My garden gets a little shadier every year, the price of privacy and comfort in a downtown space. Nature changes everything, so be careful what you wish for and plan well ahead. What you see today will look completely different five years from now.
I do have the privacy I wanted, but now I also have to work around the shade it created.
Most of my annuals live in planters, and fortunately many of them still get morning or afternoon sun. But none receive full, direct sun all day, which is what many annuals really need to thrive. So I had to think back to the years when I had large, mature gardens and planters. The garden beds struggled the most because they bordered a forest, but the planters did better and many had the same kind of partial‑sun exposure I’m dealing with now.
What can I say? I love full, lush, bright colour and lots of plants. They always look best in abundance, just like a flower arrangement. Do people still make those?
On a much smaller scale, and keeping in mind that these annuals were just planted, here’s where things stand now.
The two ractangular planters have a backdrop of canna lilies for height. In front of them, I planted Kong Rose coleus, with hot‑pink centres that fade to red and a bright green edge. This variety grows 12″ to 36″, which is perfect. The lilies will reach a similar height, and the contrast between the coleus’s small leaves and the lilies’ large, palm‑like foliage should work beautifully. Then I planted a good number of New Guinea impatiens at the front of each planter. These impatiens thrive best in partial sun or shade which is ideal for my terrace. Then to finish each planter, I tucked a creeping jenny into a couple of corners for bright colour and their trailing texture.
I also have three square planters in different heights. Each one is planted with a grouping of coleus and a burgundy dracaena in the centre. The coleus will grow 12″ to 36″, and as long as they’re pinched back, they’ll flourish in both sun and shade and fill out into a gorgeous display.
I’ll fertilize next week and again the week after to get everything established. After that, it’s all about watering, warmth, and good weather. I’ll take photos once everything has matured a bit.
So that’s the garden for this year. Have a wonderful summer.
