At the far back of my garden in the corner facing SW where two rock walls meet, a neighbor's HUGE Royal Poinciana Tree or, in Spanish, Flamboyan Real, a tree that grows wild, wide and high, shades the corner almost all day long. It's a spectacular tree when it blooms with deep orange-red flowers but it is about 24 feet above the corner so it doesn't help the naked look of this corner. I do have a Pitaya planted there but once they get started, they never stay in one place so it doesn't really count. Nearby are a Tulipan and a coconut palm both in cut out circles in the grass. All quite wonderful but the corner looks bare.
The yard is in Merida on the Yucatan Peninsula of southern Mexico. This past summer we had weeks when the temperature hovered around 110F. These days temperatures are mid to high 80sF.I already have 5 or 6 nopales so I'm not interested in more cactus, at least not more prickly pears, and I have a lot of pomegranates growing up near the house. Also I have enough different kinds of citrus trees to keep me busy as well as Annonas and one enormous 100 year old Zapote.
My question, again, is what kind of fruit or flower can flourish in this heat without much direct sunlight?
What fruit or flashy flower will grow in hot dark SW corner?
Perhaps Hostas would work there. This link may also give you a few ideas.
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/THERE%27S+MORE+TO+A+SHADE+GARDEN+THAN+LEAVES.(U)-a085201291
Thanks so much for your suggestions. You both helped point me in the right direction for more focused research. I didn't know how to begin to look for what I wanted. Now I think if I had even googled "shade" I might have had some success. As it is, I now have hours of reading and weighing to do.
I had not thought of dealing with the roots of the giant Poinciana tree, for example. I think it is growing wild on a vacant lot but I better check around the neighborhood, to which I am a newcomer and a foreigner, to see just how vacant that lot really is and what suggestions others have for protecting the tree.
You are very welcome. Planning is half the fun....grin
Hey, how about a little sculpture, or a table with a collection of pots, or something that's not a plant?
Look at this,
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/995586/
and the whole Hypertufa and Concrete forum.
Since you have so much shade back there all day, you might consider putting in a hammock or a seating area. A bench with a couple potted plants and a bird bath would work also.
Orchids?
I like the idea for the seating area with a few pots of variegated foliage for a cooler look and maybe a small water feature with a fountain for some cooling "noise".
SInce you are new to the area perhaps you could take a drive around the neighborhood and look to see what is growing well in other shady spots.
Thank you all!
And thanks to a visit from extranjera and a couple of her friends, I decided to move two coconut palms that, early on, had been plopped into the middle of my back garden and move one into each of the rock wall corners. That means that I no longer have to work around them.
What I hope to add is a fan-like large palm plant for the center of my back wall. A friend says it's called "palma vieja." I'm going to check with another friend who has one.
Because I already have a swimming pool with a cascada (water splashes over the side as though it were an infinity pool) and a patio with a cement table and benches under the shade of a 100 year old zapote tree, some of the elements you all suggested are already there. So with the addition of hostas and as my Mandevillas continue to grow, I think I'm nearly there. Hmmm...I guess it's pretty obvious I have never had this much space for a garden before, isn't it? I seem to be covering every inch.
Bbode, you have a lovely yard...keep doing what you are, it is really working....grin
It is a beautiful yard and the changes you are making will make it even more stunning.
The fan shaped palm you are talking about is called a traveler's palm in English, ravenala madagascariensis. It's not really a palm and is related to bananas and bird of paradise. There is a white bird of paradise here that resembles the traveler's palm when they are young, they look a lot different as they grow. Around here, the Traveler's Palm tends to be fairly inexpensive while the white BOP costs much more. A friend of mine got a very good deal at a local nursery because of that, he even tried to tell them they had the wrong name on the plant but they insisted they were right - oh well :) He now has a huge and stunning white Bird of Paradise behind his pool.
There is a traveler's palm outside the back windows of my condo over on the coast. It is protected by the building from the normal sea breezes and has lived through direct hits from two cat 5 hurricanes and a lot of lesser storms. Its leaves get straggly or are mostly ripped off but new ones grow. It has now reached the roof of my 3 story building so must be at least 15 to 20 meters tall. I'm not saying that all of them will reach this height, I think this one is dealing with special conditions, it is reaching for light for one thing and being between the main building and a 2 story office building it has to really reach.
I've heard that too, that they want to align east/west, and also that they have water in their trunk for a thirsty traveler.