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Some of the Best Shade Plants for Chicago Area and the Midwest

ByJennifer
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If you are like me and you have a lot of mature trees on your property, you will find you have a lot of areas with either full to part shade, dappled shade, or part sun.  It can become challenging to find plants that will actually thrive on low light.  I thought I would give you a little tour and a few ideas what the best plants for Chicago area and the Midwest that I grow in my own garden with success.

A garden bed with various green hosta plants and other foliage, ideal for planting in the shade, including some with variegated leaves and a single yellow flower blooming.

Hostas…Of Course

A grassy path curves through a lush garden with various green plants and shrubs, ideal for planting in the shade. The scene is bordered by wooden fences and shaded by tall trees.

It’s an obvious choice, right? yes, unless you have a ton of deer or rabbits, then you are just planting a never ending wild life salad bar on your dime .Let me start off by saying I love my Hostas. I have A LOT. The thing I love about Hosta’s is they are great filler, blocking out weeds,and mine have come about after 17 years of dividing. They just keep making more. They are the gift that keeps on giving! I am lucky they do well in my Chicago area zone 5a, Midwest area. I have about 30 different varieties. They grow really well here and I don’t have any issues with deer, just Mice and voles eating the roots, but my plants are big enough they normally recover from a few winter nibbles.

A garden bed with various green hosta plants and other foliage, ideal for planting in the shade, including some with variegated leaves and a single yellow flower blooming.

Most people don’t know that Hosta will grow in anything from full shade to almost full sun. In full sun though, the leaves fry a little bit, so you have to keep them really well watered in the hot ,hot days of summer. August Moon and Elephant Ear Hosta really do the most. The August Moon is almost 3 feet high by 4 feet wide and every year he just gets bigger.

A garden bed with various green plants and hostas, some with variegated leaves, yellow flowers, and mulch covering the soil. Perfect for planting in the shade, this area benefits from both sunlight and shaded spots in the background.

Ferns

The Midwest has over 90 native ferns, so it’s very easy to pick a variety to mix and match. Everything from the very common landscaping Ostrich fern to the Sensitive fern and Northern Maidenhair fern.

A variegated hosta with a tall flower stalk grows in front of ferns beside a weathered wooden fence and a green metal table, demonstrating the beauty of planting in the shade in a secluded garden corner.

 

For a non-native fern, the Japanese Painted fern is a popular choice.

 

A japanese painted green fern grows among dry leaves, twigs, and soil next to a concrete border, thriving as a beautiful example of planting in the shade.

Other Shade Plants

Along with Astilbes, Coral Bells have a ton of varieties and some can even tolerate part sun as well. from lovely greens to rich purples, they have delicate towers of flowers that make nice bouquet fillers.

Green and silver-veined leaves grow in a dense cluster at the base of a tree, with several tall, thin flower stalks rising above them—an ideal example of planting in the shade within a tranquil garden setting.

Purple leaves of coral bells

A garden bed with various green leafy plants, yellow daylilies, and a small tree—perfect for planting in the shade—bordered by grass and mulch.

Lungwort

Lungwort loves shade and even dappled shade in a wooded type area. It adds interest to an area where many flowers don’t show color,  divides well and produces pretty pink flowers in the spring.

A green plant with white spotted leaves thrives in a shaded garden bed, surrounded by other foliage, illustrating the beauty of planting in the shade, with the name "Jennifer Rizzo" in the bottom right corner.

Also did you know Daylillies also do fine in full shade, even though they love full sun the most? I love to use them between my Hosta and my Coral bells.

Redbuds

Redbuds love dappled shade and are great understory trees. One of my favorite shade trees is my Forest Pansy this was how it looked in 2012

Lush backyard garden with green shrubs, hostas, and trees—perfect for planting in the shade—bordered by a wooden fence and a stone-edged path under leafy tree branches.

Jump forward to 2026, and it’s amazing how well it does in full shade under a large maple tree. the green Redbuds do just as well.

Outdoor patio with wicker chairs and a wooden table, surrounded by lush green plants and trees ideal for planting in the shade, on a paved surface next to a wooden fence..

Oakleaf Hydrangea

One shrub that does well in part shade is an Oakleaf Hydrangea. You can read more about growing an Oakleaf Hydrangeachere.

Garden with tall grass, leafy plants, and flowering shrubs with pale pink and white blossoms in front of a wooden fence—one of the 5 ways to add interest to your yard is by layering diverse textures and colors, just as shown here.

The image shows the word "Jen" written in a black, cursive script on a white background

Planting in the shade, what can I plant in a shade garden

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2 Comments

  1. Your yard is so pretty! I love day lilies, the flowers are bright and showy and I think the leaves add a lot of interest to garden beds when they aren’t actively blooming. I’m anxiously waiting for a couple I have to build big enough clumps that I can divide them and distribute them into other beds.

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  2. So very pretty! Being from West Texas and now Florida, I always longed for cooler climates! (although I know Illinois gets hot too in the summer).
    I love your hostas and wonder how they might do in NW Florida, so I will have to check that out. I am in a different zone than I have been in all my life, so I am learning about all kinds of plants I never thought I could grow. My all-time favorite is peonies, but not sure if that can be grown here. Everywhere I look are ferns (love those) and azaleas. We are two miles off the gulf coast, so my biggest shock when we moved here, was seeing all the huge forests of pine trees (and black bears). The best surprise was that we have been picking tomatoes for a month now, and okra and peppers for almost that long 🙂 I love when you throw out the gardening tips, btw :))

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