Perennials with showy, colorful leaves bring a special kind of beauty to gardens because their appeal lasts throughout the growing season, not just when flowers are in bloom. The diversity in color among these plants is remarkable, ranging from deep purples and silvers to golden yellows, bright greens, and even multi-toned patterns. Some leaves may be splashed, streaked, or edged with contrasting shades.
Seasonal changes also play a role in the appeal of colorful foliage. Many of these plants shift their tones as the weather cools, often turning bronze, red, or copper in autumn. Some foliage is broad and bold, commanding attention, while others are delicate and finely cut, providing softness and contrast.
Many thrive in shaded areas where flowers might be limited, brightening dark corners with their colorful leaves. Others are resilient in varying soil or moisture conditions, ensuring that beauty is paired with reliability.
Perennials With Showy, Colorful Leaves
Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Heuchera is a popular perennial prized for its wide range of foliage colors, including deep purple, lime green, silver, and even variegated patterns. Its leaves often feature striking veining, adding extra texture to the garden. Beyond its foliage, coral bells also produce delicate flower spikes, but its colorful leaves are the main attraction, brightening shady borders and containers.
Hosta
Hostas are shade-loving perennials known for their broad, textured leaves that come in shades of green, blue, yellow, and variegated combinations. Their foliage provides a lush, tropical feel to gardens, with some varieties even showcasing gold or cream streaks. Hostas are low-maintenance and bring lasting color throughout the growing season.
Coleus (Perennial in Warm Zones)
While often grown as an annual in colder climates, coleus can be a perennial in warmer zones. Its foliage bursts with vibrant patterns of red, pink, orange, green, and yellow. Coleus thrives in both sun and shade, offering endless color possibilities in beds, borders, and containers, making it a favorite for gardeners who want instant impact.
Brunnera (Siberian Bugloss)
Brunnera produces heart-shaped leaves that are often green with dramatic silver overlays. Some varieties, like ‘Jack Frost,’ feature shimmering silver foliage with dark green veining, making them a standout in shady spots. Its colorful foliage lasts throughout the season, complemented in spring by tiny blue flowers.
Ajuga (Bugleweed)
Ajuga is a groundcover perennial valued for its striking foliage, which can range from deep purple and bronze to variegated green and cream. Its low-growing habit makes it perfect for filling in spaces between plants while adding a rich carpet of color. Ajuga also produces blue flower spikes in spring, enhancing its visual appeal.
Tiarella (Foamflower)
Tiarella is a shade-loving perennial with uniquely patterned foliage that often features deep burgundy or black markings across green leaves. Its leaves can turn shades of bronze or red in cooler weather, providing year-round interest. Foamflower also sends up delicate, frothy blooms in spring, but the colorful leaves remain the main highlight.
Pulmonaria (Lungwort)
Pulmonaria is loved for its spotted foliage, with green leaves splashed in silver or white. Some varieties have foliage so silvery that they brighten even the darkest garden corners. In addition to its colorful leaves, lungwort produces early spring flowers in shades of pink, blue, and purple, making it a multi-season favorite.
Japanese Painted Fern
This ornamental fern is admired for its silver-gray fronds accented with shades of burgundy and green. Its soft, metallic tones make it stand out in shaded areas where it pairs beautifully with darker-leaved plants. The Japanese painted fern is both elegant and low-maintenance, bringing subtle but striking color to perennial beds.
Sedum (Stonecrop)
Many sedum varieties offer colorful foliage, ranging from bright chartreuse to deep burgundy or variegated blends. These hardy perennials are drought-tolerant and versatile, with some forming mats of colorful leaves while others grow upright. Their foliage provides long-lasting color, even before their late-season blooms appear.
Bergenia (Elephant Ears)
Bergenia is a tough perennial with large, leathery leaves that often turn shades of red, bronze, or purple in cooler weather. Its bold foliage provides texture throughout the year, and in spring it produces clusters of pink or white flowers. Bergenia’s ability to change leaf color with the seasons makes it an eye-catching addition to the garden.
Hakonechloa (Japanese Forest Grass)
This ornamental grass is a perennial known for its graceful, cascading foliage in shades of lime green, gold, or variegated yellow and green. Some cultivars even take on reddish or bronze tones in autumn. Its colorful, flowing leaves add movement and brightness to shady garden spaces.
Artemisia (Wormwood)
Artemisia is valued for its finely divided, silvery-gray foliage, which brings contrast and elegance to perennial beds. Its leaves remain vibrant throughout the growing season and pair beautifully with plants of bolder colors. Hardy and drought-tolerant, it is as practical as it is decorative.
Ligularia
Ligularia is a shade-loving perennial with large, bold leaves that are often deep green with purple or bronze undersides. Some varieties develop dramatic dark purple foliage that contrasts beautifully with their tall spikes of yellow flowers. The combination of unique foliage and flowers makes it a standout in moist, shady spots.
Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’ (Black Mondo Grass)
This unusual perennial features strappy, jet-black leaves that provide striking contrast in the garden. Its dark foliage pairs especially well with silver or brightly colored plants. Though grass-like in appearance, black mondo grass is a perennial that brings bold, year-round drama to landscapes.
Lamium (Dead Nettle)
Lamium is a groundcover perennial with leaves often variegated in silver, green, or white. Its colorful foliage brightens shady areas and pairs nicely with its small clusters of pink, purple, or white flowers. Its spreading habit makes it useful for covering bare patches while adding vibrant patterns to the ground.
Heucherella (Foamy Bells)
A hybrid between Heuchera and Tiarella, Heucherella combines the best features of both: richly patterned leaves in shades of burgundy, lime, silver, and bronze, along with compact growth. Its foliage offers long-lasting color and texture, and it thrives in shade to partial sun.
Epimedium (Barrenwort)
Epimedium has heart-shaped leaves that emerge with shades of bronze or red before maturing to green, often with mottled or variegated patterns. In autumn, its foliage can turn back to red or bronze, providing multi-season interest. It’s also drought-tolerant and deer-resistant, making it a hardy choice.
Alchemilla mollis (Lady’s Mantle)
Lady’s Mantle has soft, scalloped leaves that are often chartreuse green and catch raindrops like jewels, creating a sparkling effect. In cool weather, the foliage can take on golden or bronze tones. Its unique color and texture make it a valuable perennial for borders and cottage gardens.
Athyrium niponicum (Japanese Painted Lady Fern)
This perennial fern boasts fronds brushed with silver, purple, and green tones, creating a painted appearance. Its delicate foliage adds elegance to shaded gardens, and its soft metallic sheen makes it stand out among darker green plants.
Tricyrtis (Toad Lily)
While toad lilies are admired for their exotic flowers, their foliage is also colorful and patterned with speckles or variegations. The leaves range from bright green to variegated with creamy edges, providing seasonal interest even before the blooms arrive in late summer and fall.
Dicentra spectabilis ‘Gold Heart’ (Bleeding Heart)
This unique variety of bleeding heart features chartreuse-yellow leaves that glow in shaded spots. Paired with the plant’s iconic pink heart-shaped flowers, the golden foliage adds vibrancy and contrast throughout spring and early summer.
Caladium (Hardy in Warm Zones)
Caladiums are prized for their flamboyant foliage in shades of red, pink, white, and green, often with striking patterns. While commonly grown as annuals in cooler climates, they can be perennial in warmer zones, bringing unmatched tropical flair to gardens.
Persicaria microcephala ‘Red Dragon’
This perennial is loved for its lance-shaped leaves with burgundy-purple tones, silver chevrons, and deep red undersides. The dramatic coloration makes it a bold statement plant in mixed borders, where its foliage remains eye-catching from spring through fall.
Chelone lyonii (Pink Turtlehead)
Pink turtlehead has glossy, dark green leaves with serrated edges that sometimes take on bronze tones in cooler seasons. While the plant is admired for its pink snapdragon-like flowers, the lush, colorful foliage adds beauty and structure to moist garden areas.
Rodgersia
Rodgersia features large, textured leaves that resemble horse chestnut foliage, often emerging bronze or copper before turning green. In autumn, the leaves may shift back to deep bronze or red shades, creating striking seasonal interest. It thrives in damp, partially shaded conditions.
Ajania pacifica (Pacific Chrysanthemum)
This perennial has gray-green leaves with striking creamy-white margins, creating a variegated effect. In fall, it produces clusters of small yellow flowers, but its colorful foliage is attractive throughout the growing season and especially striking in borders.
Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ (Golden Creeping Jenny)
Golden creeping jenny is a low-growing perennial with round leaves in bright chartreuse to golden-yellow. Its vivid foliage spreads to form a colorful mat, making it excellent as groundcover or a trailing plant in containers. The intense leaf color remains eye-catching from spring to fall.