Those 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,  blue hostas, creeping jenny, and green and yellow thread leaf coleus.

small leaved pink caladiums

pepperomia caparata variegata

Shadow King Cherry Mint begonia

Begonias of every type and description.

Blue Ice nicotiana will tolerate partial shade.

Gartenmeister fuchsia

Shadow King gray leaved begonia.  The gray leaves with their pink/brown pink obverse are intriguing.

Red caladiums are richly colored.  The large leaves make a shade statement.

Jayde 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 thrives in shady conditions.  I pinch them back much as I pinch coleus.  Love that pale pink.

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

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

White 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 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.