Closely related and similar in appearance, oxslip (Primula elatior, Zones 4–8) and cowslip (P. veris, Zones 3–8) are excellent primroses (except in the heat of the Deep South). These late-winter and early-spring bloomers have flowers that appear above crinkled leaves resembling leaf lettuce. Both species and their selections bloom well into summer, their foliage remaining for the rest of the year. Tube-shaped blooms line one side of 8-inch-long bloom stems, like tiny balloons on a spring breeze.

The cultural adaptability of white corydalis saves the day in all types of shade, especially dry, rocky shade, where it’s hard for plants to feel at home. Its blooms, appearing from spring to fall, are white with a yellow lip above bluish foliage. Its self-sowing habit helps white corydalis naturalize gracefully, as it has among the hemlocks in my garden beneath a mature cedar. If it becomes tattered with age, new foliage quickly hides unsightly leaves. Deer tend to leave it alone.

In my garden, drifts of crested iris weave among larger perennials in late spring or early summer, forming a carpet beneath a dogwood tree (Cornus sp., Zones 2–9). This miniature iris blooms in white, blue, or lavender above sword-shaped foliage. Creeping rhizomes lie just below or at the soil’s surface and form a weed-suppressing thatch. There are many varieties to choose from of this popular native plant—all of which thrive in shade, where many other irises do not. It is rarely damaged by deer.

This is our nursery’s most colorful native plant, and it’s tough as nails, too. Indian pink blooms in bright red tubular flowers topped with yellow stars for a fireworks explosion of color. Occasional blooms sometimes appear after a main flush in late spring. Indian pink is adaptable to all kinds of conditions, from full sun with moisture to fairly dense, drier shade. It even thrives in heavy soils. Indian pink is slow to bulk up but well worth the wait.

The many varieties of cobra lily add colorful stems and berry clusters to the shade. There are more than 150 species around the world, including two that are native to the eastern United States: Jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisaema triphyllum, Zones 4–9, pictured) and green dragon (A. dracontium, Zones 4–9). Judicious selection among these plants for succession of blooms guarantees a peak extending from April through July.

Added bonuses are deer resistance and colorful seed heads, which last into November. Among my favorites is Farges’s cobra lily (A. fargesii, Zones 5–8), for its pin-striped spathe, giant foliage, and colorful orange-red seed clusters.

When adding color to shade, you can’t go wrong with epimedium. White, yellow, purple, red, and bicolor blooms, like those of red barrenwort (Epimedium × rubrum, Zones 4–8, pictured), with long and short spurs from spring to early summer, are only half of what this plant has to offer. Fantastic foliage with copper-colored veins and rims carry the torch after early blooms finish, and the plant is seldom bothered by deer. There is often a second flush of foliage, which lets the older leaves fade into the background. Epimedium flourishes in dry shade, but if given a bit more light and moisture, it will produce heavier blooms and fuller foliage.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a shade lover with more character than a toad lily. Toad lilies bloom from early summer through hard frost if a careful selection of species is planted with bloom dates in mind. The season begins in early summer with broad-leaved toad lily (Tricyrtis latifolia, Zones 5–9, pictured) in yellow with brown freckles. The next is candelabra toad lily (T. macropoda, Zones 5–9) in early fall, with orchidlike blooms of pale pink with purple markings, followed by many other species and hybrids.