade
    Colorful Selections for Shade
  • In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
    In Pursuit of the Perfect Potting Shed
  • NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
    NEW Video Series: There's a Better Way
  • Lawn Alternatives
    Lawn Alternatives
  • Save Money by Growing Your Own
    Save Money by Growing Your Own
  • Homegrown / Homemade
    Homegrown / Homemade
next

Browse Plants

Narrowed By:Characteristics: Self Seeds+ Seasonal Interest: Spring+ Light: Part Shade Only, Part Shade to Full Shade
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 listings   Sort By: Sort
Arisaema triphyllum Arisaema triphyllum
(Jack-in-the-pulpit)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

A favorite of children, Jack-in-the-pulpit is a tuberous perennial producing one or two leaves, each divided into three narrow leaflets. But it's best known for its spring to early summer display of hooded, green spathes—Jack's pulpit—which are often striped with purple. Autumn brings clusters of densely packed, showy red berries.

Corydalis elata Corydalis elata
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This fragrant, blue-flowered species is more vigorous and heat tolerant than the blue cultivars. It blooms from late spring to early summer, and its foliage persists throughout the season with adequate moisture.

Corydalis linstowiana Corydalis linstowiana
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species produces copious purplish-blue flowers in spring and fall. It has light green ferny leaves with a mid-rib of silver.

Digitalis grandiflora Digitalis grandiflora
(Yellow foxglove)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Originating in mountainous woodland and stony habitats from Europe to western Asia, yellow foxglove is tolerant of dry shade but flourishes with moisture. Arising in midsummer from neat clumps of fine-toothed foliage, a mass of soft yellow open bells, speckled brown inside, blooms along one side of a 3-foot-tall stem. Usually described as a perennial, it is more accurate to call it a biennial or short-lived perennial. If the flowering stalk is cut down after blooms have faded, it may rebloom in the fall. When a few flower stalks are left, the plant self-seeds. 

Myrrhis odorata Myrrhis odorata
(Sweet cicely)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This elegant fern-like herb has a mounding form and anise-flavored bright-green leaves. In late spring, it bears compound umbels of star-shaped white flowers, followed by shiny, ridged brown seeds.

Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon' Phlox divaricata 'Blue Moon'
(Blue phlox, Wild sweet William, Woodland phlox)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This cultivar of the popular blue phlox has round, full flowers with overlapping petals. It is noteworthy for its particularly rich blue-violet color. Use it in rock gardens or alpine houses, in a dry wall, or as edging.

Polemonium caeruleum Polemonium caeruleum
(Jacob’s ladder, Greek valerian)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This North American native bears deep blue or occasionally white, bell-shaped blossoms in spring and possibly late summer if deadheaded. It grows from 1 to 3 feet tall. Use Jacob's ladder in a lightly shaded border, rock garden, woodland, or cottage garden.

Psoralea pinnata Psoralea pinnata
(African scurf pea, Blue pea)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This short-lived shrub or small tree with feathery foliage is blanketed in late spring with fragrant, pea-shaped violet blooms with white wings. Though it is native to streamsides, scurf pea doesn't require extravagant watering and survives occasional drought. When the plants eventually die, they leave ample progeny and straight branches useful for garden stakes. Combine with azaleas and camellias, which bloom at the same time.

Smilacina racemosa Smilacina racemosa
(Solomon's plume, False Solomon's seal)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This shade-loving perennial produces plumes of creamy white blossoms in spring, followed by mottled yellowish-green berries that turn to deep red. The fragrant, ivory white blossoms occur on the ends of arching branches, distinguishing them from true Solomon's seal (Polygonatum). The plant grows to 3 feet high and 2 feet wide.

Tiarella cordifolia Tiarella cordifolia
(Eastern foam flower)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This native North American species has pale green heart-shaped leaves which develop bronze highlights in the autumn. In summer, it produces a profusion of starry white flowers on 4- to 12-inch spikes. It self-sows freely.

no image available Trillium chloropetalum
(Giant trillium, Wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species blooms in early to mid-spring with large blossoms of white, yellow, or deep purple-black. It is vigorous, growing to almost 18 inches tall and wide, with leaves (usually mottled) up to 8 inches long.

Trillium erectum Trillium erectum
(Red trillium, Purple trillium, Stinking Benjamin, Woodlily, Wakerobin, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This trillium has upright or outward-facing blossoms of chocolate or reddish-purple, or occasionally white or yellow. At close range, it bears an unpleasant scent. It blooms in mid- to late spring, and grows from 14-20 inches tall and a foot wide.

Trillium erectum var. album Trillium erectum var. album
(White trillium, Stinking Benjamin, Wood lily, Wakerobin)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This white-flowered form of red trillium has delicate, outward-facing petals with striking dark centers. At close range, it bears an unpleasant scent. Plants bloom in mid- to late spring, and grow to 14-20 inches tall and a foot wide.

Trillium flexipes Trillium flexipes
(Bent trillium, White wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This trillium produces large white flowers above the foliage in mid-spring, but the flowers are later hidden as the flower stalks nod. The flowers occasionally are maroon, but they retain the white ovaries. The plant is quite variable, and can grow up to 2 feet tall.

Trillium grandiflorum Trillium grandiflorum
(Great white trillium, White wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
(1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This showy spring-blooming trillium has large white blossoms up to 3 inches long, which fade to soft pink and from cup-shaped to open and recurved. Its veined leaves are solid green, and it grows to 18 inches tall and about half as wide.

Trillium luteum Trillium luteum
(Yellow trillium, Wood lily, Wakerobin, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This mid- to late-spring bloomer bears yellow blossoms atop a trio of leaves often mottled with a paler shade of silvery-green. It is faintly fragrant of lemon oil, and grows to about 14 inches tall.

Trillium pusillum Trillium pusillum
(Dwarf wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

In spring, the foliage of this petite species emerges a deep purple-black-green and is topped by white blooms with rippled petals. As plants mature, the foliage becomes medium green, and the flowers turn pink, then lavender-purple. Dwarf wakerobin grows to only 8 inches tall and readily forms colonies. 

Trillium recurvatum Trillium recurvatum
(Prairie trillium, Bloody butcher, Purple wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This is one of the first and most plentiful Trilliums to bloom in the spring. It has upright maroon blossoms (occasionally white or yellow) without stalks, and its leaves can be nicely mottled. It grows to 12-18 inches tall and 8-12 inches wide.

no image available Trillium stamineum
(Propeller toad shade, Wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower, Propeller trillium, Blue Ridge wakerobin)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This striking spring-blooming species features narrow, chocolate-colored petals that twist like a propeller over slightly mottled leaves. It forms a stocky plant, growing to 10-15 inches tall and not quite as wide.

Trillium vaseyi Trillium vaseyi
(Sweet Beth, Sweet wakerobin, Wood lily, Trinity flower)
Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This trillium bears the largest flowers in the genus—almost 4 inches across. Growing to almost 2 feet high and not quite as wide, it is also one of the tallest trilliums. Its chocolate-red blossoms (occasionally white) boast strongly curved petals and prominent stamens. They appear just beneath the leaves in mid- to late spring.


Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 listings   Sort By: Sort