17+ Black walnut tolerant plants

Black walnut trees (juglans nigra) are beautiful but are a challenge to gardeners. The trees excrete a chemical called juglone through their roots. There are many plants that struggle to grow because of this.

Part of the challenge of finding plants tolerant of the juglone chemical, is that these trees have a large leafy canopy. The area under (near) them are often very shady. Finding shade plants that look great and thrive can be a challenge in itself. Fortunately for you, I have a very shady yard. Here is a post I wrote about 31 perennial shade plants. The majority are in my yard.

Plants tolerant of black walnut trees

This chemical under this tree (and also under butternut trees) is important to know about. It can kill plants, stunt growth and usually causes leaves of sensitive plants to yellow and curl. It affects many plants the home gardener tries to grow including some vegetables.

My yard

My home is 100 years old and obviously the yard is as well : ). I inherited trees, plants and weeds I knew nothing about. Most of my plant gardens started as weeds they now contain plants I love. I'm the neighbor who gets the call when someone has plants they are splitting/moving/removing and I come rescue them. This was how I was able to plant a whole yard in a next to nothing budget over 5 years.

The plants I am sharing about either grow below my beautiful black walnut tree or within it's drip line. Right below is the thick trunk with a circle of hostas!

Ferns

Ferns are a traditional shade plant. Most of the ferns in my yard are ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris). They are grow well in more moist soils and are perennials in USDA hardiness zones of 3-7. Some people don't like how ostrich ferns spread, but I love it. I find these are such a pretty backdrop to my other shade plants. Many fern types exist, so choose the ones that do the best in your area. Neighbors, local online resources, or local nurseries can guide you about this. However, do some research to find out how much they spread.

I love little baby ferns and watch for them in the spring. At this stage, they are called fiddleheads. Some ferns are edible, and fiddleheads can be pretty delicious! They taste similar to spinach to me.

Creeping Jenny

The yellowish low growing plants in the picture below is creeping Jenny. It is also known as moneywort. This plant has small yellow flowers and I always seem to miss them!

This plant is also nice in container gardens since it trails nicely and does a good job as the "spill" feature. If you have this growing in your yard, just transplant a few into your planter and save some money!

This plant is zoned 4 - 9. This plant can grow very aggressively but in my zone 5 yard, I have not had an issue.

Hostas

Simple variegated hostas

These are the some of the most common types. I wasn't even moved into my currant home and a neighbor came over with a box of these! I knew I moved to the right place. Hostas can be split and shared easily.

Variegated hostas often have white on the inside OR the outside. These are the ones people talk about not being able to kill. They survive under woodpiles for years. Or grow in compost piles. They add a pretty color contrast to parts of the yard that doesn't get much sun.

Fancier hostas

I have some large-leaf blue-colored hostas, and I love them! One of the most common is called the Blue Angel Hosta. It grows in zones 3-8. I have it growing in dappled sun, which is perfect for this hosta. It grows well in partial sun to full shade.  Most hostas are shade-loving perennials that brighten the yard's darker areas. There are hundreds of different kinds of hostas!

I think this image helps you see the pretty blue color of some hostas! This shows some of the variations of differnt colors and patterns available for hostas.

Tickseed Coreopsis

This plant is officially a sun plant. I've had it in a partial shade location, and this plant's tolerance for shade is better than expected. It only had a couple hours of the morning sun, then shade for the rest of the day. It's rated for zones 3-10. These are excellent perennials for shade that bloom all summer. This one is happy with a fair amount of shade as long as it's it has good soil.
I love the texture of the foliage! A very easy plant to take care of!

May Apples

I have a corner of my yard with quite a few different trees where a small natural woodland area is developing. I LOVE seeing these local plants growing.

The May Apple (podophyllum peltatum) grows in zones 3-9 in partial sun to shade areas and likes moist but well-drained soil. It does bloom and has a flower resembling a strawberry flower under its leaves. It grows early in the spring and that's why I enjoy seeing it.

Wild Geraniums

The wild geranium is one of the easiest to care for plants in my shade gardens. I've also heard it called cranesbill and hardy geranium. Wild geranium (Geranium maculatum) grows in USDA hardiness zones 3-8. These are native North American plants. That's why they probably grow so quickly and spread well. They are easy to pull if they spread too much. These are such easy-to-grow flowering plants for shade. The bees love them! Once finished blooming, I trim them back and am often rewarded with a second flush of blooms.

My one caution about this plant is I would not plant it in a high-traffic area. The bees love it!

Coral Bells

Coral Bells (Heuchera) come in many different colors. They have spikey flowers; most are grown for their leaves, not their flowers. Coral Bells are a hardiness zone of 4 - 9.  If you buy some of these, make sure you buy a color that stands out against your mulch.  Or at least contrasts with plants that are planted close.

Variegated Jacob's Ladder

I was in love with this version of Jacob's ladder (Polemonium) the first time I saw it in my neighbor's yard. It looks delicate, but it's a zone 4-8 perennial. The tag said it was deer resistant and attracts butterflies. The staff person at the nursery said the bunnies in her yard didn't eat them. The variegated leaves and the delicate purple flowers made me want to buy this one. It's a perfect shade plant!!

You can usually tell how happy a plant is with their location when it flowers.

This plant is known to like partial to full shade. So definitely no afternoon sun!

Brunnera plants (Sea Heart or Silver Heart)

Finding shade plants that pretty sometimes require you to be a visual learner. An uninspiring plant at the store can surprise you and be beautiful in your garden as an early spring bloomer. This Brunnerea macrophylla for example, has the prettiest little flowers early in the spring.

There are different varieties of this plant. Above is Alexanders Great and below is Jack Frost. It's the varigated leaves that make this plant striking in the shade.

This beautiful plant (Brunnera macrophylla) is a perennial that grows in USDA zones 4-9. It has beautiful big silvery leaves, and it's the leaves that make this plant stand out. It is a shade to part shade plant. If you'd like more info about this plant, take a look at this post dedicated to the brunnera macrophylla shade plant.

Lamb's Ear

Lamb's ear (stachus byzantine) is a tough little perennial that grows in zones 4-8. This plant is a silvery light green with soft velvety leaves. It's because of the softness of the leaves that this is my favorite. I have grown this in full sun to partial shade locations. As long as it gets some sun, it does well.

I do love it as a groundcover, but I will warn you that it does spread. I find it easy to contain, and any plants that are where they shouldn't be can be pulled up easily. There are pink/purple flowers on a taller stem, and I've found bees enjoy these flowers.

Anemone

The name of this Anemone was "pretty Lady Susan." I 100% bought it because my name is Susan! Gardening should be fun and personal, right?

Amemones are also known as windflowers. I know I've bought it in the past and think I've mistaken it for a weed. There are quite a few anemone varieties that don't bloom until late summer or early fall. But they do spread as a groundcover during the summer (why I thought it was a weed). They are nice to see when other flowers are fading at the end of the summer.

This is a partial shade plant with a zone hardiness of 5-9. It has pink blooms on a taller stalk in late summer, early fall. This plant has spread quite a bit in it's second year in my garden.

Snow on the Mountain (Bishop's Weed or Bishop's Goutweed)

The Bishop's weed is to the right of the trunk in the image below. If you have it in your gardens, aggresively work to keep it under control. If you don't have it yet, don't plant it. You and your neighbors will regret it!

This is the varigated version. It is pretty but it does spread! It has been labeled invasive. There is also a solid green version.

When I first moved into my home, one whole side of my house had this in it's garden. Because I knew how invasive this plant is, I used a chemical treatment to help kill it off. Then I used cardboard covered by mulch to smother future growth. Four years later, it still peeks up in that area. Using cardboard as weed control is a great way to continue a none-chemical weed prevention method.

Sweet Woodruff

This is a nice low growing plant with the prettiest tiny white flowers.

This is one of my favorite groundcovers because of those flowers! I also like the shape of the leaves. It's rated zones 3 -9 and is drought tolerant. Many people don't realize how dry it can be under a trees' canopy. Unless there is quite a bit of rain, the ground doesn't always get wet because the tree leaves shelter the ground from the rain.

This spreads quickly but is not considered aggressive. I am planning to move some of it to the front of my shade beds because I love it's low growing nature.

Lamium | Spotted Dead Nettle

Oops. I planted this lamium in the back of my yard not realizing it is considered invasive. It has really spread over the past year but has been easy to manage by just pulling out the plants that have gown where I don't want them. I will be keeping a very close eye on this one! I'm always amazed that gardening stores sell plants that will become a problem.

The flowers of this plant, along with the varigated leaves are pretty. It flowers all summer and I see many bees on it.

Sedum | Stonecrop

There are a huge number of sedums that are low growing, spread and are fine in partial shady areas.

This is a mix of different sedums and looks so cute on a small rock wall.

If purchasing, make sure you are buying the low growing mounding type of sedum. You don't want to get a taller variety if you haven't planned for it. USDA zones include 3 - 9. Taller sedums include Autumn Joy Sedum.

Lungwort

The proper name for lungwort is pulmonaria. This specific one is actually called Raspberry Splash. I love the way the leaves are varigated on this plant. It really stands out in the garden! It is USDA zoned from 4 - 9.

Most lungwort plants are shade plants. This Raspberry Splash is a newer variety that is described as full sun. I made an assumption when I bought this one and planted it in a very shady area of my yard.

BUT, it's happy where I have it and it bloomed profusely. This is a spring blooming plant and gets more shade in the spring because the walnut tree has not leafed out yet.

The flower is so pretty! It showed up in the spring and was a welcome sight!

FAQs

More shade garden information

My yard is a very shady yard where I've had to learn a new way to garden! Here are some other shade garden posts.

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