These Shade-Loving Plants Will Thrive Next To Your Birdbath

Adding a backyard birdbath is not only a proven method to attract more songbirds to your yard, it can also be a beautiful design element for your garden. Whether a tall, freestanding pedestal, a hanging basin, or even a bath with a bubbling fountain, birdbaths bring a romantic feel to any garden space. And this feeling is enhanced by adding lush green plantings below or around your bath. 

Since a birdbath is best placed in a shady area and not in direct sunlight, planting shade-loving perennials around the base of this water feature is an easy way to enhance its impact on your garden scene. Hostas, ferns, and astilbe are all shade tolerant plants that pair well with a birdbath, creating a lush vignette even in the most sun-starved corners of your yard. These plants also love a moist environment, so they'll benefit from the splashing of your feathered friends.

Hostas, also known as plantain lilies, are ornamental perennials hardy in USDA growing zones 3-9, and they come in a variety of heights and colors that can be combined in robust plantings around the base of your birdbath. Trumpet shaped flowers emerge in mid-summer in colors of lavender, pinks or white, but the broad leaves of the hosta are the real show-stoppers. Leaves come in a variety of shades of rich greens to yellows and blues or variegated varieties, making a grouping of hostas a bright spot in any shady corner of your garden. Hostas also have the benefit of being a shade-loving plant that will have hummingbirds flocking to your yard. Note that these low-growers are attractive to deer and rabbits as well as a variety of other garden pests, so they may need to be periodically replaced. The leaves will also experience dieback during cold winter months.

As for ferns, they love both shade and moisture, which is why they're a popular choice around water features. You'll have no trouble finding a gorgeous assemblage of ferns to plant from the 380 species that grow in North America alone. From the light and airy lady fern (Athyrium filix-femina) and delicate maidenhair fern (Adiantum pedatum) that create a fairy vibe to the hardy western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) that will stay green even through a drought, you can find ferns for any garden mood for the space around your birdbath.

For a more colorful pairing with your birdbath, consider astilbe (Astilbe japonica), whose green leafy clumps produce spikey blooms filled with bright florets. This native of Asia come in 25 different varieties, with blooms in shades of red, pink, purple, and white. Astilbe will add drama around your birdbath, as these plants can sprout between 1 to 4 feet high, with their flowers nicely framing any taller vessels.

Astilbe blooms will last all summer long and into fall in milder climates, and they're enjoyed by pollinators and other beneficial insects who also enjoy visiting your water feature. The flowers will come back year after year in USDA growing zones 3-8.  These easy-care perennials can thrive in heavy shade and have the added benefit of being resistant to deer and rabbits. But whatever shade-loving perennials you choose, you can create a beautiful, inviting backdrop for your birdbath with plants that will enjoy it as much as your wild visitors.