Good question,Sarah - that would be the first thing to consider!
What comes to my mind is petunias for sun, or impatiens for shade. Being that you are in PA, are you thinking ahead to next summer? Bouganvillias are beautiful in sun, but can be expensive.
Area gets full sun, all day. Clematis is the idea we had for the climbing vines on the porch pillars out front, especially the right front which gets shady. Bouganvillia are gorgeous; and, yes, perennials are always a consideration. We want something that flows down like a waterfall. I thought I would put lots of rectangular pots for herbs, etc. What d'ya think?
I could be wrong but you could probably get creeping phlox to flow downwards and they bloom for what seems like forever. I like caliobrochia (also called million bells, kinda like mini petunias), some types of lobelia, campanula muralis is lovely, and Sedum Sieboldii is really lovely and kinda grows downward. Dragon Wing begonia is dramatic and grows downward, although not necessarily a cascade...
I wanted deep, rich color. We love burgundies, oranges, purples, golds~those colors. I saw a chocolate clematis on www.parkseed.com tht would be gorgeous for the porch!
There is the purple wave petunia that cascades down and blooms all summer. I have had them and with miracle grow once a week it is beautiful all summer. It is a real deep rich color.
I am strong when I am on your shoulders, you raised me up to be more than I can be.
You can grow lots of summer blooming shrubs with easy-growing and without a lot of maintenance to your garden. some of them are bluebeard shrub, butterfly bush, Potentilla, Rock rose, summersweet and rose of sharon.
I have seen alot of people doing very large pots with petunias planted near the edges of the pot so they cascade down, then they find some sort of medium height flowers in a contrasting color and then a larger ornamental grass right in the middle of the pot. The combination is very pleasant to the eye with the cascading flowers along with the taller grass to give it some height.
Gardening in March
Gardening in April
Gardening in May
Shop at Amazon and Support AGF
Are you shopping online? Click this link first and A Gardeners Forum will receive a commission for your
referral at Amazon.com (shopping through this link to Amazon will not have any impact on your prices at Amazon).