Do tropical plants need shade? (Suggestions what to grow in shady areas of your garden)

As gardeners, we all love how tropical plants brighten shaded areas of our gardens and landscapes with their textures, colours, and unique foliage patterns. They create a showy garden display, tucked in containers, beds, and borders. More so, these plants are grown in a wide range of colours, shapes, and sizes. 

Tropical plants don’t only need well-drained & moist soil, but can also need shade – ranging from light to deep shade. 

What Tropical Plant Does Well in Shade?

Let’s take a look at some tropical plants that thrive in shade.

Asparagus Fern Plant grows well in shade

Next up is Asparagus fern plant or Asparagus aethiopicus – usually found in hanging baskets, adding some texture to patios and decking through the years. When grown indoors, they can help clean your indoor air and create better air quality in your home. 

If you have your asparagus ferns outside and you want the best foliage growth, it’s best to have them in a part sun to shady area. Even though this plant flowers sometimes, its tiny white flowers are quite small. Keep moist and give a spray when you can to add humidity (especially indoors)

Calathea grows well in shade

This large genus of plants comes with multiple dozen distinct species. If you’re an indoor plant enthusiast, you’re going to enjoy growing Calathea plants – they have colourful leaf markings with names like peacock plant, zebra plant, and even rattlesnake plant.

Can you grow Calathea outdoors?

Well, since this is a tropical plant, it depends on your climate – you can try growing these plants if you live in a humid, warm climate. Plant them outdoors in the UK from end of  May, and bring indoors before the frosts in October.  

This tropical perennial plant comes with a clumping growth habit and vigorous growth rate. Even more, it grows to about 6-12 inches wide and tall. Plus, it is suitable for growing within containers or lining beds and borders for its brilliant foliage.

 

Begonia grows well in shade

Begonia has silver leaves with deep green veins, creating a dramatic display in your garden or indoors. The young / new foliage comes with a warm golden tinge with burgundy at its edge.

One more thing, this plant thrives in full shade and flowers emerge in summer. They bloom well in consistent humidity, so keep misted as well as in well-drained soil.

 

Caladium is a shade loving plant and easy to grow

Also known as angel’s wings, this annual tropical bulb has calla-type blooms and grows up to two and a half feet wide and tall. 

Even more, Caladium has arrow-shaped, mottled green leaves that get up to one and a half feet long. More so, these leaves have distinctively coloured veins – this is created because they are speckled with combinations of pink, white, and red.

Just like other plants on this list, Caladium thrives in part to full shade, as well as in nutrient-rich, fertile, and acidic soil. Also, it has a very low tolerance for direct sun.

Chinese Windmill Palm – An outdoors choice for all areas of the garden

The evergreen Chinese windmill palm, or Trachycarpus fortunei, thrives in light shade. Even more, they spread as wide as 6-10 feet and get as tall as 30 feet – this creates a commanding landscape appearance.

Also, this palm has bright green, swordlike, 4-foot-wide leaves that retain their colour all year. More so, they have large, yellow flowers or plumes that light up your garden in summer with beautiful colours. 

One last thing about this palm is that, even though they can tolerate clay soil, it’s best to grow them in fertile, well-drained soil.

Hosta – The classic shade loving hardy plant

This is one perennial plant that gardeners love – they are easy to care for and have lush foliage, which makes them suitable for low-maintenance gardens.

Even though this plant originated from the Orient, it was brought to Europe in the 1700s. Now, we have more than 2,500 cultivars in varying textures, sizes, and leaf shapes – you can devote your entire garden to growing just hostas.

Sure, hosta is easy to care for, but you still need to know a little bit more about how to grow this plant for it to reach its full potential (and protect it from slugs!)

 

Ideas For A Tropical Shade Garden

If you’ve ever dreamt of creating a jungle-like, lush garden packed with shade-loving, exotic tropical plants, keep that dream alive! Your shady garden being miles away from a tropical area doesn’t stop you from recreating the scenery of a tropical garden.

That said, let’s talk about some ideas for your tropical shade garden.

First thing you want to consider when looking for tropical shade garden ideas is your growing zone, as well as the climate. If you live in a northern climate, then your tropical shade garden will have to be filled with plants that have a tropical appearance but can tolerate cold.

Don’t be scared to experiment when it comes to colours – tropical forests aren’t dull. Plus, even though you can plant flowering annuals and perennials, you want to go for tropical shade plants with bold, big, variegated, or brightly coloured leaves – this makes them stand out.

Adding accents for interest

If you want to easily create accents of bright colour, then garden accents, like planting containers, is the way to go. You can also use tiki torches, stone carvings, woven mats, and rattan furniture to create an essence of the tropics.

Let’s look at some other ideas you can try out.

Use Tropical Flowers To Lighten Bulbs in a shade garden

Using the coloured Alpinia zerumbet, or shell ginger, with Caladium is a great way to brighten the dark areas of your tropical shade garden. You can even mix other plants with onion plants to thin sheets.

Even though you can plant tropical flower bulbs in summer, you need to dig and store them before the first frost, unless they are able to be mulched over through the winter, check the plants before you plant!

Try Shade Tolerant Grass For Grass Cover

Sure, lawn grasses don’t grow well in the shade. Luckily, you can combine padded floor stones with vegetation as an alternative. They have dark, fine-textured green leaves that can be great backdrops for your tropical plants.

Ophiopogon japonicus, or Mondo grass, for instance, can serve as a great alternative to grass for those green and shady corners in warm environments. You can even use ferns and Liriope muscari as ground covers because of their fine texture.

Go With Small Areas to create a microclimate

You can create small areas with their own microclimate that’s suitable for tropical plants. 

Start with ground vegetation as a base and include some perennial evergreen shrubs, then you can add the accents. 

Try Different Textures to work with and against other shade loving plants

A lot of gardeners are fond of tropical plants because of their stunning colours, but they have more to offer – their architectural textures and drama for instance. Having multiple tropical plants with different textures can add some interest to your garden. 

You can even use leafy plants from tropical areas to get the picture of the perfect tropical shade garden you have in mind. Also, you can mix plants with similar textures like Philodendron ‘Burle Marx and Hostas, with large palm leaves like Trachycarpus fortunei and Rhapidophyllum hystrix.

 

• READ MORE: Evergreen Shrubs for Shade
• READ MORE: Best Plants for UK shaded gardens

Last Modified: May 6, 2023