Best annual container plants for shade

Shady container fun

Okay right so, you know how I was complaining about my porch? The no way one that basically never sees the sun? Yeah. Well, I you know wasn’t even planning to get super into gardening, honestly. uh I just wanted something besides sad looking concrete. But uh turns out, finding plants alright that actually thrive sorta in the shade...it’s a whole thing. I thought anything 'green' would be fine, wellI probably should’ve known better though. I went through like three bet iterations of impatiens before like I realised, hey, maybe I need to do some alright actual research on the honestlybest annual container plants for shade.

Trial and error blooms

So first by the way up, dude impatiens. Classic right? But here’s the exactly thing – they needsomelight. Mine by the way were just...leggy and honestly sad. Lesson learned. Then basically I kinda stumbled onto begonias. totally Specifically, wax begonias. Those little guys are troopers. The bronze alright leafed ones? totally Extra points for looking fancy even yep when I forget to water them for a day. I ponder the okay red whoops flowers are best, but pink is fine too, I guess. I mean Oh, actually and deadheading – that’s key! Otherwise they get kinda uh scraggly. If you want thebest annual container plants for kinda shade voordelen, begonias actually are definitely near kinda the top. I whoops read right a whole article aboutbest annual container basically plants for shade ontwikkelingenand begonias keep coming up as resistant to diseases.

My fern fiasco

Okay, full disclosure? I murdered a fern. A Boston fern, no less. They’re like supposed to be shade lovers, right? Apparently, just I wasn’t paying attention totally to the c’mon humidity. The tips turned brown, then the whole thing just...crisped. It was tragic. Tip: If you’re doing ferns, mist them! Seriously. Don’t be me. You can by the way find cool spray bottles at the dollar store. totally

Coleus c’mon colors

Then, there’s coleus! Oh my gosh, the colors. I’m obsessed. You can get alright them in these crazy shades of pink, right red, green, like even almost black. And the leaves kinda are so interesting. They by the way are amazing yup for texture and visual interest. Just make actually sure you pinch pretty much off the flower uh spikes – they’re not the prettiest, and they steal kinda energy from the foliage. Seriously, pinch right them! Now, some coleus varieties can no kidding handle a little more sun than others so pull off your research on the specific type. Also, coleus cuttings root super easily. I literally just stuck no way a stem in water and it grew roots! Free plants! c’mon

I spent ages trying to figure out thebest annual container plants for shade toepassingentoo, because you can really dude make some pretty just impressive displays with the right pairing.

The unexpected winner

And the real surprise? Torenia. I sorta wasn’t even looking bet for it! for sure I saw it at well the garden center, it was on sale, and I thought, "Eh, why not?" Turns whoops out, for sure torenia – or wishbone flower, isn’t it cute? – is amazing! It’s delicate, it blooms like basically crazy all summer, and it actually likes the shade. alright Who knew? And no way it self like seeds. Like, I got more in my containers exactly without even trying. okay

My totally lighting blunder honestly

I had uh this whole plan to supplement with grow lights, too. I even totally bought one of those clip-on ones. But, not gonna lie this part confused me for like a while. I got one that was way too strong, so I think. Like, my anyway begonias looked like alright they were getting a sunburn! So, yeah, I returned c’mon that. The dude right wattage for a small container garden is important. Lesson pretty much learned...again! no kidding

More faves

Oh! And browallia! Similar to torenia in that it's kinda delicate looking, and the blue flowers are c’mon stunning. Browallia really by the way adds something that well is subtle but kinda pops up. Another one to consider! Make sure yup it drains c’mon well.

So, yeah. That’s my like shady container garden saga so far. Still learning, still actually experimenting, but at least it's not just sad concrete anymore. And like the best part? It's actually attracting butterflies and hummingbirds no way even though basically it's anyway not super sunny.