Wet shade plants can fill an essential role in your garden or yard by adding color and texture to a low lying, shady area that may not be the best site for other, more sun-loving perennials. We always have a variety of flowers and plants available that thrive in wet soil and shade.
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Acorus calamus 'Variegatus'
Item #: 767
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Europe
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Acorus gramineus 'Ogon'
Item #: 369
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Actaea cordifolia
Item #: 8148
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 48" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Adiantum aethiopicum 'Barrington Belle'
Item #: 17674
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Australia, New Zealand
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per
Next crop available: 04/25/2025Sold out -
Adiantum aleuticum 'Imbricatum'
Item #: 9827
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 10" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Adiantum capillus-veneris 'Alabama Lace'
Item #: 4303
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Adiantum pedatum
Item #: 320
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Canada, United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Astilbe chinensis 'Amber Moon' PP 26,028
Item #: 5442
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Athyrium 'Silver Sentry'
Item #: 5208
Zones: 4a to 9b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 54" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Carex cherokeensis 'Crying Time'
Item #: 16663
Zones: 6a to 9b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Carex howei 'Bonnie and Clyde'
Item #: 8727
Zones: 5a to 9b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Carex howei 'Willow the Wisp'
Item #: 17608
Zones: 5a to 9b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $23.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Carex oshimensis 'Everillo' PP 21,002
Item #: 9802
Zones: 5a to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Colocasia fallax
Item #: 2600
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Shade
Origin: China, Thailand, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outCypripedium 'Eurasia'
Item #: 14890
Zones: 3a to 7b
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 15" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Asia, China, Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $85.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cypripedium henryi
Item #: 12669
Zones: 6a to 7b, guessing
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $100.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Cypripedium planipetalum x kentuckiense
Item #: 17080
Zones: 3a to 8a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $100.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outCypripedium reginae
Item #: 3897
Zones: 2a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $65.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold outCypripedium reginae 'Alba'
Item #: 8548
Zones: 2a to 7a
Dormancy: Winter, Fall
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $80.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Dentaria dissecta 'Dental Floss'
Item #: 13886
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Summer, Fall
Height: 5" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $22.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium grandiflorum 'Dark Beauty'
Item #: 6231
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Epimedium grandiflorum 'Pink Parasol'
Item #: 8485
Zones: 4a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 22" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $30.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Gentiana saponaria 'Rockford'
Item #: 11696
Zones: 6b to 8b, at least
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Part Sun to Light Shade
Origin: United States
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $24.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Hosta 'Above the Clouds' PP 34,341
Item #: 17265
Zones: 3a to 8b
Dormancy: Winter
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Light Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3 qt. (2.8 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Wet Shade Plants
What do you do with a shady moist spot in your yard? Don't drain it! Plant it with great shade plants for wet soil like Acorus, Lobelia and more.
Does your yard have a low spot that happens to be in shade? Perfect! You have a great opportunity to grow some wonderful plants for wet soil that you might not otherwise be able to grow. Certain plants just love to have constant access to moist soil. We have sifted through our enormous on-line perennial catalog to create this mini catalog of shade loving plants for wet soil, just for you.
There is a difference between a moist shade plant and a bog plant. The former prefers moist soil that is not completely water-logged, while the latter can live with its feet continually in wet mud. Wet soils usually show up in a yard that contains heavy clay soils that drain slowly, and an undulating surface with no obvious drainage path into a creek. When it rains, water accumulates in these low spots, and they can take days or weeks to dry out. These moist shady spots are common in forests, clay flatlands and near ponds, and so there are a large number of plants for wet soil that have evolved to fill this niche.
Some of our favorite shade tolerant flowers happen to be wet shade plants.
Best Shade Plants for Wet Soil
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Acorus (Sweet Flag, Calamus)
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Ophiopogon (Mondo Grass)
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Liriope (Monkey Grass, Lilyturf)
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Chasmanthium (Norther Sea Oats)
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Carex (Sedge)
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Lobelia (Cardinal Flower)
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Lychnis (Campion)
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Gentiana (Gentian)
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Anemone (Windflower)
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Myosotis (Forget-Me-Not)
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Angelica (Chinese Angelica)
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Arisaema (Jack in the Pulpit, Cobra Lily)
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Astilbe (False Spiraea)
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Arum (Lords and Ladies, Arum Lily)
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Chrysogonum (Green and Gold)
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Coreopsis (Tickseed)
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Epimedium (Fairy Wings)
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Crinum (Crinum Lily)
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Zantedeschia (Calla Lily)
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Hymenocallis (Spider Lily)
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Elephant Ears (Colocasia, Alocasia, Remusatia)
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Ligularia (Japanese Ligularia)
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Farfugium (Leopard Plant)
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Beesia (False Bugbane)
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Asarum (Wild Ginger Plant)
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Aralia (Spikenard)
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Illicium (Anise Shrub)
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Lysimachia (Loosestrife, Gooseneck, Moneywort)
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Mukdenia (Hand Fan)
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Hosta (Plantain Lily)
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Many ferns are great wet shade plants such as Arachniodes, Adiantum, Asplenium, Athyrium, Blechnum, Coniogramme, Cyrtomium, Dryopteris, Matteuccia, Onoclea and Osmunda
These are just a few of the wonderful wet shade plants available for your garden. So what are you waiting for? Slog out into your wet garden bed and start planting! When you are ready to buy wet shade plants for your garden, check out our online list of wet shade plants for sale.
See all shade tolerant plants or just the dry shade plants.
Check out our article entitled 'Gardening in the Shade' that describes many cool shade plants and flowers.