Container Plant Combos for Shady Areas
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| Contrasting flower colors add instant interest to a shady planting. |
Come late June, we're all looking for a bit of shade, aren't we? I know I love my sunny flowers—sunflowers, lantanas, and petunias are always on my must-have list—but there is something so cool about shady plants. Sometimes it's their cooler colors that draw me in, and other times it's their great textures and foliage that attract me. As a landscape designer, I create container plantings for many of my clients, and I have a tried-and-true technique when choosing colors. Great color combinations are created by using hues of the same color, contrasting colors, or different colors close to each other on the color wheel.
Monochromatic Planting
Monochromatic simply means using plants in the same color hue. This can mean a range of all blue flowers, shades of white and silver, or even different hues of green. One of my favorite monochromatic combinations for shady areas is green and white caladiums, white impatiens, variegated ivy, dusty miller, and Aztec grass. This green and white combo is texturally interesting and coolly elegant.
Contrasting Planting
Take some of the monochromatic combinations above and add an opposite color for instant, dramatic contrast. Switch out the white impatiens for any other color (but all the same color), or consider vibrant red caladiums instead of the green and white variety. This technique will liven up any planting for added interest in the shade.
Complementary Planting: Take the contrasting planting above and add a complementary color. Complementary means a color on the same side of the color wheel, but not the identical hue. So if you start with a monochromatic planting of green and white, and add a pop of red for contrast, finish it off with pink impatiens. The effect is instantly interesting and eye-catching.
Using this color trick will take the guesswork out of choosing plants for your shady containers. Where you may have had boring and lackluster plantings before, now you can be proud of the interesting combinations you're creating!
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