Why don't you try Lamium orvala too?
A taller plant, and a lovely foliage.
Not fussy, not invasive either, for shade too.
The standard {{gwi:274338}} is very nice indeed, and the {{gwi:274343}} is just gorgeous!
Zephirine

Here is a link that might be useful: about lamium

I have a couple of Lamiums,

Pink Pewter, love it, it grows quite nicely in the spot where the over flow from a garden pool seeps.

Purple Dragon, I just planted it this spring so I can't really comment on this one yet. I love the color of the flowers though.

Aureum, love the golden foliage with the silvery white markings in the middle of the leaves, does best in shade. I don't care for the pink flowers as they clash with golden foliage IMO. I did have some snail damage on this one in the spring.

White Nancy, grows well for me, love the foliage, the flowers don't add much to the overall appearance.

A......

I did run across an article comparing different varieties linked below. I have an unidentified lamium that could be any one of the pink varieties I guess. I had one small little pot and I was afraid it might get away from me so I decided to grow it in my containers this spring. I divided what I had into small little pieces and they amazed me how well they rooted with little attention in a couple of weeks they were already established in the pots and grew well and flowered over the summer. So I have a few little plants that I am planning on putting into the ground this fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Chicago Botanical Gardens Comparative Study of Lamiums

I have a beautiful yellow-leafed lamium with white flowers, so it's not the same one mentioned by aftermidnight, but I can't remember the cultivar name. It's like a patch of sunlight in the shade garden, and in spring the Narcissus 'Hawera' that blooms near it is exactly the same color. A gorgeous combo.

Mot a lamium, but related is Lamiastrum 'Herman's Pride'--lovely, very slow to increase plant. Like lamium, it's highly deer resistant.

I love Lamium! It's a standout in shade and blooms all summer. It doesnt spread like mad for me either, which is a good thing. I have 'Aureum' it's done very well until this year. Think I didnt water enough. If they get a little leggy they can be cut down and will grow fresh again. I bought 'Pink Chablis' this year, very nice! It bloomed heavily and the foliage is gorgeous, really makes a statement.

Jen

There was a variegated pink-flowered lamium here when I bought the house & I planted 'White Nancy.' The lamiums crossed & self-sowed around so that now I have a pink-flowered 'White Nancy' type & a white-flowered form of the more green with white variegated leafed-form. I really should try to ID the original plant. I like the different forms that have popped up & mixed together. When I find 'Purple Dragon' for sale cheaply, I'll add it to the mix.

zephirine_lyon and prairiemoon2...thanks for that link. Very informative, and I believe I'm due to try some Lamium.

Ooh, I love lamium! But I have such a difficult time getting it to grow in my garden. I think I have it in a part of the garden where the soil is too dry and too poor.

I tried Anne Greenaway three times but gave up finally. I'm now deciding whether to give up on Orchid Frost. I really love the color of the blooms, but again, it is not flourishing.

I did plant some in a friend's garden, some White Nancy, which did very well until this year, so I lived vicariously through her garden, lol. But this year it's not doing so well and a lot of it did not come back...

In my garden, I'm thinking of replacing it with ... what was it? I want to say some kind of veronica. Veronica Corrinne, maybe? It has a somewhat similar variegated leaf, and is one of the closest things I could find to lamium. I put some in, but will see how the lamium does too.

I always give things way too many chances, lol, mostly because I figure if it doesn't work it's my fault, not the plant's fault!

:)
Dee

Anne Greenaway must know that I have mixed feelings about it, based on all of your comments above... if you love her, she seems to not do as well as you'd like. For me, she does too well and I'm not sold on her! (There's just something about the leaf that's a bit too... I don't know, busy maybe?... for me.) I just took her and planted her underneath some baptisias where she'll show off from late fall to early spring (when almost any color is welcome) and be invisible for the rest of the growing season.

I have 'Purple Dragon' and I really like its leaf color. It seems to not grow in the spreading clump formation of my other lamiums, but kind of meanders more.

'Pink Nancy' I got from clumps in my Mom's yard, and I have told her not to be afraid to rip it out if it goes where she doesn't want it--it's a spreader there but mingles nicely with hostas and roses. (It did apparently strangle out her bellflowers, though.) 'Pink Nancy' seems as happy in her unamended clay soil as it is underneath my rhododendron and a roof overhang, which is fairly dry.

I was surprised that anyone had anything good to say about Lamium, based on my experience. Long before I started gardening I attended a gardening class and the first recommendation was Lamium. I went directly to the nursery (where the classes were given) and bought a Lamium and I have been trying to get rid of it ever since. I think it is called Yellow archangel, and it took over my shade bed, grew into my lawn, and every year about this time, I rip and rip and it still comes back. This year, I'm doing a little more digging. So I'm glad to see that some of you have had a good experience with this plant (or certain cultivars), but I am deathly afraid of having another one in my garden. BTW this lamium produces a beautiful yellow flower in spring, which brightens up a shady spot, but this is one that should be kept in a pot.
Northerner.

Some of the lamiums, particularly yellow archangel, are very fast spreading plants. They are more suited to large spaces where they can form a solid mat of groundcover. In a small flower bed they can choke out other plants, but are gorgeous in the right setting.

Jen

Northerner, I think most of us are referring to lamium maculatum, which is a better-behaved lamium. The Yellow Archangel is lamium galeobdolon and I think it might even be on the invasive/noxious weed list in some states.

Despite my poor luck with lamium (maculatum), I don't think I would try the yellow archangel. With my luck, that would be the one that would live!

:)
Dee

I have Yellow Archangel in a difficult spot where I've had trouble getting anything to thrive; The very end corner of a north-facing bed that is choked with pine tree roots. It is behaving nicely there and lights up that dark corner.

The yellow archangel is not now classified as a lamium at all, but rather is lamiastrum galeobdolon, a different genus entirely. Most of what we are dealing with as lamiums are lamium maculatum varieties, but several other species are grown as well, more in Europe than in the US I think. I agree whole heartedly that the common variety of lamiastrum galeobdolon is quite an invasive, but the 'Herman's Pride' selection is extremely well behaved, and deserving of space in any garden.

George

Funny George, I thought Yellow Archangel was a lamiastrum also, but when I looked it up earlier today, I kept seeing it referred to as lamium. Hmmm.

I think way back when, when I first started gardening, I had Herman's Pride, and it did beautifully for awhile, till I managed to kill it off. That is one that I would try again - and maybe now is the time, lol! What with my l. maculatum dying out on me...

:)
Dee

I sought after lamiums after I read about them in Marianne Binetti's books as slug resistant easy care plants to let roam under shrubs and trees. She suggested to dig out clumps to put in hanging baskets or deck containers in part shade as fillers.

There is a big difference between yellow flowering ones & the pink/white ones.

I've been happy with them, but have noticed they have different levels of vigorous.

My current favorite is Aurea for it's golden foliage plus bright orchid blooms that attracts the hummingbirds in a hanging basket near our hot tub. It grows nicely outward down & up again in baskets.

My least vigorous is a white leaved purple pink flower, perhaps Red Nancy. It brightens up shady corners, but isn't liking container growing. I put some of it in the ground as well and is a slow grower as compared to white stripe green leaved bright pink flowered one, Chequers.

I favor 4-5' sweeps of them as 18" wide edgings in shady beds. In early spring I cut back any scraggly stems to make it tidy. Then I cut back again quite hard after flowering for good foliage all summer. These cuttings can easily be rooted for more plants to give away.

I've only purchased one lamium Aurea as the others were from plant swaps often in a plastic bag as bareroot clumps. They appeared almost dead, but water perks them right up especially after getting back into soil.

The best part is they're so easy care because they flower in the shade without fertilizer, water, or slug bait protection. I've tried some in sunnier beds and as long as kept moist or in part shade or away from heat reflecting pots, rocks, or garden ornaments they do better. Also, they don't need any fertilizer to bloom well.

The 2nd year in the ground growth is amazing! I wouldn't hesitate to plant them.