Suggestions for full shade annuals

My porch gets a bit of morning filtered sunshine, but it is in shade the rest of the day.

Impatiens grow beautifully there, but they make such a mess I wanted to try something different this year. There weren't a lot of options, but I was delighted to find something new in my nursey: Bacopa ('Snowstorm' in a pink variety). It looked gorgeous for a few weeks, but then it dwindled down to mostly just foliage. Apparently it wants more sun than it claims.

Each spring I put up three hanging baskets, so something that trails would be nice (e.g., probably not Coleus).

Can you suggest something else?

If you have pictures of your lovely shade containers, I'd love to see them.

Some of my bacopa is in full sun, some in morning sun, but I wouldn't think it would do well in mostly shade. What about caladiums, polka dot plant, ginger...

I have a LOT of shade (some deep). I grow -

Clematis
Brunnera (Jack Frost is my all time LOVE)...
Bleeding Heart
Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta)
Solomon's Seal
Lungwort
Begonias
Hostas
Fuchsia (hardy and tender)
Hydrangea
Woodruff (spreads like mad, but I love it) I grow it in the beds with my Hostas, and Hydrangeas. It's super pretty, but again..some people dislike it for it's spreading habits. I plant it FOR it's spreading habits...lol
Alyssum
Johnny Jump-Ups
Viola

I'm sure I'll think of more. I thought we had a thread on this topic going awhile back. You might peek around... it's ringing a bell to me.

PS~
Fuchsia's are really messy too. I had my whole porch lined with them one summer and I spent a LOT of time sweeping up spent flowers.

I'll look into caladiums, polka dot plant, and ginger. I believe these are annuals, yes? I don't think I have ever seen them in nurseries. I guess shade annuals are hard to find if you don't want the ubiquitous impatiens.

I don't mind sweeping up fallen petals. What's a nuisance is that they stick to the floor and have to be scrubbed off! I just have far too many other gardening tasks than be on my hands and knees on that tiny porch every morning, lol.

Highmtn, I grow several of the plants you mention (brunnera, dicentra, lungwort, hydrangea, viola, hosta), as well as creeping phlox, ferns, vinca ... but they are in my shade garden -- in the ground where they can spread out and have babies.

I have never tried to grow a perennial in a hanging basket. I suppose I could do that and then transplant in the fall. Brunnera Jack Frost would, indeed, look lovely. But I was hoping for something that bloomed long term. Sheesh, it's looking like impatiens is the main dude.

I like to do a mix, although I don't have a shade planter this year. In the past I've used caladiums (which are bulbs, but you should be able to find some soon in pots,) begonias, the pink polka dot plant, ginger, and some asparagus fern. Can't find a picture. Ah, just read the last line, are you talking about hanging baskets only?

Torenia likes shady areas and is really cute. I especially like some of the trailing forms.

My mom has a really shady yard too. She will sometimes buy small potted tropical houseplants (like the Angel brand) that have interesting foliage on clearance at Lowe's and plant them in pots outside. They usually grow great and seem to love the conditions.

Streptocarpella is my very favorite shade hanging basket, of all time!

I have a LOT of shade. This will grow and bloom with very little direct sun. As you can see from this picture, the basket is hung under a tree, so no direct sun.

Mine look like that, too. Just remember to water the soil, not over the leaves, or they will brown.

It is a fantastic plant. You can treat it like an annual, but if you bring them in, they'll continue to bloom for you all winter.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/1961/
-T

Torenias look beautiful. I have several different ones, and I use them to plant in my patio brugmansia trees, but they require more sun than you have on that porch, in order to bloom.

They will live, but they won't bloom well, and they'll get really leggy. I recommend them, just not for that spot...
:0)

variegated Glechoma looks great in a hanging basket, and can take the same shade as under a tree, or porch, but just will not bloom in that light.

In part sun, it will bloom. But, it would still be pretty without the blooms, with its beautiful variegated and scalloped foliage.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/31476/

seedpicker_TX, that Streptocarpella is gorgeous! (I'd love to see more of your landscaping pictures, as well. Just from that tiny picture, everything looks very lush and healthy.)

Maybe I will put Torenias on the other front porch next year. It gets a bit more sun.

And the foliage on that Glechoma hederacea is really stunning.

I forgot about torenia. I've grown them in some fairly deep shade peony, and they did pretty well.

Torenia is a good one for shade.

I like begonia, but, they don't really trail.

We all know about Impatiens....I never tire of them, I just change color combinations.

If you use Coleus you need to get the trailing kind, like Strawberry Drop.

I tried Impatiens repens this year - Wow does it grow fast, but, rarely has flowers.

Check out this photo from PlantPiles http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/133066/

Great containers, Dale! Help me with a suggestion for my weed-filled fountain base. It's mostly shade, but gets 1 - 2 hours of sun around midday. Impatiens always do well, but I've never had them do well unless I replace all of the soil, and it's getting to be a PIA. I'd love a perennial suggestion. I'd thought of one of the new reblooming hydrangeas, also.

Oops, forgot to post the weeds!

DaleTheGardener, is that your house with the ivy? What a beautiful, immaculate entryway.

I'd never heard of Impatiens repens. It certainly does trail. Are those yellow flowers from the plant or a companion plant?

The Strawberry Drop coleus is beautiful. The colors almost make it look like something is blooming. I could definitely see those colors on my front porch.

Thank you for all the suggestions. I have much to think about.

I agree that nothing beats impatiens for an explosion of continuous flowers, so maybe I'll just plan to use the scrub brush on the porch floor more often next spring. I don't hold out much hope that my bacopa will look like it did the day I bought it, so that's an experiment I doubt I will repeat.

lrwells50, I wonder if Geranium 'Rozanne' would do well. I have some that get just a couple hours of sun in the afternoon, and they bloom from June until after the first hard frost -- which could be even longer for your zone.

Someone with more container experience would have to tell you whether their little roots would overwinter well. It's not like you can carry that container into the house!

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57636/

Mine are just starting to appear now. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=6645262

This has bloomed since April in full shade. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it, but remember they said it was related to wandering jew.

The key is not so much whether it would overwinter, but whether it would survive our humid 100+ temps. Sometimes it doesn't get below 90 even in the evening, and I think that's what gets a lot of plants. I've planted some Johnson's blue in containers this year, though, so I'll keep an eye on them.

Wow, that's some heat. Do you have to water those containers every day in summer?

I believe Johnson's Blue are very similar to Rozanne, with the exception that Rozanne just bloom a bit longer. I just planted some Johnson's Blue in my new cottage garden, but I doubt it will bloom this year.

I have no idea what the wandering jew-like plant is, but I am interested in the shrubs behind. Are they ilex or boxwood? They look very healthy and dense.

Irwells - your plant looks like Bridal Veil to me. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/55107/

peony - I overwinter my geraniums bare root in the basement. It's easy-peasy and I generally get a 60%-70% survival rate.

What do you mean by bare root? Wrapped in wet newspaper?

I took some rhizomes of bigroot geraniums from my mother, wrapped them in wet newspaper and put them in a plastic shopping bag. It rained the day I got home, so I put the bag behind the shed where it's cool and shady. ... And forgot about it.

When I discovered the bag WEEKS later, most of the plants were still alive!

Peony, it's Indian Hawthorne, but I think it's too tender for your zone. It's about 10 years old, and has gotten taller than I expected it to. In the past when I had annuals in the beds, I watered pretty much every day, and they obviously slurped it up! I've been watering the containers since mid-May. It only takes 10 - 15 minutes, and it's been cool in the mornings. Now in August, I go out around 6 in my nightgown, because I'll be sweaty in 5.

I think you're right, Lala_Jane. I remembered the name as soon as I read it.

Peony geraniums are a snap to store bare root. Just dig them up in the fall, shake most of the loose soil from the roots and store them. Most websites recommend you hang them from the rafters in a basement, or stick them in a paper bag and put them on a shelf. About mid-way through the winter take them out and dunk them in water or give them a spritz. If you neglect that step (which I suspect is the reason my success rate is not always as high as it could be, LOL) they'll shrivel up and get brittle before spring. Then sometime in April I take them out and pot them up. Voila, you've got your geranium back.

Tuberous begonias can be done the same way but I don't think you need the mid-storage water step. I saved the root ball on 4 of them last fall and 3 of them bounced right back this spring and are just starting to form buds.

Wow, I had no idea they would survive dry like that! No wonder that bagful of them thrived behind the shed. If I'd completely forgotten about them, their roots would have probably worked through the bag, lol.

Tuberous begonias are virgin territory for me, but I read a lot of positive things about them here. Will have to foray into begonia land soon.

Tuberous begonias are winter flowers for me>

Dale-
That begonia is beautiful.

I also recognize your calandiva kalanchoe. I believe that is the Middler(http://www.calandiva.com/en/assortment/product.html). That is the same one I bought. Nice one!
-T

T,

That Clandiva is still alive, the begonia long gone. The clandive is blooming again! and no one is more surprised than me. I potted it up into a 5" clay pot, set it where I won't be tempted to water it and it is doing well.

I usually kill succulents. I killed this one>

If you kill succulents because you like to overwater, why not pot them in a super fast draining mix?

30% cactus mix, 70% perlite? There is hardly a way you can overwater that ;0)

Or set them in an area where they will not get rain water.

Gorgeous succuelnt, by the way...which one was that?
-T

I LOVE succulents. Here is a coffee table I did with them. The pan is only 4" deep and it is under a clear polycarbonate roof, so it only gets water, when I want it to...

seedpicker_TX, that coffee table is really something!

thanks :0)

Seedpicker,

Here in Florida it can rain every day (sometimes several times a day) for weeks. I have lost succulents to the humidity, ones that I didn't water for days. Some of the most interesting ones just won't take the humidity. I have about 10 that will take our steamy summer weather.

The above succulent was label Christman Bells - no species name was given.


I have had good luck with Kalanchoe, not all of them, but this one does especially well here. It is called Katy.

Dale-
I had no idea you got THAT much rain...

that Katy looks fantastic