Alrighty folks...lets talk WIND; what plants withstand wind?

i am not sure whom here gets allota wind....but here in
waste(west) texas we get TONS of wind; i am rethinking my
plant choices for next year; i have full shade in my front
yard so i have lotsa coleus and caladiums; whelp the WIND
strips the coleus and the caladiums....what types of plants
do you have that can take the wind and still look good?
i am trying to find plants for shade container plants ...
if you can also point me in a direction of daves that i can
get other wind people and how to grow wind tolerant plants....
i have already quizzed the texas folks

My clematis can take the wind. I live 6 floors up and it really howls here. Do you have any sun at all? I get some morning and late afternoon sun. Callies work well for me in those spots. My columbines can take the wind too.

rev unfortunately i get sun from 3 pm on so it is heated wind....when you say callies...is that calla lilies? are those wind and shade/sun or can they take the heat? and late day sun? i didnt know denver was windy....do yall have wind all the time? does it drive you crazy...i thought it was west texas and chicago that had the wind going all the time

Denver has a lot of wind. I've lived in Chicago, and I think Denver's wind is worse. It can get to 60+ mph. We have what we call "small dog alerts," where small dogs aren't safe in the wind. High profile vehicles too, like RVs and tractor trailers. The wind on the balcony can be fierce. And yes, it drives me insane! We have a windy season from November to February when it's cold outside. It's so depressing!

I have several clematises, one in almost total shade, one facing north but it does get some sun, and one facing west which gets sun and hot winds in the afternoon. Last year I grew morning glories in that spot over the clematis I had there. I've grown daisies, verbena, roses in my west facing spot. They've all done well.

Callies=calibrachoas. They can take almost any amount of wind.

thanks for that information....i thought we were the windy place...it is so depressing to have everything pristine to have the wind just trash it....i have daisies, salvia, roses, lamium that don't get trashed....but i think i am going to have to rethink all the coleus....maybe the verbena and the callies....will go research

Sticks, I put my coleus in pretty sheltered spots. But they get wind too . This year I'm trying trailers with my callies. They're in window boxes where the wind really gets them. Everything is an experiment on a balcony with so much wind.

One other thing I grow that the wind hasn't bothered much is lilies. I don't know how well they do in Texas, but they do pretty well here in the wind.

Here's a picture from last July looking west where the wind comes whipping down the balcony toward the east like wind in a canyon. It starts blowing early in the afternoon, and comes in gusts through the evening when it quiets down.

Maybe others can suggest what they do. I could sure benefit from more advice on wind tolerant plants.

Very windy here. It doesn't matter what the temperature is, as soon as there's a day with no wind, we're all out in the garden working like crazy! The wind will send me inside quicker than the heat will. Last year I was planting and my water bucket blew away with the water in it.

As far as containers plants that withstand the wind, I've had good luck with Gerbera daisies and, surprisingly, pansies. The Gerberas are pretty sturdy and lower-growing. The pansies just seem to take it and stand up again when the wind subsides.

Otherwise, I'm in the same boat as you. Anything with big leaves just gets whipped into shreds.

rev i love your balcony!!! i could live there for sure....what is the plant on the left side second from the bottom? the huge rust planter?; and callies are banned here cause they are annuals...(grin)

mcglory...i never knew there were others with my same plight....; i thought that the reason no one lived here in west texas is cause it was so dang windy....; it sorta feels a little better that others know my plight and live thru it....; i can't believe your water bucket blew away....

even my patio umbrella has to be closed on the really windy day and that is alot of them....maybe we can help each other with windy plants;)

Oh, have I got wind stories for you! The day with the water bucket incident was also the day I learned to dress for wind gardening. I had on a shirt that was loose around the bottom and it blew clear up over my head with a gust of wind. LOL!

I re-read your first thread and realize now you were looking for shade container plants. All I have is sun. We lost everything in a tornado three years ago, so part of the problem is we have no trees for windbreak. And now all we have is full sun.

Have you tried dahlias? I don't know much about them, but I'm trying some in containers this year because last year my neighbor got a free one from some mail order place and we were amazed at how thick the stem was and how it stood up so well in the wind. I put mine in containers though, because they aren't hardy here and I hate digging up bulbs in the fall.

We must be having the windiest May on record. Even the maples leaves seem to have the young leaves half ripped up. Will they recover? My poppies were about a 3 day show instead of 10. And peonies; they are working very hard to stay nice. I had some cages around some of them and the wind broke the stems right off at the top of the cages.

So you guys aren't having all the fun!!! Iowa has been well blessed too.

I can't believe how the iris can stand it!!

This message was edited May 24, 2007 12:26 PM

mcglory...i also have a sun area and the plants that do well are the geraniums; asparagus furns...english ivy; bouganvilla, spv....i will try to think of others....and yes i do have a dalia for the first year....i am not sure how it would do with as much shade as i have ....but i do have some in the sun and so far so good...

yall keep those great ideas coming we can help each other!!!

Sticks, you mean the lilies? Here's what they look like in bloom (in June).

rev...those are gorgeous..they stay alright with wind? and how long do they stay in bloom...;

They do stay with wind, but I use plant stakes to hold the stems. The Asiatics bloom for about three weeks, followed by the orientals for about 3 weeks. If you plan it right you can have blooms from mid-June through August. I'm working on that. I don't know whether you can grow them in Texas.

Here's another year. These are Stargazer's (orientals) and a hosta. They bloomed at the same time, toward late July.

rev...i notice caladiums in the background....those do pose a problem with the wind??

Yes, that was the only time I grew them. They get shredded...

mine too....got shredded;( what is it with the wind? we just need to get rid of it
or something(grin) ; i do container roses and they do well....begonias do too...my grasses do alright....my geraniums do well....except for the heat later on in the summer; i was trying to give you suggestions that have worked for me...