Deer-Resistant Plants for Containers in Shade

Plants for pots in shade that tend to escape deer browsing. Check mature height, water needs, and hardiness zone. Split into narrower lists below.

More specific collections

Shade is light without direct sun, the ground under a tree or along a north wall. These are the ones for pots. Dry shade is the hardest place in the garden to plant, and a few of these manage it. Most need very little after their first year.

plants: 112
hardiness zones: 3 to 12

A pot does not have to mean a plain planting. There are plants flowering in spring through to late autumn, and the display outlasts the season. Most of the colour is white and purple.

spring: 53
summer: 58
late autumn: 22

Southern Maidenhair Fern

Bird's Nest Fern

Barrenwort

Baltic Ivy

Perennials and ground covers fill most of the pots here, and the planting can be put together in almost endless ways. Adiantum and Asplenium have the most entries, and they are also used for borders and woodland edges.

perennials: 107
borders: 79
woodland edges: 64