Quick answer: 20 native plants for shade are native to Alaska, 13 with a live listing as of 04 Nov 2026.
20 species
- Beach strawberry Fragaria chiloensis · 1 states
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · 34 states
- Bog Labrador tea Ledum groenlandicum · 11 states
- Bog laurel Kalmia polifolia · 13 states
- Bunchberry Cornus canadensis · 18 states
- Farewell-to-spring Clarkia amoena · 4 states
- Harebell Campanula rotundifolia · 35 states
- Marsh marigold Caltha palustris · 28 states
- Mountain hemlock Tsuga mertensiana · 1 states
- Nootka rose Rosa nutkana · 1 states
- Northern maidenhair fern Adiantum pedatum · 37 states
- Pacific yew Taxus brevifolia · 1 states
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · 39 states
- Red huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium · 1 states
- Red-osier dogwood Cornus sericea · 36 states
- Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis · 1 states
- Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis · 1 states
- Water birch Betula occidentalis · 1 states
- Western hemlock Tsuga heterophylla · 1 states
- Western redcedar Thuja plicata · 1 states
Native plants for shade in Alaska: what to know
20 of the 40 plants native to Alaska in this directory fit this need: 50% of the state's list, above the 47% share across all species.
Between them they flower from March through September, with the most in bloom in June. Mixing early and late bloomers keeps the planting useful all season.
Many do double duty: 12 are also good for birds, 11 are also good for pollinators, 7 are also fine in wet soil.
15 of them grow in full or partial sun and 20 tolerate shade, so there are options for open beds and woodland edges alike. Sizes run from low plants like Bog laurel and Marsh marigold to trees such as Bearberry and Mountain hemlock. For wildlife, 11 support pollinators, 12 provide food or cover for birds and 6 are caterpillar host plants.
13 of the 20 have a seed or plant listing we verified as the wild species. Be careful buying Harebell: common listings for it are often a bred variety or a different species.
Good places to start
Verified wild-species listings that take sun and are widely native, so they are forgiving first plants.
- Quaking aspen Populus tremuloides · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Bearberry Arctostaphylos uva-ursi · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms Mar-Jun
- Red huckleberry Vaccinium parvifolium · Sun, Part Shade, Shade · blooms May-Jun