Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

The first place to go to find a list of potential shade plants attractive to wildlife for your patio is our Native Plant Database. Use the Combination Search feature instead of Recommended Species. This will provide a bigger selection with much more choice to narrow down. The volunteers and staff at the Wildflower Center who maintain the database have partners in different regions to help with these recommended species lists based on what is easy to access in local nurseries.
Under Combination Search, select the following categories: NC, Habit – shrub (and then herb), Duration – Perennial, Light Requirement – Shade, Soil Moisture – Dry, and Size – 1-3 feet.

Surprisingly, more shrubs tolerant of shade and with benefits for wildlife appeared as a result of the search. The shrubs to consider are:
Running serviceberry (Amelanchier stolonifera), white spring flowers and edible fruit. Fruit attracts birds.

Limber honeysuckle (Lonicera dioica), a shrub-like vine, fragrant red and yellow blooms, red berries in the fall, attracts hummingbirds and bees.

Coralberry (Symphoricarpos orbiculatus), a small mounding shrub growing to 4 feet, small greenish-white flowers and clusters of attractive coral-pink berries from fall into the winter. Wildlife use this plant for food, cover and nesting sites.

And a herbaceous plant to consider:
Bowman’s root (Gillenia trifoliata), an informal perennial growing to 2-3 feet tall with white or pinkish flowers in the spring. Tolerant of dry shade. Low wildlife value.