Flowering Annuals That Can Grow in Partial Shade
Below you will find a list of flowering annuals from our plant database that can grow in partial shade. If you click on any of the photos, you will see a Virtual Plant Tag that may contain plant descriptions, usage suggestions and a link to where you can buy that plant.
Uses for these annuals that flower vary by variety, and may also thrive in full shade, partial sun or even full sun. Flowering bedding plants that flourish in shady areas may do equally well in wet soil, average moisture or dry conditions.
Some of the bedding plants for use in partial shade or partial sun are native plants. With increased awareness of the value that native plants add to the natural landscape, this information will help the American consumer make better informed choices about which plants can best handle the extremes of changing weather patterns. This list includes some less well-known native annuals that deserve to be included in today's lower maintenance gardens: Allegheny Fringe Vine or Mountain Fringe, Blue Sage, Drummond's Phlox, Prairie Gentian or Texas Bluebell, Mealy-cup Sage and Texas Sage.
Extensive breeding in several plant families is resulting in some exciting, new and very interesting flowers for inclusion in a partially shady garden. Known as either African or Cape Daisy, the Osteospermum hybrids now have huge flowers for the spoon shape; bloom colors that range from white & cream, lavender and lilac, yellow, orange and pink; and grow in compact and regular plant heights. Angelonia or Summer Snapdragon has seen many new introductions that extend the colors from purple, lavender, lilac and blue to pink, white and a Bi-color with blue and white on the same flowers. A delicate, beautifully flowering plant gaining popularity in America is Twinspur or Diascia. Blooming profusely all season, the Twinspur flowers have a 'face' like Pansies. The light, airy texture and complete range of bloom color from Apricot, Coral, Lilac, Peach, Pink, Red, Rose and Ruby offers endless possibilities of ways to incorporate Twinspur in window boxes, hanging baskets and planters. Similar in appearance with fine textured flowers and foliage is Nemesia, but with much stronger, brighter colors than Twinspur. Nemesia's colors range from bright yellow and white to peach, pink, rose, blue, lavender, plum, raspberry and rose, all the way to bright scarlet and cranberry. Shade, with its cooler temperatures, help Nemesia flower longer. New Guinea Impatiens has seen as much change as any plant, now tolerating full shade to full sun too in certain varieties. Bi-color and shockingly bright colors offer delight to the eyes.
