Shade Loving Perennials for Window Boxes

The front of our home is north facing which means for years I used the same boring plants until I discovered the many amazing varieties of shade loving perennials. I’m spilling the beans on shade loving perennials for window boxes.

This is how our window boxes are looking this summer:

Many of you were asking for a more detailed post on what we used and some tips for window boxes. I’m so happy to share!

Where We Got Our Plants

A few weeks ago, John and I headed to the greenhouse at The Root in Scituate and picked out some lovely plants. Lisa, the co-owner of The Root, suggested this amazing trick of using perennials last year. You can see how are window boxes looked last year.

What I like to do is line up the plants at the nursery to see if I’m happy with how they “play together”. We have very long window boxes so I always have to buy lots and lots of plants.

Above you’ll see ferns and petunias. I love green and white together, it’s timeless and classic.

How fabulous are these leaves? This is called Siberian bugloss. These plants are so different. I’ve never seen them before. These were on the more expensive side but I just had to have them! John agreed. A little more about Siberian Bugloss – it is known as the forget me not. The latin name is Brunnera macrophylla means “large leaves.” We love the large leaves!

What’s in Our Window Boxes?

This season we did a mix of shade loving perennials and annuals. Here’s what we planted:

• White Geraniums
• Atlantic Ivy
• White Petunias
• Coral Bells (we over wintered these from last year)
• Ladder Fern
• Siberian bugloss

The Perennials

Siberian buglos – See above. I plant to bring these in for the winter!

Ladder Fern – I love these little ferns and I plan on bringing them in and planting them in pots. I think they’d look great on the Welsh Dresser with all my blue and white cornishware. Also known as sword fern.

Golden English Ivy – Ivy always reminds me of England so I thought it would be fun to try it out this year. You know how much I love all things English! I plan on bringing these in once winter rolls around too.

I love the variegated leaves and how it cascades downward in the window boxes. So romantic!

Coral Bells – This was a new one for us last year and I LOVE it so much. We used it in our window boxes last summer into fall and then we over wintered them in our raised beds and they all came back!!!! I will do the same thing again in the winter. Coral Bells comes in all different colors but my favorite is this deep wine color.

The Annuals

White Petunias – these are an old stand by and they bloom all season. They do well in full shade too.

White Geranium – This is our first year with geraniums and I’m really wondering what took me so long to come around to them. I love their leaves and their flowers. I was cautioned not to over water these because if you do they won’t flower. I’ve found them very easy to look after and I just dead head them and more flowers bloom.

What We planted Last Year

Last year was my first time trying out perennials in the window boxes and I loved how the looked. They took us straight through fall too. Read more about last years window boxes.

Create a Timeless Look

Mixing all different leaves, shapes, and textures creates a timeless look. Each time I look at our window boxes I can’t help but smile.

Max is always waiting by the window – on alert!

I hope this post was helpful if you’re looking to update your window boxes of summer or fall.

Let’s Keep in Touch

What are you planting or what shade loving perennials do you love? Share in the comments below. Let’s stay in touch! Join our newsletter for access to exclusive content, our favorite projects, easy recipes, and fun tutorials. You’ll receive the best design secrets delivered directly to your inbox! Sign Up Here!