It’s hard to create an English-style flower border in the shade. There just aren’t that many shade plants that bloom heavily enough and for long enough in spots the sun barely reaches. That’s one reason so many gardeners opt for a simple groundcover: a carpet of foliage that at least gives an attractive effect and hides the bare soil and also fallen leaves and branches.

Here are some groundcovers that adapt well to shady locations.

1. Archangel, yellow (Lamium galeobdolon) zone 3
2. Astilbe (Astilbe spp.) zone 4
3. Baneberry, red (Actaea rubra) zone 2
4. Baneberry, white (Actaea pachypoda) zone 2
5. Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) zone 2
6. Bellwort (Ulvularia spp.) zone 4
7. Bergenia (Bergenia spp.) zone 3
8. Bleeding heart, Pacific (Dicentra formosa) zone 3
9. Bleeding heart, wild (Dicentra eximia) zone 3
10. Bowman’s root (Gillenia trifoliata) zone 4
11. Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans) zone 3
12. Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis) zone 2
13. Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata ‘Chameleon’) zone 4
14. Deadnettle, spotted (Lamium maculatum) zone 2
15. Epimedium (Epimedium spp.) zone 3
16. Fern, Christmas (Polystichum acrostichoides) zone 3
17. Fern, female (Althyrium filix-femina) zone 4
18. Fern, Japanese painted (Athyrium niponicum metallicum pictum) zone 4
19. Fern, northern maidenhair (Adiantum pedatum) zone 3
20. Fern, Ostrich (Matteucia struthiopteris) zone 3
21. Fern, sensitive (Onoclea sensibilis) zone 3
22. Foamflower (Tiarella spp.) zone 3
23. Geranium Rozanne™ (Geranium ‘Gerwat’) zone 3
24. Geranium, big-root (Geranium macrorrhizum) zone 3
25. Geranium, bloody (Geranium sanguineum) zone 3
26. Geranium, Cambridge (Geranium x cantabrigiense) zone 3
27. Grass, Japanese forest (Hakonechloa macra) zone 5
28. Hellebore (Helleborus spp.) zone 5
29. Heuchera (Heuchera spp.) zone 3
30. Heucherella (X Heucherella spp.) zone 3
31. Hosta (Hosta spp.)
32. Ivy, hardy English (Hedera helix ‘Baltica’, ‘Thorndale’, Wilson’, etc.) zone 5
33. Ivy, Russian (Hedera pastuchovii) zone 4
34. Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis) zone 1
35. Lungwort (Pulmonaria spp.) zone 3
36. Meadowsweet (Filipendula spp.) zone 3
37. Moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia) zone 3
38. Moss (various species) zones 1 to 10, depending on the species
39. Pachysandra, Japanese (Pachysandra terminalis) zone 4
40. Partridge berry (Mitchella repens) zone 2
41. Periwinkle, lesser (Vinca minor) zone 4
42. Phlox, wood (Phlox divaricata) zone 3
43. Sedge, broad-leaf (Carex siderosticha ‘Variegata’) zone 4b
44. Sedge, Pennsylvania (Carex pensylvanica) zone 3
45. Self-heal (Prunella grandiflora) zone 3
46. Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum spp.) zone 3
47. Solomon’s seal, false (Smilacina spp.) zone 3
48. Strawberry (Fragaria spp.) zone 2
49. Strawberry, barren (Waldsteinia spp.) zone 4
50. Violet, Labrador (Viola rivinia ‘Purpurea’, syn. V. labradorica) zone 4
51. Wild ginger, Canada (Asarum canadense) zone 3
52. Wild ginger, European (Asarum europaeum) zone 5
53. Wintercreeper (Euonymus fortunei) zone 5b
54. Wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens) zone 2
55. Woodruff, sweet (Galium odoratum) zone 3
56. Woodrush (Luzula sylvatica) zone 4

Goutweed (Aegopodium podagraria) also makes a good groundcover for shade, but be forewarned that it is very invasive and almost impossible to control.