Native Plants for Shade in Massachusetts

Woodland wildflowers, ferns, and groundcovers that thrive in the dappled and full shade under trees and on the north side of the house. For Massachusetts, the right natives are shaped by Northeastern Coastal Forest & Cape and a cool, humid continental climate. Every species below, from Smooth Hydrangea and Flowering Dogwood to the rest of the list, is genuinely native to Massachusetts and the wider flora of the Northeast and hardy through zones 5–7. Shade is an opportunity, not a problem — the eastern woodland flora is one of the richest in the world. Most shade natives evolved under a deciduous canopy, so they do their growing in cool, moist spring soil and want a yearly mulch of fallen leaves rather than bare, raked dirt. Match the depth of shade to the plant, and a bare patch under a maple becomes the loveliest part of the garden.

15 native species for Massachusetts

Each one native to your region and hardy in zones 5–7 · see this collection in other states.