Color for Summer Shade

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	Color for Summer Shade These colorful plants love warm weather shade.

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Transcript: Color for Summer Shade

When summer heats up, I look for excuses to work in the shade. And you know shady areas can be difficult for color, but we have many great options.

One that everyone is familiar with is caladiums. They come in the standard aeroleaf types and also these strap leaf types. Just as a tip, if you’ve got a bed that gets a little too much sun for these types to be happy, go with the strap leaf type. They hold up a little bit better in the hot summer sun.

Coleus is a wonderful shade plant, so many different colors and leaf forms and colors, it really brightens the shade and everyone ought to have a little coleus in the summer landscape.

Another plant not many people are so familiar with is torenia or wishbone flower. These blooms are really unique in that they have a little wishbone inside. They do well in some sun, but also in the shade; many color choices that are great.

My favorite shade plant: Pentas or Egyptian Star Cluster. I like them because they’re just beautiful in shades of red, lavender, and white. They also are attractive to butterflies.

And then there’s Impatiens. They’re super plants for the shade and they have so many color choices, that you can really fit them in to almost any landscape situation. Just remember to use masses of color, it’s more attractive than mixing all the colors together, especially when you’re viewing them from a distance.

Nicotiana, or flowering tobacco, is another good choice. It can take sun, but also does well in shade in our hot Texas summers. It’s a very beautiful plant, good color choices, and some types stay very small and tight, making them good bedding plants.

And then there’s the begonias. We have types with the wine-colored or reddish-colored leaves as well as the green-leaf types. Both do well in the shade, but if you’ve got a sunnier spot, go with the wine leaf types. They don’t burn quite as much in the hot summer sun.

With your common sense tip on shady warm season color, I’m Skip Richter.

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Last Updated: July 6, 2006