Full Shade:

The best perennials for full shade are Bugleweed, Astilbe, Bellflower, Hostas, Bugbane, Bergenia, Forget-me-not, Christmas Rose, Monkshood, and Lily-of-the-Valley.  Many of these can also be used as ground covers to replace grass.  Native wildflowers like Trillium, Jack-in-the-Pulpit and ferns originated in full shade so they're obviously good choices for your shade garden.  For continuous colour through summer, the annuals Non-stop or Tuberous Begonia, Browallia, and Coleus will brighten up any dark corner.

Plants that produce berries are also interesting an any garden. The evergreen ground cover, Wintergreen, and the female shrub, Winterberry, produce bright red fruit.  The vine, Virginia Creeper, has blue-black berries in fall that attract birds.  Boston Ivy is highly valued because it grows so quickly.  There are also great flowering vines for full shade like Climbing Hydrangea, Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle, Virgins Bower, and some varieties of large flowering Clematis.

Design Tip For Shade Gardens:

To make a shade garden appear more luminous use the palest colours that will jump out from a dark background. White, pale pink, light yellow, and peach-orange are very lively.  Red, blue, and purple, on the other hand, recede into the shade and are, therefore, less noticeable.

Practical Tip For Shade Gardens:

Consider hiring a professional arborist to thin out branches on your mature shade trees to allow additional light into your garden.  Air circulation will also be improved which should help limit the proliferation of moss.

Plants For Partial Shade:

All the plant material listed for full shade can, of course, go into lighter, partial shade.  We can add to the list with trees like Black Ash, Honey-locust, ginkgo, Linden, Flowering Dogwood, Golden Chain Tree, Weeping Peashrub, and Saucer Magnolia.  Shrubs that flower well include Oakleaf, Peegee, Pink Diamond, and Unique Peegee Hydrangea, Caryopteris, Mock-orange, Rose-of-Sharon, Carol Mackie Daphne, Summersweet, and Bridalwreath Spirea.  Dappled Willow is worth mentioning for its elegant white, pink, and green leaves and Japanese Maple for its feathery, red foliage. 

There are many perennials for partial shade such as Bleeding Heart, Foxglove, Primula, Bearded and Siberian Iris, Lilies, Lupine, Columbine, Globe-flower, Ligularia, Coral Bells, and Daylily.  Wherever there's a gap in colour in your partial shade garden plant annual shade Impatiens, Fibrous Begonias, Fuchsia, or Lobelia.  Hall's Honeysuckle is not only a semi-evergreen flowering vine but it's also highly fragrant in June.

Evergreen interest is created with Spring Heath, Siberian Cypress, Mugho Pine, Nest Spruce, Bearberry and Coral Beauty Cotoneaster, Cedar, and English Ivy.  Bright red berries are the hallmark of female evergreen Holly while Firethorn is remarkable for its clusters of orange berries that last well into winter.

Don't feel limited in dealing with shade.  There are lots of interesting plants to choose from and test the full sun plants in partial shade.  Often they prefer afternoon shade because it's considerably cooler and moisture is better retained in the soil.