Looking for suggestions for colorful, shade loving plants that will grow here in hot, humid Florida without a lot of attention. Am interested in those that flower as well as those with colorful foliage.
All comments, ideas & suggestions are appreciated!!
Beth
Zone 9a Shady Color?
Beth,
You are the second newcomer I have seen this far south in Florida in the past 2 weeks. Welcome welcome welcome
Now for plants: Impatiens for blooms if you have a bit of dapple in the shade. Many places plant these in full sun and that's fine, but they need constant water attention. In a high canopy of shade, they hold up better. Although I have tried others, the imptiens do the best.
So I resign myself to picking out very colorful foliage. Coleus, elephant ears, alocasia, caladiums, ferns, sweet potato vines all colors, and against all odds, I even have put in some hostos and heucheras of many different colors. Anthyriums with their red or pink bloom does nicely too with only a bit of sunshine.
My caladiums are taking up a lot of eye space, but in the fall, they will go to sleep til spring, so I'm concentrating on putting things in between them to take up the slack. More coleus, EE's and ferns of different colors.
Couple pics to see, looks rather jumbled, but it makes for some great daily surprises.
One more from a different angle. The two trees in this yard make the shade. They've been there a long time and their root system is so big I had to raise the beds with soil so I could dig. But I keep them trimmed with a high canopy so the sun can dapple through. It also gets direct sun first thing in the morning.
Let me know if there is anything you need. I have many things to share.
:^)))
Molly
Molly,
Hi, and thank you for the welcome. I love the look of your garden...it's just my type!! While I love beautiful, sculptured gardens, they're just not me. My gardening preference is definitely much more of an 'eclectic' style. Although I'm only a block away from Hwy 19, most times you wouldn't know it. My property is surrounded and inhabited by towering pines, lovely palms & lots & lots of oaks. I just love the 'woodsy' feel of the place...it's what made me fall in love with it when we were house-hunting.
In the past, I've used impatiens & begonias in my shady areas, and they did pretty well. I certainly need to re-establish them in my gardens again. Currently, I've recently added some Caladiums & Oyster plants, and yesterday purchased some red pentas for one of my few sunny areas. I also have Spathiphyllum, Zingiber zerumbet, Zamia floridana, Wisteria (trying to take over my husband's shed!), Campsis radicans (growing up one of my pine trees that is somewhat isolated & gets lots of sun about 10' above the ground!), a Clematis 'Multi Blue' (still waiting for it to flower after 2 years, though) Cleome 'Sparkler Bush', and some others I just can't think of right now.
I'm looking forward to the addition of a pink Anthyrium and some orange Daylilies that spacecowgirl is most generously donating to my collection, as well as some beautiful Cannas from the Horn Canna Co-op.
I would absolutely love to add Elephant Ears to my yard. I've always thought they looked wonderful! And I sooo appreciate their woodsy tropical look.
Grrrrr....tree roots!! I, too, have had to go with some raised beds to avoid the millions of roots on our property. lol...where there's a will, though, there's a way! And silly me, as if I don't have enough tree roots to deal with, I've made the addition of Mimosa, Redbud, Dogwood, Wild Cherry & Bottlebrush to my trees, and am always looking for others. I love trees with flowers, and also want to add those which bear fruit for the birds. Birdwatching is one of my favorite pastimes
Anything you have to share would be appreciated, and if I've listed anything you might be interested in, let me know.
Thanks again for the welcome, and for the suggestions & offer.
Beth
Beth,
I was jsut looking through some of my old thread watches and came across this. My deepest apologies for not getting back to you here.
I'm sending you a private email now.
Molly
HI Beth,
Astilbes and hardy coleus are great. Yesterday, today and tomorrow grows in the shade. Hydrangeas? They come in all sizes now. Colored leaf Japanese Maples can be great, and Camellias are always great. If you've had trouble, try the Sasanquas. They are much easier to grow, bloom in the middle of the winter, and are able to take more varied conditions. Hellebores are beautiful and there are some really gorgeous cultivars out there - but you'll have to mail order them if you want doubles or special colors. Japanese painted ferns and brunnera. Heucheras are lovely and come in lime green to red. Ajuga comes in lots of different forms- flowers from blue to deep purple and foliage all colors green to "chocolate". And I'm very fond of Correa and fuschia. I believe that fuschia "gartenmeister" has purple foliage and red flowers - it's hardy and resistant to fuschia mite - and hummingbirds love it. Haleokoloa grass comes in yellow and green and looks lovely in the shade.
In a way, you're lucky to have things a little shady. You can grow some Zone 8 plants in zone 9 if you have a little more shade. Hope that this helps.