10 Best Shade-Tolerant Ground Cover Plants

Canadian Wild Ginger

This native ground cover is as useful as it is pretty, acting as the larval host of the Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly and as a weed suppressing ground cover. It even takes on the terribly invasive Garlic Mustard.

Within two to three years of planting, it forms a lush carpet of velvety, green, heart-shaped leaves that hug the ground. Curious reddish brown flowers bloom in spring at ground level under the foliage. They don’t add much ornamental value, but they do help out the pollinators.

Grow Canadian wild ginger in humus-rich, moist soil in light shade to deep shade conditions in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 3 through 8. In its native environment, it spreads slowly to cover the forest floor, where deer and rabbits typically leave it alone.