Create A Lush Summer Shade Container Planter

Creating planters and urns for a shaded area is more than just tossing a hanging basket of impatiens in an urn on your porch. Sure, we've all done that, but this year why not make one of those fancy planters like the garden center pros do?

Today I'm showing you how to make a container planter filled with beautiful shade-loving plants that is not only easy to make, but uses plants that are also houseplants.

Yes, one of the best parts of this container is that all of these plants except for the Sunpatiens can be individually taken out of this arrangement, repotted in their very own pots and brought inside as houseplants this fall.

And I don't mean they might be able to over-winter inside if everything is perfect, the stars align and you painstakingly baby them along. These plants are bonafide houseplants and will enjoy being inside.

It's the ultimate in thrifty gardening!

Shade-Loving Plants Used

• Begonia 'Gryphon'
• Coleus - Burgundy Wedding Train
• Coleus - Pineapple Beauty
• Hypoestes Phyllostachya (aka polka dot plant) - Splash Select Pink
• Hypoestes Phyllostachya (aka polka dot plant) - Splash Select White
• Variegated Swedish Ivy (Candlevine Plectranthus)
• SunPatiens® Compact Hot Pick*
• Fern (small Boston fern I believe?)
• Wandering Dude aka Wandering Jew (Tradescantia Zebrina)

And yes, that's a lot of plants for a 19" container, but we're going for instant gratification, loads of colorful foliage and a general WOW factor. You can always pull some plants out later in the summer if it starts to get too crowded.

*Don't forget, all these plants except for the Sunpatiens can be removed from this arrangement in the fall and taken inside to be used as houseplants.

(L-R) Begonia 'Gryphon' - Coleus Pineapple Beauty - Coleus Burgundy Wedding Train

(L-R) Variegated Swedish Ivy - Sunpatiens Compact Hot Pink - Splash Select Pink Polka Dot Plant

(L-R) Boston Fern - Splash Select White Polka Dot Plant - Wandering Dude aka Wandering Jew

Diagram For Planting

A view from directly over the planter.

And here's the corresponding diagram.

Thriller, Filler, Spiller Planting Concept Explained

In order to have a visually interesting container planter using multiple types of plants it's common practice to use the thriller, filler, spiller concept for planting.

I'm not normally into so-called "rules" for gardening, I'm a try it out for yourself and see if it works in your garden type of gardener, but this technique is an easy way to organize your plants to make the container look lushly abundant while highlighting the best assets of each plant.

Thrillers

Thrillers add height and are a focus of your planter.

I started with planting the Begonia 'Gryphon' first as my main thriller plant. It's huge and stately and will grow to be 12-16" tall. It was placed toward the back, not directly in the middle because I wanted to tuck other plants in front of it.

The second part of the thriller is the Pineapple Beauty Coleus. It will be roughly the same size as the begonia (grows between 12-18" tall) and has gorgeous yellow and chartreuse foliage with splashes of burgundy.

The SunPatiens Compact Hot Pink is a thriller also since it is a nice pop of bright pink to break up all the foliage. Although it technically can grow 16"-30" tall, I am banking on the fact that it will stay on the small size since it is growing in such a tight space.

Fillers

These plants fill out the areas between the main Thrillers and are normally secondary plants. They're not the main show, but still need to have some interesting color or foliage.

The Pink Polka Dot Plant and White Polka Dot Plant add a fun look to the planter with their colorful leaves playing off the pinks and greens of other plants.

The fern of unknown breeding (seriously, the plant tag just said "fern") gives a nice alternative foliage type. Ferns are always welcome, maybe even expected, in a shade planter.

Spillers

Plants that trail over the edges of the planter and take your eye downward are called spillers.

The two Wander Dude/Wandering Jews (one in the front and one in the back) are classic spiller plants. They drape over the planter to soften up the hard edges.

Burgundy Wedding Train Coleus has a trailing habit and a bold color combination of chartreuse and burgundy. It's barely visible right now beneath the leaves of the begonia, but will be flowing over the side of the pot in no time.

In the back of the pot, I placed a Variegated Swedish Ivy (also known as candlestick vine) with bright green foliage and cream scalloped edging. It's a wonderful trailing plant for cascading down the sides of containers and hanging baskets. You can easily control the size and shape of this plant by pinching the excess as it grows longer.

Other Fabulous Shade Plants To Consider For Your Pots

• Any variety of Coleus is a good start
• The same with any variety of Begonia
• Traditional Impatiens for heavily shaded areas
• Fuchsia
• Caladium
• Creeping Jenny
• Lobelia
• Trailing Torenia aka Wishbone Plant
• Heuchera*
• Astilbe*
• Foam Flower*
• Small Hostas* (look for ones with "mouse" in the name, they tend to be much smaller)

*Hardy Perennials in most areas

Updated - One Month Later

I added this photo to show you how it's grown in just one month.

If the Wandering Dude/Wandering Jew keeps growing at this pace I'll probably snip some of the longer pieces off and root them in water to make even more plants.