These Gorgeous Shade Plants Will Invigorate Your Container Garden

With lushly drooping, pencil-thin stems in delicate segments, this tropical succulent is a wonderful and unusual plant for hanging containers. They can live outdoors year-round in mild climates, or indoors in filtered sunlight.  They produce little white flowers in the spring, as long as they’re kept happy. Care: Keep them evenly moist during spring and summer, but don’t allow plants to sit in standing water — these epiphytes like drainage. Cut back on water from the fall through winter, during the plant’s dormant season. During this time, water just enough to keep the plant from shriveling. This tropical cactus can’t take temperatures much lower than 60 degrees, so move it indoors in areas with colder winters.

Get an instant refresh on your landscape with this shade-loving container arrangement. This low-growing, eye-caching, groundcover softens edges when used as a trailer hanging over the edge of a container or window box, or in a hanging basket. Heart-shaped leaves are covered with shimmering, silvery down, as are the stems. For the most striking effect, pair it with an upright grass or grasslike plant (it looks stunning with New Zealand flax). Care: Dichondra prefers warm, dry growing conditions, so allow it to dry out between waterings. It can’t handle cold weather, so treat it as an annual in colder environments.

Here’s another stunner whose bright foliage steals the show. This annual’s brilliantly colored leaves range in endless variety from ruby red and yellow to pink, orange, and blends in a range of psychedelic colors and patterns. The leaves also vary in shape and size, growing lance-shaped to rounded, edged in ruffles or serrated jags. For a lightly shaded patio, we love ‘Stormy Weather,’ ‘Tammy,’ and ‘Copper Splash.’ Each one looks refreshing in an apple green glazed pot. Care: Pinch the tips to encourage bushy, vigorous growth; the flower spikes are spindly and ruin the overall look of the plant. Coleus prefers rich, loose, well-drained soil with regular water and feeding.

Japanese forest grass, or Hakone grass, will provide instant zen to shade gardens, especially when planted beneath a red-leaved Japanese maple or with bronzy-red Heuchera. Gracefully arching leaves give this perennial grass the look of a cooling fountain, and they make a gentle rustling sound in the wind. Green with long yellow stripes, the leaves turn chartreuse in dense shade; in full sun in cooler climates, they turn creamy pale yellow. Plant this shade-lover in a container in a contrasting color, like deep cobalt blue or cadmium red for the most dramatic effect. Care: Water regularly to keep them soft and healthy. Japanese forest grass benefits from being divided—repot these!

Slowly growing into graceful mounds, shade-loving Japanese maples are naturally small to medium-size trees that can thrive in containers (one of the reasons they’re great for bonsai). Pair them Japanese forest grass or add blue-flowered creeping Turkish speedwell (Veronicaliwanensis) to cover bare soil in the pot. Varieties with weeping branches and finely cut leaves, like ‘Crimson Queen’ (pictured) are great choices. Care: To keep a potted maple thriving, be sure to plant it in a container with a diameter a couple of inches wider than the root ball, and wider than it is tall. While the tree is young, transplant it every second year into a slightly larger pot, adding fresh potting soil. After the tree is 8 years old, repot it into the same container every 5 years, removing the outer 3 inches of root and replacing the soil each time. Apply a 10-10-10 fertilizer when the first leaves appear in spring, and monthly through August. For more tips, check out Sunset’s Bonsai book.

Dark purple foliage and dainty flowers make this plant an excellent choice as a shade plant for containers in mild-winter climates, or as an indoor plant in colder zones. They’re breathtaking as an underplanting for black ‘Ballerina Purple’ angel’s trumpet (Datura metel) for a cool study in deep violet and pale lavender. Both like a rich, organic soil. Care: Keep it in light shade with moist, well-draining soil. Allow the top couple inches of soil dry out between watering.

Also called Sprenger’s asparagus or asparagus fern, this lily family-member is often kept as a houseplant in northern climates. The foliage is a soft mist of tiny leaves on arching, wiry stems. It will produce small white flowers (similar to a spider plant) which eventually turn to a red berry. This plant is classified as a weed in Hawaii, but keeping it contained (and the berries picked) can minimize unwanted spread in tropical climates. Care: Most ornamental asparagus look greenest in partial shade but thrive in sun in cool-summer climates. Leaves will yellow in dense shade. Plant in well-draining soil amended with peat moss or ground bark. Because of fleshy roots, plants can go for some time without water, but they grow better when watered regularly. Asparagus fern (not a true fern) is the most common of the bunch, with tiny threadlike leaves that form feathery dark green sprays.

Angel’s trumpets are guaranteed to bring wow factor to your shady container garden. These upright, semi-woody plants (shrubby small trees) produce exquisitely night-fragrant trumpet-shaped blossoms: 8-12″ long, up to a foot across, in singles and doubles. Though both plants produce white flowers, on Brugmansia blooms are pendent and tend toward oranges and peach tones; Datura (aka jimsonweed) produces blooms that face upward, in shades of pale lavender and periwinkle-purple. Being nightshades, both are very poisonous plants with psychotropic alkaloids, so avoid if you have pets or kids with plant-munching habits.

Clivia is an absolute bombshell, great in borders, beds, or containers. It produces brilliant, large clusters of funnel-shaped orange flowers on 2-foot stalks that appear above dense clumps of dark green, strap-shaped foliage, a beacon to hummingbirds. The flowering period ranges from early winter to mid-spring, but most or spring bloomers. Ornamental red berries follow the flowers. Grow them in frostless areas or well-protected parts of the garden. Care: While they need regular water when flowering (and look quite tropical), Clivia prefer to be on the dry side. Move containers to shelter or indoors in winter to rest, during which time water and fertilizer should be withheld. Feed monthly during the growing season, and repot every 3-5 years in the spring as needed.

This lively mint-family perennial reaches 2 feet tall and wide, forming a rounded bush. The plant has dark green, glossy leaves with purple undersides, and showy lavender blooms that attract butterflies. ‘Mona Lavender’ is a short-day plant, so won’t typically start blooming until fall, but then it carries on right through to spring, given a mild winter climate. Care: This plant thrives on neglect. While it can handle full sun along the coast, this plant is happiest in light shade. It needs well-drained soil and regular water. Promote better branching and more compact habit by pinching tips regularly. It will tolerate a light frost, but is generally considered a tender perennial.

Creeping Jenny is a mainstay of the shady container garden. Roundish chartreuse leaves and yellow flowers on trailing stems make Creeping Jenny, a mat-forming perennial, ideal for softening the edges of tall urns or hanging baskets. We grow it in an olive green glazed pot, where it spills out around a yellow-flowered abutilon. In the ground, it grows 4 to 8 inches tall, and spreads to 2 feet—happily rooting as it goes. Care: If left to their own devices, they’ll quickly colonize damp, shady areas, so keep them moist for best results (and keep them well contained if you don’t want them to spread).

Impatiens serve up a dizzying array of color choices, but of all the varieties out there, we’re partial to the New Guinea hybrids for their large leaves and 3-inch-wide flowers of pink, lavender, purple, red, and more. The vibrant orange-flowered New Guineas are positively sizzling in chocolate-brown containers, and Shady Lady provides a shocking bright pink color to contrast orange and yellow. ‘Busy Lizzie’ (I. walleriana)—comes in a bewildering variety of forms, from dwarf strains to tall, single blooms and double, in nearly every color but blue. Keep Them Happy: Though they do provide ample color and serious tropicalia vibes, you’ll have to earn it with ample feeding and watering. They’re typically inexpensive and easy to find, though, so feel free to buy them by the flat and fill up containers and boxes, as long as you provide rich, moist potting mixture.

Hostas are the poster children for shade-loving plants. There’s a hosta for every need, and they’re super economical as long as you’re patient—hostas exemplify the old saying, “first year they sleep, second they creep, third year they leap!” They come in a virtual wardrobe of sizes, shapes, textures, and colors. Depending on the variety, their leaves may be heart-shaped, round, oval, or lance-shaped; glossy or dull; smooth or quilted; blue, green, yellow, or white, or several all at once. Some even magically transform throughout the season; the variety ‘Remember Me’ changes from white with green edges to yellow with green edges (as pictured in the upper right of the photo). And as if all that wasn’t enough, the dears bloom! They send up slender spires of pink, lavender, or white trumpet-shaped flowers. Hostas are so extra. Keep Them Happy: All hostas go dormant in the winter, and will seem to have died completely, but as long as you feed them once a year, they come back better than ever in the spring. Grow them in Zones 1-10 and 12-21. They like to stay cool and damp in the summer, but unfortunately, so do hosta-chomping slugs and snails—bait for these critters 3-4 times a year.

For sizzling color in pots and hanging baskets, it’s hard to beat these perennials—each blooms as flouncy and vibrant as a Mexican dancer’s skirt. Flowers come in every shade but blue. Hanging types bloom more profusely, but upright strains have larger flowers. These begonias grow best in filtered shade and rich soil; water them enough to keep the soil moist but not soggy, and mist regularly. Keep Them Happy: Tuberous begonias are perfect patio plants: they thrive under the filtered shade of a pergola or arbor, or can be hung in baskets for modular pops of hot color. Plant them in rich, well-draining humus and keep them moist, but not soggy (leaves will turn yellow if overwatered). Outside foggy coastal areas, plan on regular misting for best results.

For dry shade, ‘Soft Caress’ has everything we love about Mahonia, without the pesky spines! Compact enough to use in containers, yet large enough for foundation plantings or borders, they provide fabulous texture to the shade garden. Expect bright yellow flowers from fall through early spring and frosty, indigo-colored berries in the fall. The plant will take part sun to full shade, and eventually reaches 3 feet tall and wide. It’s a gorgeous addition to a woodland or Japanese-style garden. Available through ourSunset Western Garden Collection.Care: This Oregon-grape relative likes a well-drained, slightly acidic soil and can handle a little drought once established. Feed it a balanced, slow-release fertilizer in the spring.

All Aeoniums have fleshy leaves held in rosettes at branch tips and come in a variety of colors, but variegated forms (like this one) or fully green ones will thrive better in shade than dark purple types. After several years, rosettes may produce a single large flower stalk in spring or summer; branches that have flowered die. These cool-season growers go dormant in summer to save water. During dormancy, they may appear sick and lose some leaves, but when the weather cools and the plants get a little water, they perk up and regrow leaves. These look really cool with dark orange bloomers, such as Fuchsia ‘Gartenmeister Bonstedt.’ Care: Plant them in well-drained soil. Be sure to cut back on irrigation in summer. With age, most aeoniums grow leggy. To encourage branching, cut back branches several inches below rosettes anytime except during summer dormancy. Rosettes tend to be smaller after growing out from pruning.

Everillo wins our best plant for brightening up shady spots, or for adding a pop of color to a mixed container. It boasts bright, colorful foliage year round, and will grow to 1½ feet tall and wide. This easy-care evergreen grass can be used as a groundcover, to edge a path or patio, or tucked into a living wall or window box. Available through our Sunset Western Garden Collection.

Fuchsia is a staple hanging plant, perfect for containers on shady porches. Hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies can’t resist the flowers, and the plant generously produces spectacular blooms for months. They’re an ideal choice if you find strong fragrances off-putting, as they’re practically odorless. Hardy fuchsias come in a range of colors (we’re partial to the blaze orange of F.magellanica ‘Aurea’ (delicious against the lime green foliage of Japanese forest grass) and the babysoft pink flowers and variegated foliage of F. magellanica var. molinae ‘Sharpitor Aurea.’ Care: Water regularly for the first few years, but then some varieties become water-wise. Keep shoots pinched if you like a bushier plant, and prune back in the spring to control the shape. F. magellanica varieties are the most cold-hardy. They like an organic soil, and mulching will help protect plants in the winter.

Also called Chinese fringe-flower, Loropetalum provides a soothing foliar backdrop to brighter flowers in shady container gardens, and this is the only weeping form. Easy-to-grow, low-maintenance dwarf shrub holds rich purple foliage year-round. ‘Purple Pixie’ grows just 1 foot tall and 4 to 5 feet wide, making it great as a border edger, in mass plantings, on slopes or cascading over retaining walls. It adds vibrant color spilling over containers and hanging baskets, and looks a treat with white flowered plants like Nicotiana. Available through our Sunset Western Garden Collection. Care: Once established, they are very tolerant of drought conditions, but they’ll always benefit from being mulched. Give them light applications of balanced fertilizer in April and May, and they’ll respond with lush growth.

These charming evergreen clumps of roundish leaves with lobed or scalloped edges come in every color under the sun, from purple with silver veins to chartreuse to this warm coral variety, ‘Southern Comfort.’  Heuchera make great container plants, especially when combined with other perennials for shade. ‘Southern Comfort’ (a warm caramel color, like its namesake) looks scrummy next to butterscotch-colored impatiens. Heuchera takes sun only in coolest climates, and grows to 28 inches tall, with showy, white springtime flowers that butterflies love. If you prefer a chartreuse leaf, try ‘Electric Lime;’ for a petite version, try Electric Lime’s kid sister ‘Electra.’ Care: If watered until established, Heuchera can withstand the dry shade under the canopy of trees or eaves. Until then, keep on a generous watering schedule, give it well-drained loamy soils, and feed it in the spring. It does tolerate heat well, but still prefers to be protected from direct sun (though in the cooler climes of the Pacific Northwest it can take a bit more sun).

Covered in blooms that range from pale green and creamy white to ruby, garnet, and deep amethyst, hellebores are at their prettiest from winter into spring, when their delicate flowers open like cups or bells amid leathery green leaves. Hellebores range from 1 to 3 feet tall and wide, and can tolerate drought once established (after two years). Mulch plants with aged compost in spring and fall (keep it away from the plant’s crown), and you won’t need any supplemental fertilizer. These shade-loving perennials add sparkle any time of year, whether in pots or in garden beds.

Wild woodland strawberries are an ideal a choice groundcover for dry shade and likewise turn an ordinary container into a fairytale. Runners quickly establish a mat of strawberry leaves, while white, five-petaled flowers develop into tiny red fruits that are a concentrated flavor explosion, unlike anything available in a plastic clamshell at the grocery store. Clumps grow to 4 inches tall and as wide as you want; consider planting in a hanging basket or along a retaining wall to let runners and fruit cascade downwards. Care: Since woodland strawberries are a native forb in mid-elevations throughout the West, they can do quite well with a great deal of neglect. That said, in containers, they’ll fare better with a regular watering in hot weather to prevent shriveling.