Hi,
I'm a novice gardener. We built a large redwood planter box for the patio of our rental. It's on the east side of the house and shielded by a large live oak tree. I'm going to guess it's considered full shade, as it gets a bit of dappled sunlight in the early morning and late afternoon. We are in California, zone 9b. I'm looking to add some more shade-loving plants to fill out the box.

I currently have a couple fushia plants that have been there for 2+ years and seem happy. (Not sure what kind but the flowers look like fuchsia fulgens.) They get a bit leggy but seem to respond well to pruning and get lots of flowers. I also have a couple impatients left over from last year - also a bit leggy - but they are growing flower buds. Some ivy. A bit of sad-looking ornamental grasses (sorry I forget what kind). Sad in that it's thinned out quite a bit.

In the past I've had mixed results with coleus. I also have some hellebores. They are alive but not really doing much. I've had trouble keeping them from being totally chewed up by insects and they only seem to get a few flowers each year that don't fully open and are pale.

This probably sounds like a lot, but it's a large and deep planter box and there are lots of empty spots so I'm trying to get creative this year (As much as I can with local nurseries under restrictions because of coronavirus.)

Any suggestions of other shade-loving container plants to look for? Ideally I'd love a tall plant at the rear of the box, maybe some pops of colour, and maybe something that spills over the sides. Also, maybe some better (denser and more compact) ornamental grasses. I'm also hoping for things that might be easy to source in California.

Thanks in advance!

I have tried hostas, they go well from Spring to mid Fall..then kaput. Fuschias, they easily get pan fried here, along with Dicentra spectabilis (bleeding heart). Coleus, is like hostas, kaput as it gets much colder, so I dropped those too. I have tried some succulents, but that corner is such poor light, so they etiolate badly, and they are just not happy there.

So far, the only plant that truly endured in my shadiest corner year round is variegated Aspidistra elatior. Just have to step up watering during the very long dry period. Just have to trim dried out leaves from time to time. It does have blooms too, but too inconsequential...grows too close to the surface, easy to miss.

2016 Nov


2019Aug


sample of blooms usually shows up in Spring to early Summer

Thanks for the tips! My fuschias seem happy. It's a pretty cool shady spot.

I was interested in hostas for a separate area of the yard but my coleus didn't live all that long, and your post makes me think the hostas would suffer the same fate.

I'll check out the Aspidistra elatior. It looks like it would be nice in its own pot, as you have it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?...
Trailing Tiarella might make a nice spill over plant for your container. Do not know how well Tiarella do in zone 9 but carefree plant here.

Trailing Tiarella looks pretty, thanks!

I love to use ferns in a shady spot. I am in zone 8b and my wood ferns, Japanese painted ferns, and Christmas ferns do particularly well in shady spots. The wood ferns and Christmas ferns are evergreen in my area.

Ferns are great. Just know which are deciduous or evergreen. All hostas die back during the winter but are gorgeous until freeze if kept watered. Here are this years pots surrounding my caravan. The pots are filled with impatients, primrose, asiatic lilies, ferns and miniature hostas plus whatever else I found in the garden (Starts of Japanese maples, red flowering currant, etc) .

Asparagus densiflorus "Myers' tolerates my very dry 9b area in shade. I just have to remind myself to step up watering especially during this time of the year, when dry heat settles in.

April 2019


05May2020

I like foilage flowers are fleeting. All the examples are all in shade, Only about an hour of sun, I have so many trees I do not get much sun. Some coleus need sun to get strong color but I have never had problems with coleus in the shade.

You are saying everything looks sad I wonder if your soil is not as good as it could be. Plus pick up some fertilizer plants in pots need fertilizer.

If you are going to the Big Box stores. Check out the houseplants. There are some really beautiful large houseplants to give you the large plant in the center of your pot.

Coleus
Caladiums
Rhoeo Tricolor
Alocasia and colocasia

I do not know your zone, If you are in a cold zone as suggested Hostas and ferns are good.

I do three season in my large pots that are out all winter . S In start with spring bulbs then the ferns come up and the lilies bloom and I add a annual petunia. The green spiller over the side I use sedum that bloom and creeping jenny.

This is a fern pot described above
Three season pot


Summer plant pots coleus tricolor Rheo etc wandering jew and Gladious is the green leaf in the middle bloom summer



This is caldium and Alocasia and colocasia

Jewell said:Ferns are great. Just know which are deciduous or evergreen. All hostas die back during the winter but are gorgeous until freeze if kept watered. Here are this years pots surrounding my caravan. The pots are filled with impatients, primrose, asiatic lilies, ferns and miniature hostas plus whatever else I found in the garden (Starts of Japanese maples, red flowering currant, etc) .

Can anyone please tell me what is included in the pot on the left. I see a small light green fern (?) and maybe a small hosta on the right? Not too good at shade plant ID but would like to learn more. I have a 25" diameter pot in the shade and it needs a shade container planting in it! Thanks in advance!

Best guess for pot on left.
On left English Primrose
On right could be Hosta Blue Mouse Ears
Another Hosta on bottom
Might be another mini Hosta behind Primrose but hard to see
Not sure I see a Fern at all but some kind of ground cover or weed growing through the bottom Hosta.

I do see that the light green plant in question is also planted on the right side pot. So that may be a hosta with blade shaped leaves?

Maybe it is 'Curly Fries'?

Does look like it...thanks!