For the many gardeners whose growing-spaces are either entirely or partly shaded, shade-loving shrubs offer an important, permanent layer of interest alongside perennials and beneath trees. In small gardens, shrubs can create a structural framework for the space, seasonal focal points, a living wall or partition, or even a harvestable crop for a less-than-sunny kitchen garden. While any list of shrubs for shade can include worthwhile and non-invasive introduced species, planting natives (in this case, to North America) contributes towards resilience and supports sustainable growing practices.

Our 13 favorite shrubs for shade span the year in terms of seasonal interest, from spring flowers to fall fruit.

American hazel (Corylus americana)

Hazelnut, filbert, cobnut—whatever you call the fruit of this large shrub, it will be yours to harvest if you plant your Corylus in semi-shade. (While hazel will grow beautifully leafy in full shade, it will bear fewer nuts.) One of the earliest shrubs to bloom in pre-spring, American hazel has slender flower structures up close, with their tiny, burgundy male flower poised above the slender female catkins. American hazel is hardy from USDA growing zones 4 to 9.

Blueberry (Vaccinium angustifolium and V. corymbosum)

Highbush and lowbush blueberries have three seasons of serious interest: early spring flowers (an important food source for native bees), their famous summer fruit, and very vivid fall foliage. Blueberries require acidic soil—it’s non-negotiable—so if your garden’s in-ground soil tests near-neutral, they are better grown in containers, where you can adjust the pH more easily (personally, I use fresh—not spent—coffee grounds, mixed into the potting soil when planting.) Blueberries are hardy from USDA zones 3 (possibly 2, with protection) to 8.

Bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora)

Bottlebrush buckeye’s elegantly upright racemes of white flowers are like summer fireworks. Blooming in mid to late summer, this large shrub fills the flowering gap between spring’s profusion and fall’s fruit and foliage. Hardy from USDA zones 4 to 8, bottlebrush buckeye will thrive in part to full shade.

Canada Rosebay, Rhodora (Canadian Rhododendron)

In the wild, Canada rosebay, or rhodora (which is also the family name for all rhododendrons), flourishes in moist woodlands and at the edges of swamps and bogs. Its scented blooms appear in late spring to early summer. This is a shrub that needs plenty of water, and it also requires acidic soil. Canada rosebay grows in semi-shade or under the seasonal shade of deciduous trees. It is is very cold hardy, from USDA zones 2 to 6.

A digression for botanical poetry:

The Rhodora

– 1834, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

In May, when sea-winds pierced our solitudes,

I found the fresh Rhodora in the woods,

Spreading its leafless blooms in a damp nook,

To please the desert and the sluggish brook.

The purple petals fallen in the pool

Made the black water with their beauty gay;

Here might the red-bird come his plumes to cool,

And court the flower that cheapens his array.

Rhodora! if the sages ask thee why

This charm is wasted on the earth and sky,

Tell them, dear, that, if eyes were made for seeing,

Then beauty is its own excuse for Being;

Why thou wert there, O rival of the rose!

I never thought to ask; I never knew;

But in my simple ignorance suppose

The self-same power that brought me there, brought you.

Carolina allspice, strawberry bush, sweetshrub (Calycanthus floridus and C. occidentalis)