Can you post close-up photos of the leaves and the bloom, please?

I live over on the Roses Forum. :-)

It looks like dianthus to me too.

looks like dianthus to me too... though mine never did that well- they always stayed small and scrawny!!

i usually grow annuals in pots and often have had to make my choices based on whether deer like them or not and how much... deer came to the front porch in houses past... impatiens do extremely well in pots in shade! i like geraniums, petunias, begonias, and lobelia for sun in pots... i like adding spikes to pots too and some type of trailing plant to hang over the pot sides- sometimes sweetpotato vine, sometimes trailing petunias...

i like gerbera daisies and other varieties too, but either they require more care (ie deadheading, etc) or don't do as well for me.

I am considering Azure Rush Geraniums for our front garden. We have 3 blue spruce type shrubs, so I am thinking the blue color of this flower would look nice, combined with the white BoBo Hydrangea.

I'm going to have to read more about Dianthus. I grew them for years and never did they grow into a mound like the one above. As you can see, the mound is pretty dense. It also gets more sun than the Dianthus I had. Hmmm.

Busy, I've grown the plants you listed except Lobelia. When you say "spikes" do you mean taller plants?

The light on my porch is wonky. It's a longish porch, with one side getting all shade while the other gets sun, shade, then more sun.

One plant I cannot grow if my life depended on it, is Petunias. They die in the ground and in pots, even though I deadhead them religiously, and fertilize.

Diane, I'll try to take a close-up tomorrow. The edges of the flowers are lacy like Dianthus.

Rose, the Azure G. is beautiful! I might give it a try this year. It would look pretty with my pink Roses.

Very pretty! I've grown geraniums before but they were in full sun. How much sun did yours get? I'm definitely going to plant Impatiens again.

For perennials, I ADORE my hydrangeas! I currently have 7 shrubs, and I baby them like children. I had to cover them twice this season because of the d@mn cold, but I think we've had the last of the frost. I do have a few spots that were killed, but they are already producing new leaves to cover those areas. I will post a puck when they bloom. I have just started on peonies....oh so beautiful! But their blooming season is so short. Mine usually blooms around Mother's Day. I will post a pic of it also.

For annuals...I do like petunias, but they end up rough looking by July. Begonias do the best the longest in our hot climate. I am planning to try some New Guinea impatiens this Spring to see how they do,

I vote for dianthus too.

Most of my container gardening is full sun. I'm a sucker for petunias and pelargoniums. Angelonia has become a favorite too. I grew elephant's ear in a large container a couple of years ago and that was great but took forever to sprout from the tuber (Having squirrels or chipmunks dig it up every day didn't help. I finally put a mesh cover over the pot to keep them out.). For trailing plants/fillers I like bacopa and Diamond Frost euphorbia.

For the low light front porch I plant coleus. The variety of colors available is wonderful. The kong series is especially impressive because of the leaf size.

Now you have me itching to plant pots but we're a month+ away from that.

"Dianthus" if I'm not mistaken, is an entire genus of plants, including many species and also different horticultural varieties of the species. For example, carnations, pinks, "cheddars" and Sweet William are all in the "Dianthus" genus. To me it looks like some type of "pink" or "cheddar" which probably blooms in the spring and then is mostly foliage the rest of the year. Great for rock gardens. As for pots, my favorites for shade are impatiens and begonias, pansies for mixed sun and shade, and petunias and geraniums for sun. I also love something called "Euphorbia Diamond Frost" for filling in with white glitz. Another great pot plant for me has been Sanvitalia, which looks like a tiny zinnia or sunflower.

Call him and make him run out and smell it. Dianthus usually have that distinctive not-quite-cinnamony smell.

Looks like dianthus to me, but I've not seen evergreen ones. I don't have any at this house, but previous ones I've had died out and then came back each spring. I have more periennels than anything, even in pots but will add in some annuals. Last year I potted a dwarf pink hydrangea on my patio (sun) and it is coming back. I always have a huge fern on one corner of the front porch. Kimberly Queen fern. Porch gets sun up until early afternoon - the fern loves it. Also a big planter which has salvia (can't think of the variety) which is purple/blue, ivy, something pink and something white (one of which will trail). I always have the double (ruffly) petunias. I usually have some lantana and verbena. There's another plant I love and always have in a pot on the patio - hopefully someone else will mention it because I can't think of the name - bell shaped blossom. I also have a potted clematis in a big pot with a teepee shaped trellis, along with a mandevilla (last year's was white) which will get HUGE - I use a trellis with it also. Actually last year we used a tomato cage which made a beautiful shape. I'll add in the small ivy geraniums here and there and portulaca which is great in sun. I do my flowers all in shades of pink, white and purple/blue. I also plant morning glories and this year hubby's cousin (TX) sent us bluebell seeds that I want to try. I also do several hanging baskets - one is bouganvilla (sp?) loves sun another I do a mix of diplidinia, asparagus fern and vinca along with 2-3 dusty miller plants. I love adding plants with a silvery foliage in with my blooming plants.

The dianthus looks like one of the deltoides--if the blooms were pink, I'd say cottage pinks, which have the sweet clove scent. Maybe maiden pinks.

Everyone's favorites take me back to childhood, when my mother's family ran a greenhouse, and when mom went to help pot the Mother's Day baskets, she'd bring home some of her favorites--pelargoniums, impatiens, verbena, lantana, lobelia, salvia, snapdragons, petunias, and begonias. Probably some more I've forgotten.

party_music, that's a very pretty porch. :)

Thank you, Oakley and mama goose. :) That porch faces east and has a wide overhang all around, so plants at the front edge get morning sun -- and plants at the far end get early afternoon sun -- the rest are always shaded.

Tina, my son planted bluebells last year and they did great. They got morning sun until around 1pm.

Nini, you'll like the N.G. impatiens. They'll tolerate a bit of sun, but not a lot.

I love this topic! I'm googling all the flowers I haven't grown that you all mentioned.

Last night I was trying to find a picture of something and came across the Dianthus I grew. It lasted about 4 years.

Oakley, I know you only asked about flowers for containers, but have you considered using herbs, hostas, and other ornate-leaved plants? I use potted hostas, etc., in the shaded areas of the porch and they always look beautiful. I especially like H. 'Invincible' in a pot. :)

Party, I have a large Boston Fern that will go on the porch pretty soon. Because of it getting so much shade, I need more color.

This is what I ordered to "plant" in a pot for the back corner of the porch. :)

Garden Stakes

What do y'all do with your containers of perennials in the winter to help them come back the next spring? Put them in the garage? Change the watering schedule?

I love impatiens and coleus for the shade. My front porches get morning sun and then are shaded for the rest of the day. My back deck gets morning shade with bright afternoon sun and petunias do great there. I also have a big apple butter kettle that I filled with million bells.

For container plantings, the general rule is you need a thriller, a filler and a spiller. For a thriller, that is usually the taller plant. I have used anything from a small shrub or a grass-like plant (dwarf purple fountain grass is a fave of mine to use), cordyline, cannas, and I often transplant it into the yard 2-3 years later when it outgrows the container. Or you can use tall salvias or anything else tall that blooms. For the filler you can use anything to fit the sun/shade conditions. Most of mine are in full to part sun, so I use coleus, heuchera, smaller salvias, impatiens, geraniums, or loads of other things, depending on my mood or color combo I'm trying to create. For spillers, those are pretty easy. Sweet potato vine is a nice chartreuse addition (but you'll have to keep it trimmed), creeping Charlie, million bells, bacopa.

You can visit your local nursery and probably get other great ideas for combinations that will work well in your area. Also pay attention to water requirements when you put your combo together.

Thanks, Outside. Lots of good suggestions. One plant that thrives in shade and pots is Angel Wing Begonia. I put an average size plant in a pot, and it flourished on the porch with me having to trim it often. DH put it in his greenhouse last winter and it's now about 5 feet wide! He can keep it. lol.

Part of me is leaning towards using type of plant of the same flower color in various pots on the porch. I would love to find something with white flowers because the flowerbeds in front of the porch on both sides of the sidewalk are all pink Roses.

I've never seen white impatiens, but if I can't, can you recommend a plant that will take mostly shade and some sun with white flowers?

I found the color combo that will look beautiful with the Roses!

Impatien colors

Great, you found some impatiens with white. Diamond Frost euphorbia also works well. I think someone above also suggested it. Nice and lacy in an arrangement.