With expert advice and care tips from a couple of plant pros, we’ve ID’d 15 pretty plants that will thrive in even the least plant-friendly spaces. Fragrant, flowering dianthus will not only survive in sandy soil, but it will also fill your backyard with color and a lovely, slightly spicy scent. If you have a shady yard that doesn’t get much sun, skip the grass and carpet the ground with common oak sedge, which adds textural interest to the area. With these hard-to-kill plants readily available at nurseries and garden centers, there’s no reason to let a dry, low-light space stop you from creating a showstopping backyard. The shade-surviving plant at the top of the list: ajuga. “This weed-smothering groundcover is a great pick if you’re looking to add color and decrease maintenance in shaded areas of your backyard. It offers adorable spikes of blue-purple flowers in spring, then a mat of dense foliage the rest of the gardening season,” Hancock says. To up the visual interest, look for variegated selections, such as “Burgundy Glow,” which has shades of pink and silver in its leaves. Plus, ajuga comes back every year, so you can plant it once and enjoy it for years to come. One low-light pick at the top of Burns’ list was the oakleaf hydrangea. Bold, textural leaves and large cone-shaped flowers make this shrub an option with serious curb appeal for the front yard. “These plants just started blooming about two weeks ago, in mid-June, and they bloom well into the summer, when a lot of other shrubs aren’t,” Burns explains. To enjoy blossoms throughout the season, opt for the oakleaf hydrangea. If it’s scented flowers you’re searching for, check out our list of favorite fragrant flowers to add to your garden or backyard.
