I’m pretty pleased with my shade planters this year, although I would be even more pleased if the crazed squirrels would stop burying their treasure in them and knocking out my plants. I went for a more colorful tropical feel than I have in other years.
Container recipe,
Fairly simple, each planter has a croton for the center, 3 bright rose New Guinea Impatiens, 3 Asparagus Sprengerii, and 3 gold Lysimachia/Creeping Jenny. In the fall, I’ll bring the croton indoors and leave the Creeping Jenny to overwinter in the pots.
The second planter is the same – this one sits by my mailbox. It would look much nicer if I could keep those damn squirrels out. This time of year it’s worth it to do a daily check for plants the tailed rodents have dug out satisfying their relentless urge to hide food.
Heat Performance
Squirrels aside, I feel confident this is a shade planter that will look sharp until the end of the summer. On Father’s Day weekend, we had temperatures in the high 90’s and all the plants in these containers sailed through it. Had I used Lobelia it would be a crispy dead thing. Bacopa, the other plant that seems to show up in nearly every planter I see, would have completely stopped flowering in those temperatures. By using Creeping Jenny with tropical Asparagus Fern and Crotons, I’ve avoided all that disappointment.
Elegant shade planters
If you were looking for a more elegant shade planter, Begonia Pegasus is always a winner. These were last year’s arrangements, 1 Pegasus in the center, 3 Dragon Wing Begonia in either Pink or Red, and Tradescantia for the spiller. The picture above was shortly after planting.
Not the best photo, but here you can see how lovely it was well into the season.
Bonus Shade Planter Idea
This is one from my mom’s garden last year. Another easy arrangement for shade, it’s just a caladium, a New Guinea and some coleus. She may have occasionally needed to pinch the coleus but other than that it’s another season long planter.
Would love to be able to print out these directions–especially for the succulent turtle.
I’m looking into the best way to add that feature. It will be easy for planters. For the turtle I have to decide if I would illustrate the instructions or just use photos.