At A Glance: Great In The Shade

fittonia.jpgThose gardeners who have containers in shady spots have lots of options. So many plants appreciate and thrive out of the glare of the sun.  Begonias, calocasias, both the lime and variegated licorice, creeping jenny, creeping Charlie, nicotianas, pepperomias, Persian Shield, coleus-the list is long.  To follow is a list of my favorites. The pink fittonia pictured above would light up any shade container.

Persian-Shield.jpgPersian Shield,  blue hostas, creeping jenny, and green and yellow thread leaf coleus.

dwarf-pink-caladiums.jpgsmall leaved pink caladiums

variegated-pepperomia.jpgpepperomia caparata variegata

silvery-leaved begonias.jpgShadow King Cherry Mint begonia

begonias.jpgBegonias of every type and description.

blue-ice-nicotiana.jpgBlue Ice nicotiana will tolerate partial shade.

gardenmeister-fuchsia.jpgGartenmeister fuchsia

gray-leaved-king-begonias.jpgShadow King gray leaved begonia.  The gray leaves with their pink/brown pink obverse are intriguing.

red-caladiums.jpgRed caladiums are richly colored.  The large leaves make a shade statement.

Jayde-pepperomia.jpgJayde pepperomia is a heart shaped glossy leaved shade plant-hard to find, but well worth the trouble.  The glossy green leaf is beautiful.  The trailing watermelon peperomia at the bottom left of this picture-any shade pot will get some rhythm going on with the addition of this plant.  Peperomias of every type inform a shade container planting.

pink-polka-dot-plant.jpgpink polka dot plant thrives in shady conditions.  I pinch them back much as I pinch coleus.  Love that pale pink.

shade-container-planting.jpgA shade container with orange non stop begonias, thread leaf lime and yellow coleus, and Kingwood red coleus makes a statement about color.

coleus.jpgEvery variety of coleus thrives in the shade, or the part shade.  Their flowers are not so significant, but the leaf shapes and colors are great.  No colues planting could possibly be dull.

torenia.jpgtorenia-love the purple and lavender varieties.  They bloom non stop in the shade.

variegated-sunpatiens.jpgWhite sunpatiens with variegated foliage likes a sunny placement better than a shady one.  I would gamble if I needed to, planting them in part shade.

Sonic-pink-New-Guinea-impatiens.jpgSonic Pink New Guinea impatiens does well in full sun, given lots of water.  In part shade, they thrive.  How much shade any plant will tolerate in your containers is all about your willingness to experiment.  My advice?  Try, and try again.

 

Comments

  1. Starr Foster says

    More great ideas, thank you. Where did you find the pretty Blue Ice nicotiana? I’ve never seen it before. I’m guessing it is fine in the sun also, like most nicotianas?

  2. What am exciting collection of plants for shade! The list is a nice group of mostly annual plants which are eye-popping! These zingers would certainly attract attention in whatever shady spot they’re placed. Nice collection!

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