Shade Annuals
For Low Light Areas In Your Garden

The more trees people plant, the more shade there is. Use shade annuals for planting under trees to brighten up the area.

The picture on the left shows an area under a maple tree in my neighbors' yard where the only things growing were wild violets and some dandelions. I asked if I could put in a shade garden and she agreed. The picture on the left shows the same yard a few weeks later. It has some shade loving annuals, hostas, daylilies, chelone and violets in it.

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What Is A Shade Garden?

A garden that receives less than 6 hours of direct sunlight per day is considered a shade garden.

Full Shade: no sunlight directly reaches the area, it may reach the area by reflecting off surrounding areas.
Deep Shade: no sunlight reaches the area. This type of shade is inhabitable by annuals.
Filtered Shade: sunlight peaks through structures, branches of trees or fences to reach an area.
Part Shade: Morning sun and late evening sun may hit the area but during the majority of the day the area is shady.

Annuals For Shady Spots

Begonia semperflorens (wax begonia)	Lobelia (lobelia)
Browallia (browallia)	Lobularia maritima (sweet alyssum)
Campanula medium (canterbury bells)	Lunaria annua (honesty)
Cheiranthus syn. Erysimum (wall flower)	Mimulus (monkey flower)
Cleome (spider flower)	Myosotis sylvatica (forget-me-not)
Consolida ambigua (larkspur)	Nemophila menziesii (baby-blue-eyes)
Coleus (coleus, flame nettle)	Nicotiana alata (flowering tobacco)
Collinsia beterophylla (Chinese houses)	Nigella damascena (love-in-a-mist)
Cynoglossum amabile (Chinese forget-me-not)	Pelargonium peltatum (ivy geranium)
Digitalis purpurea (foxglove)	Schizanthus pinnatus (butterfly flower
Exacum affine (German violet)	Torenia fournieri (wishbone flower)
Fuschia hybrids (fushia)	Viola tricolor (Johnny-jump-up)
Impatiens (impatiens)	Viola x wittrockianan (common pansy)

Coleus is one of my favorite annuals because it has such unique coloring in the leaves. The flower stalks are nothing to write home about, but the foliage sure is.
One package of coleus seeds will provide you with a multitude of color varieties not available in garden centers.

See the seed starting chart for when to plant your favorite shade annuals.

Giving your plants a good start requires some care when planting annuals especially under a tree. Make sure you loosen the soil enough for the plants to root easily.