Spring into Action
Partial to full shade
Average soil
It’s hard to think of a better way to celebrate surviving a long, dreary winter than a garden filled with an abundance of cheery flowers and lush leaves. Fortunately, spring happens to be peak bloom time for many shade-tolerant perennials, because the ample sunlight gives them the energy they need to produce flowers — at least until the leaves of nearby deciduous trees expand fully and block much of the light.
The Garden Plan
Shopping List
1 ‘McKana Hybrids’ columbine
Aquilegia
3 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another 2- to 3-foot-tall columbine or other shade-tolerant perennial that flowers in spring, such as Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium caeruleum) [3 plants] or variegated Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum odoratum ‘Variegatum’) [3 plants]
‘McKana Hybrids’ columbine (Aquilegia)
2 Lenten rose
Helleborus × hybridus
4 plants
Zones 4–9
Alternates: Another 9- to 18-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial that flowers in spring, such as a lungwort (Pulmonaria) [4 plants] or Siberian bugloss (Brunnera macrophylla) [4 plants]
Lenten rose (Helleborus × hybridus)
3 ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle
Lamium maculatum
4 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another 6- to 9-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial that flowers in spring, such as ‘Burgundy Glow’ ajuga (Ajuga reptans) [4 plants] or ‘Home Fires’ creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera) [4 plants]
‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum)
4 Forget-me-not
Myosotis sylvatica
4 plants
Zones 3–8
Alternates: Another 9- to 12-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial that flowers in spring, such as a dwarf bleeding heart (Dicentra) [4 plants] or sweet violet (Viola odorata) [4 plants]
Forget-me-not (Myosotis sylvatica)
5 Foamflower
Tiarella cordifolia
3 plants
Zones 4–9
Alternates: Another 6- to 9-inch-tall, shade-tolerant perennial that flowers in spring, such as red barrenwort (Epimedium × rubrum) [3 plants] or heart-leaved bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia) [3 plants]
Foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia)
Planting Plan
Season by Season
Spring: Lenten roses are among the earliest perennials to bloom in spring. In fact, they may even begin flowering in late winter in mild areas, gracing the garden with nodding, bowl-shaped blooms, usually in solid or spotted white or shades of pink to reddish purple. The dainty, sky-blue blossoms of the forget-me-nots and clustered, bright white flowers of ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle come along soon after, usually in mid spring but possibly earlier or later, depending on your climate. Foamflowers send up their fuzzy spikes of white to pinkish flowers in mid to late spring. And to round out the season, the graceful, long-spurred blooms of ‘McKana Hybrids’ columbine flower in a wide range of colors in late spring.
The action starts early in this garden, so you want to do the spring cleanup as soon as possible — even in late winter, if the weather allows. Cut down any remaining tops on the columbines, trim any winter-damaged parts off the foamflowers and spotted deadnettles, and clip off the remaining Lenten rose leaves right at the base, being careful not to cut into the emerging flower stalks. Then, treat the whole garden to a fresh layer of organic mulch to provide a tidy setting for the spring bloom extravaganza.
Summer: Forget-me-nots and Lenten roses are generally finished flowering by the end of spring, but columbines often continue flowering through early summer, and so may the foamflower and ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle.
On the columbines, foamflowers, and Lenten roses, clip off the flower stems at their base when the blooms finish to tidy the plants, if you wish. You may want to leave a few finished stalks on the columbines to produce and drop seeds, so you’ll have replacement plants coming along when the originals die out after a few years. Cut off the top one-half to two-thirds of the forget-me-not plants to prevent them from self-sowing and possibly extend their life for another year, or let the plants turn brown, pull them out, and shake them over the bare spot that’s left to scatter the seeds. Look for seedlings to appear in mid to late summer. Water the garden during extended summer dry spells.
Fall and Winter: Apart from possible scattered rebloom on the foamflower and ‘White Nancy’ spotted deadnettle, the main fall and winter interest in this perennial garden comes from the various greens and silvers of the leaves. The foamflower leaves may also blush with deep red to bronzy shades in cold temperatures.
There’s not much end-of-the-season maintenance to do in this garden, other than shifting or dividing plants. Early to mid fall is the season to move or divide foamflowers and spotted deadnettles, if they’re getting too big for their space. Lenten roses tend to fill out slowly and seldom require division, but if you do want to divide them, early fall — or even late summer — is a good time. Transplant the fuzzy-leaved forget-me-not seedlings to any bare spots then, too.
Digging Deeper
- This rectangular planting would fit easily into a narrow foundation bed against a home or outbuilding. Or, use it to line one or both sides of a garden path, sidewalk, or driveway; simply repeat the plan as often as needed to fill any length. Even though it’s planned primarily for spring flowers, this garden includes many perennials that also have attractive, long-lasting leaves, so it remains attractive through the rest of the year, too.
- It’s possible to pack even more excitement into this spring garden by adding a variety of early-blooming bulbs, such as crocuses (Crocus), daffodils (Narcissus), Dutch hyacinths (Hyacinthus), grape hyacinths (Muscari), and snowdrops (Galanthus). These early risers pop up early, contribute their flowers to the spring extravaganza, and then disappear back underground by early to midsummer. Tuck them among the clumps of forget-me-nots, into the carpets of spotted deadnettle, and around the outer edges of the columbine, foamflower, and Lenten rose clumps.
- Spotted deadnettle (Lamium maculatum) is a go-to perennial for many shade gardeners, both for its pretty pink or white blooms and its bright silver-and-green leaves. It starts as a distinct clump; then produces long, trailing stems through its main spring bloom season. In a large space, this habit lets it fill in quite quickly, and it can make a great groundcover. In a small garden, gather up the trailing stems and cut them back by one-third to one-half to reduce the size of the plants.