Shade Perennial Container
This container is packed with perennials that will come back year after year, as well as annual begonias that can be swapped out seasonally to change up the color combinations. It’s natural, soft appearance would fit in beautifully on any deck or patio in a shaded area.
The plants in this container will thrive in part shade where they received dappled or morning light. They can take up to 4 hours of cumulative sun and like some protection from the hottest afternoon sun.
When planting a container, select one or more plants that fill these categories to make sure you have a well balanced design. The number of plants you choose depends on the size of the container. If there is only room for one of each, that is fine.
Thrill plants provide height to your container.
Spill plants cascade over the side of the pot.
Fill Plants fill in the spaces in the middle of the pot.
Get our step-by-step instructions on how to pot up your containers here.
Thrill
Jacob’s Ladder: Perennial Jacob’s Ladder serves as our primary thrill plant in this container. The blue flowers will be present for several weeks, and then the fern like foliage will remain. Deadheading may encourage them to rebloom.
Holly Fern: Visible to the right and left of the foamflower in this photo, it’s serving as a thrill plant supported by other plants, but would serve as a filler when left with more space to spread out. This evergreen fern will look excellent throughout the year.
Fill
Foamflower: This delicate plant would serve beautifully as a thrill plant, if you chose to leave out the Jacob’s Ladder for a container with less vertical height. Foamflower generally blooms for about 6 weeks, then it’s lovely green foliage will remain.
Hosta: Hosta come in a wide variety of sizes and colors, from neon green to a deep green that is almost blue. The smaller variety in this container serves well as a fill plant.
Coral Bells: We’ve chosen a purple shade of coral bells to introduce some color via foliage.
Spill
Begonia: Begonia is an annual that works well in this container, as it can be replaced yearly for fresh blooms. Ask about shade trailing perennials that could take its place, if you prefer to use all perennials in this container.