The pentas that I have in part shade do very well as does fennel. The Aristolochia tomentosa, which is larval food for the Pipevine swallowtails, does well in mostly shade also.

I've always had to grow Swamp milkweed in part shade! and it does fine. I also have Purple Cone Flower in mixed to heavy shade. They don't bloom as well, but they do bloom. I grow Verbena Boniarensisas a nectar source, and it has tolerated some shade, as well. The VB is a foreign invasive, but is easily deadheaded to limit it's spread. Many plants that prefer full sun can survive in partial shade, they just don't thrive they way they might in sun. Would removing a branch here or there help the situation at all. Heuchera or Coral Bells come in hundreds of varieties, some of which have lots of small blooms that are attractive to hummingbirds as well as butterflies. I just planted Snakeroot, which is a shade/moisture loving native that is favored by pollinators. Joe Pye Weed does well in mixed light and is a great nectar plant. Early spring ephemerals usually come and go for me before I notice many butterflies, but they're wonderful in their own right. I'm thinking of Snow Drops, Winter Acconite, Virginia Bluebells, Trillium, bleeding hearts, etc. I also love Columbine canadensis, which is the native variety. It will tolerate any amount of light and will reseed with abandon, if you leave the soil open to receive volunteers.

I hope this has helped. I have very fair skin, so always purchase houses with an eye to shade. So, I heavily garden any areas that do receive sun and experiment with the other areas. Actually, my only Monarch siting came in a very shady patch with volunteer common milkweed, of all things. Never blooms, but she laid eggs there.

Down here, most plants do better with some shade, although all the nectar plants I know of do need at least a little sun. I'd recommend you experiment, one plant at the time and see how it does, also if it gets visited by butterflies. The nectar a plant makes depends a lot on the conditions it's growing in, and, since, I get a lot more nectaring butterflies when the sun is shining on my plants, I suspect they need sunlight to make their nectar.

Spicebush and wafer ash/Ptelea trifoliata are two host plants that come to mind that have to have shade.

Sherry

Purple Joe-Pye Weed (Eupatorium purpureum) is the one flower I've put in because it was tolerant of shade. It has done very well.

As for swamp milkweed, I've had very poor results trying to grow it in partial shade.

I don't know how much shade you have. I have a lot of tall oaks, so deal with a quite a bit of shade. The oaks are limbed up, though, so it's not deep shade.

I have zinnias (Benary's Giant and Giant Enchantress) planted where they get only a few hours of sun, and they still bloom. I imagine they're more lanky and have fewer blooms than in full sun, but there were still blooms.

Sometimes when flowers get sun is more important than how much. 11-3pm are the strongest hours.

Others to consider Astilble, Cardinal flower, heuchera (as mentioned), goldenrod and violet (the latter two I am searching for native plants)

SCG

I live in central Arkansas, zone 8a-7b

This year I've grown false nettle with very little sun and it's done well .... Red Admiral, Eastern comma and question mark butterflies.

Spicebush is another clumping shrub that does well with quite a bit of shade.... Spicebush butterfly

You indicate growing zone 7, so don't know if Aristolochia fimbriata would overwinter in your area but it might be worth a try. Here, it only receives very early morning sun and does beautifully. ... pipevine swallowtail butterfly

Here, Asclepias curassavica does quite well with some sun and dappled shade and all the butterflies nectar from the blooms. It is grown as an annual, is easy to germinate and grow, so you might give it a try and see how it does for you.

Mary

Gee, South Country Guy, would you like some of my violets? (Viola sororia.)

I'm still waiting for the fritillaries to show up! :-)

Liz

Anyone have experience with Cimicifuga? It is supposed to be very attractive, and it is a true shade plant-no sun at all.

Yeahp sure would. I am so inept and ignorant on plant ID'ing I could be tripping on them. We have so many fritillary here we must be over run with them but I can't find them.

Think I am going to buy some annuals for next year lol

SCG

Of all of my plants that I have for the butterflies, the ones that are shaded the most, whether partial or full, are wafer ash, spicebush, Joe Pyeweed, false nettle, and cardinal flower. All seem to be doing well except the cardinal flowers have been dying out and I don't know if that's because they need more sun or what. I've had them there for about five years.

I bought Cimicifuga racemosa seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery last year and still have the plants in a pot (although only a few came up...they're fussy to start). I want to plant them in the woods. I read that they're a host plant for the Appalachian Azure, which I have no idea if they've ever been around here or not. Even if they're not used by anything here for a host plant, I think that the flowers on them are beautiful, judging from the pictures that I've seen of them online. It would be nice if they'd keep spreading and crowd out the poison ivy that's growing in the woods.
Cathy

Mist flower/wild ageratum/Conoclinium coelestinum is making its little blooms on all types of sites on my property, including mostly shady ones. There aren't too many flowers as easy to grow as this one, just get one plant and it'll find little niches all over to spread. This female gulf fritillary kept going from one little cluster of flowers to another -

{{gwi:545098}}

Sherry

Assorted Monarda (excluding M. citriodora), Lobelia cardinalis, and Silphium perfoliatum will grow well with half sun, and especially if they have plenty of moisture. The bonus is that the hummers also go crazy over these plants.

Rue grows very well with only 2-3 hours of sun in the back of my veggie garden. It would probably do better with more of course! Bronze fennel and parsley do okay with half sun.

I recently visited a demonstration rain garden at my local agricultural station. They had Mistflower growing there with massive heads of bloom. The Joe Pye weed was at least 7 feet tall. I guess even those plants that will grow in shade often do better in sun, especially with abundant moisture. Still, we have to do the best we can with what we have, and what I have a lot of in my backyard, is part shade.

It doesn't help the butterflies, but I have had some very good success with ferns in that area. I have absolutely fallen in love with the maidenhair ferns I planted. They have done so well, and they are so graceful and elegant. I also have Asarum, which I believe is pollinated by ants. Violets, Heuchera, Tiarella-variable success. Next year I think I will try mixing in some Lobelia cardinalis and some Lobelia siphilitica, maybe some Columbine. I will take note of some of the other suggestions as well. Many thanks to everyone for the contributions!

Cathy-
My understanding is that Cardinal flower is naturally a short-lived perennial. I think five years is about the best you can get out of them. Did they self seed at all?

Liz

Try some Poke Milkweed as well (Asclepias exaltata). It tolerates shade better than most other Milkweeds.
I also have a lot of White Snakeroot and its "Chocolate" cultivar
growing in the shadier parts of my garden.
And believe it or not, plain old Hostas are wonderful for Hummers and Hummer moths.
And, finally, White Turtlehead, which makes a fine nectar plant, as well as host for the Baltimore, which is on my bucket list.

Liz, Thanks for the info. I guess that would explain why my cardinal flowers have been dying out. I didn't know that they're short-lived. Oddly, especially considering how many seeds each plant produces, mine haven't reseeded. I guess I'll have to start more plants.
Cathy

My Echinacea do very well in part-shade. The first year was not so great, but came back this year and performed nicely. Also, coreopsis, and gaillardia. Zinnia did "just alright." Cosmos did not die...that's all I can say. I won't plant them in shade again.

Good luck!
Sandy.

And I forgot to add salvia! Doing wonderfully and cabbage whites adore it.

Lobelia cardinalis is relatively long-lived for me. I have a couple plants that were mature perennials when I bought them at the end of 2007, and also a bunch of seedlings that were winter-sown in 2008, that are all still alive. It also reseeds quite readily, especially along the garden paths, so that the total plants in the back garden grows somewhat every year.

One of the tricks with L. cardinalis, is to deadhead regularly. Do not let them produce abundant seedheads, which they are wont to do, because the plant can easily exhaust itself. It needs to establish a robust root system before the winter. I only allow a stalk here or there, or a few pods to go to seed. Each pod has many hundreds of seeds so you will have plenty if you want to collect some.

I have lots of Eupatorium rugosum too, both Chocolate and the green. Boy what a prolific seeder! The bumblebees love it, it is deer resistant, and it competes pretty well with invasives.

All you folks are growing Eupatorium rugosum on purpose? I can't get rid of the stuff! It is true that it is pretty, tolerates shade, and is not bothered by deer. But it self seeds so abundantly it can easily get out of hand. I have it growing under a Norway Maple, where nothing else will grow, and it is blooming there quite nicely. But I was hoping for a little more variety in some other parts of the yard.