When it comes to adding lasting color to your garden, flowers often get all the glory but it’s the foliage that stays the course. Unlike fleeting blooms, colorful foliage perennials offer year-round interest, texture, and vibrancy. From fiery reds to electric chartreuse and deep purples, these plants don’t just support your flowers they steal the spotlight. Whether you’re filling borders, containers, or shady corners, these 12 perennials will deliver bold color, season after season.
1. Heuchera (Coral Bells)
Heuchera is the star of the foliage world, boasting leaves in shades ranging from lime green to deep burgundy, silver, peach, and even near-black. This hardy perennial forms compact mounds and thrives in sun or partial shade, depending on the variety. Its delicate flower spikes are a bonus, but the real show is in its evergreen, ruffled foliage. Ideal for borders and containers, Heuchera adds long-lasting color and is easy to mix with other perennials for striking combinations.
2. Hosta
Hostas are shade garden champions, known for their lush, textured leaves in a palette of greens, blues, yellows, and creamy variegation. With thousands of cultivars, there’s a Hosta to suit every garden style. These low-maintenance plants thrive in dappled light and produce elegant spikes of lavender or white flowers in summer. Their bold foliage creates a rich, cooling effect in any garden bed and pairs beautifully with ferns, astilbes, and other woodland plants.
3. Coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides)
Traditionally grown as an annual, Coleus is actually a tender perennial in warmer climates (USDA zones 10–11) and can be overwintered indoors. Its foliage is simply spectacular — with wild combinations of magenta, lime, burgundy, gold, and even black. Modern cultivars are bred to thrive in sun or shade, offering versatility and drama. Great in containers, borders, or as mass plantings, Coleus delivers unmatched color variation that lasts from spring until frost.
4. Japanese Painted Fern (Athyrium niponicum ‘Pictum’)
A true foliage gem, the Japanese Painted Fern features silver-grey fronds touched with metallic purple and green tones. This slow-spreading perennial prefers shade and moist soil, making it perfect for woodland gardens or shaded borders. Its cool-toned foliage offers a striking contrast to other green plants and adds a soft, almost ethereal texture to the garden. Though delicate in appearance, it’s surprisingly hardy and will return reliably year after year.
5. Ajuga (Bugleweed)
Ajuga is a low-growing groundcover that forms dense mats of colorful foliage in shades of bronze, burgundy, purple, and variegated green. Its spring flower spikes attract pollinators, but it’s the evergreen leaves that keep the show going all year. Ideal for edging, underplanting, or filling in gaps, Ajuga thrives in sun to partial shade and is remarkably tolerant of foot traffic. It’s a no-fuss perennial that brings rich color and texture to any garden.
6. Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’
Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’ is a shade-loving perennial prized for its large, heart-shaped leaves veined with a silvery overlay that shimmers in the light. In early spring, it produces forget-me-not–like blue flowers, but the foliage lasts much longer. Perfect for woodland gardens, shady paths, or under trees, Brunnera adds a cool-toned contrast and looks great alongside ferns and Hostas. It’s deer-resistant, low-maintenance, and adds elegance from spring through fall.
7. Sedum ‘Firecracker’
This compact, low-growing stonecrop features vibrant red-purple foliage that intensifies with sun exposure. Sedum ‘Firecracker’ is drought-tolerant and ideal for sunny rock gardens, borders, or containers. Its succulent leaves provide year-round interest, and in late summer, it blooms with clusters of starry pink flowers that attract bees and butterflies. This perennial is a tough, low-maintenance plant that brings a pop of bold color with minimal effort.
8. Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’
Euphorbia ‘Ascot Rainbow’ stuns with its striking variegated foliage in shades of green edged with cream and blush pink. New growth emerges with red tints, and chartreuse flower bracts appear in spring. This drought-tolerant perennial thrives in full sun and well-drained soil, making it ideal for dry borders or Mediterranean-style gardens. It’s deer-resistant and evergreen in milder climates, providing color and structure throughout the seasons.
9. Tiarella (Foamflower)
Tiarella is a native woodland perennial with deeply lobed, often marbled leaves in shades of green and burgundy. In spring, it sends up fluffy spikes of white or pink flowers, but its semi-evergreen foliage keeps the show going long after the blooms fade. Tiarella loves moist, shaded areas and pairs beautifully with Hostas and ferns. Its trailing varieties also work well as groundcovers, bringing color and texture to darker garden spots.
10. Lungwort (Pulmonaria)
Pulmonaria’s speckled, silvery foliage and early spring flowers make it a standout in shady gardens. While its pink, blue, or purple blooms are charming, it’s the foliage often dappled with silver spots or frosted edges that keeps gardeners coming back. It thrives in cool, moist environments and makes an excellent companion to ferns and Astilbe. Once established, Lungwort requires little maintenance and is a reliable performer in partial to full shade.