I haven’t written much about my new home in the town of Dawlish, South Devon; my wife, two sons and I moved into a small two-bed rental two months ago. The back garden isn’t big, although a great improvement (in size) on Rose Cottage, our former residence in North Warwickshire. It is south facing, so gets plenty of warm Devon sunlight throughout the day. However, where there’s a South facing back, there is also a North facing front. What do you do with such a space? Well, of course there are plenty of plants that have a preference for shade; plants that are accustomed to woodland environments were sunlight is mottled to non-existent.
A solution for a north facing front garden
There are several hooks around the doorway screaming out for hanging baskets, so here is a list of plants that will thrive in hanging baskets in shaded areas of my new garden. Such plants will add colour, be a surprise in what is currently a dull spot, and will require a little less watering than hanging basket plants at the mercy of the summer sun.
Trailing plants for shade
Some of the following plants will happily tolerate shade and not do quite as well as they would in full sun or partial shade. Others will absolute thrive in full shade.
Heavy Shade
 Trailing Violas |
 Begonia Inferno |
 Trailing Begonia |
 Impatiens |
 Coleus |
Partial Shade
 Pansy |
 Ivy Geranium |
 Fuchsia |
 Calceolaria |
 Catharanthus roseus |
 Lobelia erinus |
 Mimulus |
 Diascia |
 Bacopa |
 Dichondra argentea |