It can be a challenge to get bright colors in the shade, but balance in garden design does not have to be symmetrical, with identical plantings on either side of your border. You can instead create asymmetrical or informal balance, with differing but balanced components on either end. You can use color and texture to create informal balance. For example, a dwarf gold-leaved shrub planted beside a dark green hedge can visually balance a large dark green shrub set against the same dark hedge. As you noted, bright colors have more visual impact than do dark ones. But you may be able to counter-balance the bright red and yellow flowers of the sunny portion of the border with shade plants having variegated foliage. Creams, whites, and yellows will stand out in the shade. You can also add touches of color in the shade with annuals such as impatiens, begonias, and coleus. Texture is another way to trick the eye into perceiving balance. Coarse-textured plants have more impact than those with a fine texture. One large-leaved hosta such as Hosta sieboldiana may have as much visual impact as a cluster of medium-textured chrysanthemums.
