I have an area which is shaded by a hedge and a couple of elderberry trees. Reasonable amount of sun in winter, not so much once the trees get their leaves. I've grown lettuce and alpine strawberries there succesfully, but other things have not done so well.
Clearing the area of weeds at the weekend, it seems like mint and lemon balm have succesfully colonised from a nearby bed. Assuming I get these two under control, are there other herbs which will tolerate some shade? I already have angelica nearby. Parsley & Chives might do OK in the sunnier edge, is there anything else edible I could consider?
How about Sweet Cicely? I have successfully grown in in dry shade, it can make quite a big clump when established though, so I don't know how much room you have. The leaves smell of aniseed/liquorice, pretty white flowers too. Some green oreganos will tolerate shade, chives as you mentioned will do well, as will garlic chives. You could even try the plain leaved sage, not the variegated types.
Mint, rhubarb, horseradish all tend to tolerate shade, most herbs like sun.
Apart from the herbs already mentioned, I have found that Oregano, Pennyroyal and trailing Rosemary are fine in semi-shade.
G xx
Thanks everyone - some excellent suggestions. Already have rhubarb and horseradish nearby, sweet cicely will fit very well at the back where it's shadier (and flowers should look nice) and I'll try the others in the sunnier bits.
Our american land cress grew really well in shade and has carried on right through the winter. We started off just using it as leaves for sandwiches etc, but a few weeks ago used a water cress soup recipe that was lovely ;D