15 Shade-Loving Perennials That Bloom in the Fall

Actaea

Also known as fairy candles and bugbane, Actaea simplex sends up big, bottlebrush-shaped flowers on wiry stems that give the plant a stunning candelabra effect from summer through fall. Deeply cut leaves add interest; Dwyer especially likes the varieties with dark foliage in shades of chocolate and maroon.

You might also see Actaea referred to as Cimicifuga, its former name.

• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 3 to 6 feet tall (up to 8 feet tall with flowers) by 2 to 3 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Partial to full shade; rich, well-draining soil

Blue Mistflower

Conoclinium coelestinum blooms in late summer and fall in delicate-petaled, light purple-blue flowers. "It’s a a nice pop of color that would contrast well with darker greens of different foliage plants," Pickoff says.

Native to the Central and Southeastern United States, it’s also a good food source for pollinating insects that have co-evolved with it and will recognize it as such. "Fall can be a challenging time for pollinators to find resources," Pickoff says. "And so it’s nice to provide plants in the garden that are native to your region of the county so they can have a good meal before the winter season arrives."

• Zones: 5 to 10
• Size: 1½ to 3 feet tall by 1½ to 3 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade; medium to set, well-draining soil
  

Bottle Gentian

Native to low woodlands and shaded riverbanks in the Northeast and Midwest, Gentiana andrewsii pops with clusters of bottle-shaped blue flowers that keep the color coming from late summer through fall. Also known as closed gentian, its flowers never open but are pollinated by bumblebees, who have the strength and size to work their way inside.

Dwyer planted this sturdy stunner throughout the shaded areas of a public botanical garden he previously managed in southern Wisconsin. "To have people stumble across this beautiful shade of blue so late in summer and early fall was amazing," says Dwyer.

• Zones: 3 to 7
• Size: 1 to 2 feet tall by 1 to 1 ½ feet wide
• Growing conditions:  Partial sun; any moist to wet soil
  

Coral Bells (Autumn Bride)

Plant Heuchera villosa (also known as Autumn Bride) en masse along a border, Dwyer says, and you’ll be treated to drifts of white flowers waving above its velvety green leaves from midsummer into fall. One of the most durable coral bells, it can handle the heat and humidity of summer and has good drought tolerance as well.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 1 ½ to 3 feet tall by 1 ½ to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade; well-draining soil (add winter mulch to keep plants from heaving from the ground in cold regions)
  

Goldenrod (Zigzag)

Native to North American woodlands, Solidago flexicaulis will tolerate even heavy shade and brings its beautiful, bright flowers to your landscape from summer until frost, blooming on upright stems that sometimes grow in a zigzag shape. A pollinator magnet, it’s among the latest-blooming goldenrods, Dwyer says.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 1 to 3 feet tall by 1 to 3 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Sun, part shade, shade; various soil types
  

Japanese Anemone

A member of the buttercup family, Eriocapitella x hybrida—commonly known as windflower or Japanese thimbleweed—produces poppy-like single or double blooms in shades of purple, pink, or white. Flowering begins in late summer and can extend until first frost. Its sharply cut foliage offers additional interest in the fall landscape, Pickoff says.

Dwyer’s favorite: 'Honorene Jobert.' "I've photographed it in late August all the way through September into October," he says. "It just keeps blooming."

• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 1½ to 5 feet tall by 1 to 5 feet wide
• Growing conditions:  Full sun to part shade; rich, well-draining soil. Mulch in cold winter climates.

Japanese Shrub Mint (Golden Angel)

Leucosceptrum japonicum Golden Angel adds pretty gold foliage to a shade garden from spring until fall, sending up fragrant yellow-white flower stalks in late summer. "So it's offering foliage interest through the whole growing season, and then you get the benefit of very late flowers that have a light fragrance," Dwyer says. "I call it a perennial that contributes six to seven months of the year, with the tail end being the flowers."

A member of the mint family, it does spread, but slowly. "It's not anything I've ever regretted planting," Dwyer says.

•  Zones: 5 to 8
• Size: 2 to 3 feet tall by 2 to 3 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade; rich, well-draining soil
  

Japanese Toad Lily (Miyazaki)

A wonderful option for a wet woodland garden, Tricyrtis hirta produces exotic spotted blooms in late summer and early fall. "Miyazaki’ has been an absolute slam dunk for me in terms of reliability," Dwyer says, adding that unless there’s an early frost in southern Wisconsin, he can expect blooms into mid-October. 

Be aware that this plant is toxic to cats.

• Zones: 4 to 8
• Size: 1 ½ to 2 feet tall by 1 ½ to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade; consistently moist, rich soil
  

Korean Angelica

This hardy herb pops with reddish-purple flower clusters from late summer into autumn, and its height makes it a great add at the back of a partially shaded garden bed. Even after the flowers fade, their dried blooms add beauty and structure in the garden, Dwyer says.

Angelica gigas is a biennial, but garden centers often sell it in its second year so you can enjoy its flowers right away. Plants will self-sow, but you can also tuck in new plants every year.

• Zones: 5 to 9
• Size: 4 to 6 feet tall by 1 ½  to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Full sun to partial shade; moist, well-draining soil
  

Monkshood (Arendsii)

Aconitum carmichaelii 'Arendsii' produces dense clusters of hooded flowers long after the rest of the garden has finished blooming. Dwyer planted it in a public botanical garden he previously managed in southern Wisconsin. "It would inevitably go into October" he says. "And we watched it shed off light frost after light frost until finally, a killing frost would take it out."

Native to stream banks and wet thickets, it attracts bumblebees, hawkmoths, and hummingbirds but is poisonous to humans and animals if ingested.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 2 to 5 feet tall by 1 to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Full sun to partial shade; consistently moist, well-draining soil
  

Northern Maidenhair Fern

Adiantum pedatum extends the color and interest in a shaded garden, even late in the season. Its delicate fronds emanate from an open central stem area, adding texture among the blooms in a woodland or rock garden. "Even in fall, it has a brighter green color that contrasts really nicely with flowers," Pickoff says.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 1 to 2 ½ feet tall by 1 to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade; moist, rich, well-draining soil
  

Short's Aster

Symphyptrichum shortii will fill your fall garden with a haze of small, powder-blue flowers that start in late summer and continue well into fall. These little asters grow vigorously, reseeding quickly to fill in shady ground. Their flowers attract a variety of seed-loving birds, including cardinals, finches, grosbeaks, chickadees, and nuthatches, as well as hummingbirds, butterflies, and bees. Fun fact: Their yellow centers change to brick red after pollination.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 1 to 4 feet tall by 1 to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Partial sun to full shade; sandy loam to loam

Turtlehead

Chelone obliqua blooms for three to six weeks, bringing extended color to your fall garden. Unlike most other fall bloomers, which are typically in the purple, yellow, and orange color families, this one has a spring-like pink option. And true to its common name, its sturdy blooms look a lot like turtle heads. “They also have nice foliage that is strong and interesting,” Pickoff says.

Native to moist woods, swampy areas, floodplains, and river edges along streams in the Midwest and Eastern United States, it’s a great addition to a bog or rain garden with partial shade and will provide autumn nectar to bumblebees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

• Zones: 5 to 9
• Size: 2 to 3 feet tall by 1 to 2 feet wide
• Growing conditions: Full sun to part shade; any rich, medium to wet soil, but will tolerate dry soil for brief periods
  

White Wood Aster

A member of the daisy family, Eurybia divaricata produces a profusion of starry white flowers from late summer through mid-fall. A host plant for Pearl Crescent butterflies as well as their eggs and caterpillars, it’s also a woodland favorite for fall hikers. "When you look at this one in a mass planting, it’s a really lovely cloud of delicate white flowers," Pickoff says.

Pair it with large-bloomed perennials and dark foliage in the landscape for extra impact.

• Zones: 3 to 8
• Size: 1 to 2 ½  feet tall by 1 ½ to 2 ½  feet wide
• Growing conditions: Full shade to part shade; rocky, dry to medium, well-draining soil; will tolerate drought

Yellow Corydalis

Corydalis lutea starts blooming in late spring and keeps on producing its tubular yellow blossoms until a hard frost. "It’s a powerhouse," Dwyer says. "It just keeps going and going." Fernlike foliage adds to its magic in a woodland garden.

Also known as yellow fumitory, it loves shady nooks and crannies, he adds, making it a great filler, and it will reseed but not aggressively.

• Zones: 5 to 7
• Size: 1 to 1 ½ feet tall by 1 to 1 ½ feet wide
• Growing conditions: Part shade to full shade; rich, consistently moist, well-draining soil