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 Sunday, May 18
No sun intended
10 annuals for low-light borders
| Few flowering plants will grow in deep shade. To physically bring more light to your garden bed, consider painting a nearby wall a light, reflective color. If trees are darkening your border, a few selective pruning cuts may be all you need to add some extra light. |
When those first flats of annuals go on display, it's like a shot of adrenaline in the spade-toting biceps of every gardener. Every imaginable hue on the rainbow's spectrum is within arm's reach - all we have to do is pluck it up and sink it into our sleepy gardens. For some, though, this can be a frustrating time. So many spectacular color combinations, but no sun-drenched bed to put them in. This is the plight of a shade gardener. Every year they plod through the aisles of begonias and impatiens, looking for some new way to express themselves. The truth of the matter is, there's more to shade annuals than those two well-worn choices.
Fabulous flowers
 Torenia (Torenia fournieri)
Snapdragons usually come in pastels, but torenia offers deep indigo shades of blue in the old-time snapdragon shape. More commonly used in hanging baskets, torenia's 12-inch rounded habit also makes it a good candidate for a bedding plant. I personally like to deadhead mine, but it's not necessary. Torenia will bloom continuously all summer long, as long as it receives sufficient moisture. The 1989 All-American Selection 'Clown' series includes flowers of burgundy, rose, violet and a bicolor white with blue. Extend the season by digging torenia up in the fall and repurposing it as a colorful houseplant.
'Catalina Blue' Torenia (photo: Proven Winners)
 Fuschia (Fuschia x hybrida)
This well-known hanging plant literally drips with the intense colors of red and purple. Fuschia does well in the shade, but don't limit yourself to hanging containers (although a shepherd's hook can accommodate those in a planting bed). A well-chosen container can double as an artistic piece for your planting bed, and with a fuschia tucked in, you'll create vertical interest that's drenched in color. One key to fuschia success: Keep them moist. In drought, you may need to water twice daily. Keep checking that soil to assure a moist environment for your plant.
Fuschia 'Shadow Dancer Marcia' (photo: Proven Winners)
 Browallia (Browallia speciosa)
These blooms of blue or white are low maintenance. Over-watering or over-fertilizing will leave you with all leaves and no flowers. So take it easy. Pull up a chair and enjoy these vibrant blossoms as they brighten up your shady corner. Browallia grows eight to 16 inches high with a round habit. You can dig it in the fall and enjoy it all winter, as browallia makes a great houseplant.
Browallia 'Endless Sensation' (photo: Proven Winners)
 Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)
No point in hiding my bias, I do love heliotrope. Is it the vanilla fragrance? Is it the small violet blossoms, born together in big clouds over the leaves? Is it the foliage itself, with its deep color and impressed venation? It's the whole package. It's not hard to love heliotrope because it has everything. While heliotrope can take partial shade, I wouldn't recommend sinking it into complete darkness. Because this plant's features are rather dark, try combining it with some bright companions. Planting pink double impatiens, lime coleus and purple heliotrope together is color nirvana for me.
(photo: Proven Winners)
 Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana alata)
These two- to four-inch long flowers are not to be missed. Although I prefer the lime and maroon colors, nicotiana also comes in white, lavender, crimson, green, pink and yellow. Reaching heights up to 24 inches, flowering tobacco is one of the tallest flowering shade annuals I know of. Pick up the color you like best and carry it around the nursery to find a companion facer plant. Nicotiana will certainly bring a fresh look to your shade bed. One additional plus: Nicotiana makes a good cut flower.
Nicotiana 'Perfume Deep Purple' (photo: Ann Tice)
 Monkey flower (Mimulus hybridus)
Monkey flower loves wet, shady sites. The blossoms come in warm-hued tones, from yellow to burgundy. Its name comes from the flower's resemblance to a grinning monkey (you may need a good imagination to see this). Mimulus forms a spreading mound, 10 inches high with a slightly wider spread.
Fantastic foliage
 Coleus
The advantage of foliage color is that it is always there, unlike temperamental flowers! (In fact, you should remove the flowers on coleus to boost foliage production.) And, if you think foliage plants are boring, you haven't seen a well-placed coleus. These amazing leaves come in chartreuse, yellow, pink, white, red, maroon and (of course) green. Think about a combination that you could use it with or utilize the plant en masse for a larger visual effect.
 Sweet potato vine (Ipomoea)
Sweet potato vine provides a wonderful rambling effect. The lime, maroon, speckled or tri-colored foliage can tumble out of a well-placed planter or simply scramble across the bed as an annual ground cover. There are plenty of fresh opportunities available to shade gardeners with this creative plant.
Ipomoea 'Sweet Caroline' (photo: Proven Winners)
 Polka dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya)
Not hard to guess what the features of this plant may be. Some have pink spots on green leaves; others have patches of red, white, or a lighter shade of green. Polka dot plant's color is expressed best in partial sun. As the light level dims, so does the colorful foliage. A fun quality of hypoestes is its easy propagation. Stem cuttings root easily in water or moist potting mix. Cuttings should be four inches long and have their lower leaves removed. (This makes a fun experiment for kids.)
 Elephant ear (Colocasia esculenta)
Huge, heart-shaped, conspicuously-veined leaves give this plant a bold tropical look. It will do best grown in fertile, medium to wet soils. Morning sun generally brings out the best leaf color. Plants can also be grown as pond marginals in up to six inches of standing water.
Colocasia esculenta 'Illustris' (photo: Proven Winners)
 Mollie Uftring developed a green thumb as a teenager working in the perennial beds at Hornbaker Gardens in Princeton, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois with a degree in ornamental horticulture, she worked as a landscape designer in Ohio before returning to Illinois.
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