Tuinkabouter--actually our full sun is stronger than yours. We are at a lower latitude and have more hours of sunlight in the winter. I know this because I have several friends in the gardening UK and My shade in summer is equivalent to their full sun. =)
But I've always said, shade in Texas is very under-rated in the summer. By the way, I'm in the hot, humid, and green part of Texas not the dry, dusty, hot Texas everyone sees on TV.
=)
Evergreen exotics for zone 7b (and surrounding)?
you should try a buttonbush. cephalanthus occidentalis
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1515/
very hardy, native, exotic looking, smells like honey, and fast growing
This message was edited Mar 1, 2008 11:35 PM
dmj , I hear from everyone in TX about the heat! It's hard to imagine living anywhere much colder or hotter than here
diehrd--I cannot say that I have ever noticed that anywhere around here but it definitely is something I'd like to try now, thanks so much!
its a native to sampy/ wet areas, but mine grows fine with plain ol' drip line
oh and you're welcome
this came from a cutting last spring, and by august it was this big!
Definitely considered a few soaker hoses after last summer. It looks like it would do well in part sun so I have plenty of room for that, and the lower side of the yard is a little easier to keep watered.
cool shrub
OK, cool, gotta love anything that grows that fast, maybe I should try and get one to place next to the hops that get watered ....
of course mine won't be growing in fine sand :)
WOW---OK, great ideas for shrubs/palms, I've got the big blooms already figured out...
Anyone know of some evergreen hardy ground cover that can handle all day sun and drought? surprisingly, lots of sedums had met their doom in this part of the yard...it's hot. I have some kind of purple iceplant that has done well on one of the steepest slopes in the yard--not sure of the name
is it this??? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1928/
in case there is some shade somewhere (all day shade), maybe some cast iron plant http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=cast+iron+plant&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search
or maybe asiatic jasmine http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/51490/
Tropic--sometimes you can find these and they are cheaper than soaker hoses at the dollar stores//Wally World cheaply because they aren't very popular anymore
I "borrowed" this picture from google because I knew if I tried to describe it I would make no sense at all (you know the long skinny things with 3 stripes and the water comes out of the white stripe in the center....). I take them and turn them spray side down, don't turn the water on very strong and use them, if they don't last more than one season its OK, they only cost $5 or so.
Yep, sometimes it gets hot in the summer here--but it was a beautiful 79F today, clear skies, birds chirping, bulbs blooming..........(she ducks and runs for cover) =)
:)
I like that Debbie, I've honestly never noticed those, but I'll start looking. Looks like a sprinkler jump rope my daughter and I bring out in the summer sometimes.
diehard--the first link, is correct, I was oto lazy to look it up thanks so much! it's easy to find around here, that iceplant and weirdo things like it are what I'm looking for around the palms. It's easier to find hardy tropical-looking plants that can handle shade than full sun here, in my limited experience
I have killed a cast iron plant outside but I'm going for it again sometime
I have not killed that jasmine yet, so there's a new one to try.
This has been great, I have more suggestions than I'll be able to afford for a year or two, but I have learned so much,thanks everyone
Trop,
I have some of the same problem. I want that tropical look, but not totally naked in the winter.
I agree with the suggestion of needle palm or another winter hardy palm that doesn't need too much water. But I also might suggest a nandina domestica http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/1547/. Not the compact ones, but the domestica that can get up to 4'. I've blended those in with my tropicals and it works well, has some interest all year (red winter berries are pretty), can take blazing sun and doesn't die of thirst. I also see Little Gem Magnolias mixed with tropicals (I love them!), but I'm not sure about the water needs during a drought.
Good luck!
Tropicanna- Love your garden! You have so many options for winter interest.
*Think conifers! They come in all shapes and sizes and they really add some structure to the winter garden. I suggest visiting your local botanical garden and see what they have growing.
Here are a few things I grow in my full sun bed and I'm in zone 6b.
Deodora Cedar- It grows FAST so I keep it trimed to a shape I like.
Hollies- There are so many new varieties out there now and they do fantastic in sun.
Black Bamboo- wonderful winter interest and doesn't spread much in my zone 6b, if it's a cold winter it will even die back but come up from the roots.
Chamaecyparis 'Fernspray Gold'- I love this plant... as well as other Chamaecyparis
Blue atlas cedar- again I keep it trimed.
Rhododendron - I have a full hedge of this in full sun and it does well if I water in the summer.
Common boxwood- pruned into little balls- to cover an eye sore
I have a few other odds and ends but my space is small so that is all I can cram in there.
I don't do any type of palms as I'm not trying to go with a tropical look in the dead of winter, I also don't think palms add too much interest to my beds. I do grow one or two but I keep them in the back '40'. I can't stress enough how helpful it is to walk around your local botanical garden in the winter, you will see things you'd never dream of using.
Here is a picture of my bed in the summer- I've only been in this house for 5 years so my winter shot is a work in progress, if there was mulch down I'd snap a shot for you. :)
Another shot of the bed- ** edit ** wrong picture
This message was edited Mar 2, 2008 10:49 PM
Lets try again-
My back area it gets partial shade to full shade and the conifers still grow but really look their best in full sun. This was taken the first week in June.
very nice
Datdog, that's some beautiful work! :)
Peace,
Joe G.
BDunn those are great too! I just love magnolias and nandinas even though they aren't considered tropical. Thanks so much! I bet you really have to water a bit down your way
********datdog that is amazing!!!
Your photos have given legitimacy to "The Garden State" title. You really have created an incredible hardy exotic garden with plants that will do great in your zone. That's a lot of work in 5 years! There are boxwoods that grow wild here and come up in some of the beds, I've left a lot of them in spots where nothing else grows and hack them back every so often...they lend color to a lot of otherwise bare spots so it doesn't matter to me if they're weedy or not :) All of the plants you mentioned I believe would do very well here also.
---I did want to make a note about my second post from the top. Most of those plants were added to that garden in 2007, and most of the plants in the picture are hardy. However, I do have a GH and anything that was not even close to hardy or very well established was brought in to the GH this year. The majority of the plants are outside now and most appear to have made it through the hardest part of our winter, I did not want to misguide any other new gardeners like myself. My thinking is that if a plant is considered marginally hardy, (to me personally, that means it is hardy to 7b-8a and I am in 7b) you want it to be VERY well established before leaving it out for the winter.
and datdog--that really is impressive, I'm amazed, here's a link to the garden pictured in my first two posts in June of 2004, after we moved here. It looks so different now :) http://davesgarden.com/community/journals/si/159715/
datdog - WOW ...will you please come help me with my yard! those are fantastic pics..I bet you get a lot of oohhs and aaahhs when friends come over...your hard work has really paid off into a beautifully landscaped yard! I am drooling with envy :o)
it's funny... when the northerners come down herethey start planting tons of boxwoods, and they all die a slow, painful (to the eyes) death. they just don't do well here, neither do hostas usually. that's when we introduce them to gingers and yaupon hollies... much better choices for here. u certainly have done well with both the boxwoods and hosta. your yard is stunning.
DHS well if the nursery wouldn't sell them we wouldn't buy them LOL when I first moved down here I was like a kid in a candy store...I was so sick of evergreens and conifers I vowed I would not plant them in my yard and I planted only blooming perinneals LOL now my boss has put me in charge of trees and shrubs at work and I am like...noooo I know nothing about them cause I don't like to plant them...needless to say I have been at the library brushing up
lol! where do you work?