Variation On a Theme: Shade Sparkler

1 Gartenmeister Fushcia
2 Non-stop Fire Begonias
1 Lysimachia
4 Lobelia Regatta Rose

What's with the shade combos? I know! And I don't even have that much shade at all. For whatever reason, my shade containers have turned out well this year. I first talked about this combo here. My mother put this together at my suggestion and I loved the way it turned out. And I have talked about my love affair with the Gartenmeister fuchsia here and here so it only seemed reasonable to me that I should have it. I don't know why I haven't except that I wasn't taking my own advice and was trying other plants that didn't work out nearly so well. 

At any rate, my friend picked my up these giant purple pots because she knows I love purple and they were on sale. Who doesn't love a friend like that? I do! I decided to put the containers on my deck to contrast with all the lime green I have going on out there and to fill in some otherwise empty corners. Sometimes, brightly colored containers can prove hard to work with because they can detract from the plants or clash so choosing what to put in them has another element to consider. I had already decided that I wanted the Gartenmeister which is an orangy-pink, dark green burgundy affair that is already difficult to combine with other plants. I love a challenge!

Rather than reinventing the wheel, I decided to do a variation on the Shade Sparkler combo. Because the container was such a brilliant color I decided I couldn't do pink although I really love the pink begonias. Instead I chose Fire Non-stop Begonias which are a gorgeous combination of yellow and pinky-orange. What better to go with the orangy-pink blooms of the fuchsia? Next came the lysimachia with it's yellow green foliage to balance out all that color and tie in with my lime-green theme on the deck. The pots are quite large and my flower expenditures routinely exceed my budget (even with my work discount!) so I filled in the container with a 4 pack of rose lobelia. 


I have to say, I love, love, LOVE this color combination. It may have something to do with these being some of my absolute favorite plants and getting to use them all together in a way that works. Who wouldn't love that? I especially like how the color of the lobelia actually matches the color of the pot. It ties the container together rather than working against the bold color. 


This combo really does pack a punch in the shade both with color and texture. The purple container adds to the whimsy of this unusual color combination.