There is shade (less than 2 hours of sun) and then there's shade (absolutely no direct sunlight). Even most garden areas on the north side of a building or fence will receive at least a little morning and evening light. But if you also have large trees, especially evergreens, an area may actually get none at all. Here are a few of the solutions I've given people recently:
Pots
Pots can be placed anywhere - why not plunk them in the garden if you have a troublesome area - they add instant height and also you don't have to worry about what kind of soil you have (especially good around spruce trees). Don't be shy, use big ones!! This pot is in a dark, corner of my garden by the back gate. It is also under a giant spruce tree. No sun. But I wanted something to mark the gate and I can also see this spot from the kitchen window so wanted to lighten it up a bit. I have done well in the past with impatiens (annual flower, filler) and variegated english ivy (foliage, spiller). Not very original but these are challenging conditions!
This year I am doing the pot as an afterthought (I've been busy), so I used what I had lying around the house: a variegated spider plant (house plant), oxalis (annual, green and burgandy clover-shaped foliage, probably won't flower in full shade, leftover from a Safeway purchase at St. Patrick's day) and a couple impatiens (on the right, not blooming yet, OK I bought those). I also used a couple of extra doo-dads I had lying around from a craft store - a couple of round things on sticks (no idea what they are but they're not plastic - definately dried plant material of some kind), and some of those curly sticks as well (click on picture to see a little better). Gotta think outside the box in full shade!! Other plants to try include begonias (filler, annual flowers, or rex begonias for fantastic foliage), coleus (filler, annual for colourful foliage) and lamium (spiller, a perennial for foliage that can be planted in the garden at the end of the season). Some sedges (annual ornamental grass, thriller) are shade tolerant but I've never tried them in full shade.
Perennials
I have one area north of my garage that is full shade. The plants a little further out get at least dappled shade, but close to the garage gets nothing because of nearby trees, fence etc. Keep in mind that even shade-tolerant plants are not going to thrive here - they may grow but not get as big nor flower as much as they would if they got at least a little dappled light. Ligularia, astilbe, bleeding heart and aruncus dioicus (goatsbeard) are all surviving but I wouldn't say thriving in my full shade garden. Hostas might be ok too, although mine are further away from the garage and get some light. These are all plants that like moisture though, so keep on top of the watering, especially if the reason you have so much shade is because of nearby trees.
Perennials for dry shade would probably survive but not thrive as well, but I haven't grown any of mine in full shade so can't speak from experience. Keep in mind that plants for dry shade tend to be shorter, ground-cover-ish plants with smaller flowers, so not as showy or dramatic as the moisture-loving ones. Maybe plant a ground cover and arrange some pots in the middle...?
I have also heard of clematis tangutica (a tough, perennial, yellow-flowering vine) growing in full-shade, but haven't tried it myself (although I might...).
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