Pot plants for shady area

[duckme]

I have two under window baskets that I have attached to a fence opposite one of our windows. The idea is to add flowers or plants to make it more interesting to look at. Unfortunately, the fence is in shade nearly all day. I toyed with the idea of using artificial plants and flowers but I'm not a fan really and always feel sorry for the bees
I do not have a green thumb, by any standards. So if the only plants that could survive the shade are high maintenance ones, I would rather know now than after I waste money on plants that sadly have no chance of a long and happy life with me.

Any ideas will be gratefully accepted.

My mother hated it when people told her she had "green fingers" - she said to me "It's knowledge and experience". So rest assured that if you're interested enough, you will develop the knowledge and experience.

AS to plants, no real ideas. You have the twin thing of shade and not necessarily much water. The obvious ferns prefer damp shade, but harts tongue fern and polypody (which grow on trees) should cope. Wild/alpine strawberries are happy in shade, so garden strawberries are a possibility. For summer, you can look at standard houseplants (which have been chosen for their tolerance of low light levels) but you'd have to bring them in for winter, or buy new next year. A spider plant wold look good cascading down.

Ivy, vinca, pansies, violas come to mind. Lots of plants can cope with dry shade.

Begonias can be very successful in shady pots as long as you water them regularly.

Hostas can look really good in pots.

I planted some trailing lobelia in complete shade last summer, and surprisingly it grew really well. Fuschias also grow well in shade.

If you don't have cats, you could grow toad lillies.

I've bought plants for my shady courtyard from this nursery many times, they specialise in plants for shade.

Are toad lilies poisonous for cats? That didn’t occur to me when I planted mine, because they are not true lilies!

The jury seems to be out VenusClapTrap, I couldn't find anything definitive on whether they are or not. If your kitties are still alive though...

Maybe I'm biased because they look poisonous!

Yes I did some research too, and it’s not clear. ClapTrapCat is thriving, and it’s occurred to me that we have tonnes of day lilies which really are poisonous, and she’s never shown any interest in nibbling those, so I’m not going to worry!

Hostas are good for shady pots and are less inclined to slug damage than when in the ground

Thank you! Plenty to look into there, once garden centres are open again.

Hostas are lovely. Also climbing hydrangea and honeysuckle. I've had all of these in pots against shade North facing walls.

You don’t need to wait for garden centres to open, there are loads of online suppliers.