Shade Perennials in Containers

by Karie
(Atlanta)

I am so envious of my neighbor with her mounds of beautiful purple verbena. She gets the afternoon sun they need and my planters get only morning sun and only a little afternoon. We are in Atlanta so it is very hot, but the house tends to shade my front beds. I want a pink flowering perinnial like hers that will do good in part shade! I have searched on line and just wanted an educated opinion or idea to make my front entryway beautiful! Thank you so much, Karie

Doug says that perennial plants will not bloom all summer as your neighbor's verbena is doing. But you can make good looking perennial containers using foliage plants such as Hosta and Heuchera. In the South, Campanula will do well in containers and bloom for a longer time in the part shade. It really is about looking at pictures and saying, let's put those plants together (I like the look of them) and see how it works out.

But I'm guessing you want a monster show of bloom all summer and perennials aren't going to give you that "look" like your neighbor has. Go with annuals instead.