I bought a few shrimp plants and was trying to decide the best placement. I have read they might do better with some mid-day shade. Anyone concur? Thanks,
Annie
how does shrimp plant fare with our sun?
My neighbor has them in the side yard between our houses, and they do nicely. They get some noon time sun there, but are in bright shade the rest of the time.
They like a LOT of water. I have them in full sun, but I hear they can do the bright shade, too. Did I mention they like a LOT of water?
A friend has them volunteer all around his yard but in high shade only. They don't seem to be as thirsty in this zone though...
Wow, that is quite a difference. Full sun in Houston and deep shade in east Texas. Do they bloom as well in the shade? My sole purpose for them is to attract butterflies and hummers so obviously the blooming is important. I have an area that is partly shady where I have some of the more sun tolerant hostas. I am wondering about there....
I have one plant (9 yrs old) in mostly shade most of the day - some morning sun,....and a daughter of that plant (4 yrs old) that gets only afternoon sun from about 3:00pm...both growin' & bloomin' as well as can be expected....I don't give the daughter as much water, if any,...and it grows about half as big as the mother plant that gets watered at least once a week during the summer....all in Willis,Tx 8A
I've never seen the neighbor water his shrimp plants, and they bloom. Not profusely, though, so maybe they would bloom more if he did water them. :-)
Actually my friends' is not considered deep shade but high shade. A bright filtered sunlight and it seems to work well. I suspect the water needs will depend on moisture retentive soil.
Thanks everyone!
I have found in my yard that they bloom best with some morning sun and filtered shade in the afternoon. My friend's are in direct sun and the bloom colors look a bit faded.
Same here...morning sun, filtered or shade in the afternoon...and likes lots of water
I have some clumps in full sun (white) and are doing great. The others are in filtered sun and shade and are also growing fine.
susie
Do yours like lots of water?
Not really. I water when they look like they need it. they get mostly rain water. I guess it's due to the beds I have them in. I made the beds with mostly compost. I am a big believer in composting. All my new beds get a layer of compost prior to any layering of materials.
I have been growing white for the past 2 years and I am really partial to it over the coral or yellos.
I just saw the white one over at friends last weekend and I can definately see why your partial to them.
I agree with the composting! When I build new beds, I go down the street and pick up all the bags of leaves the yard service people bag up, and dump them a foot thick. The back garden, I leave the oak leaves on the ground till just this week, then pick up the ones that haven't mulched yet. I think this is the reason why everything I have is supersized. I have the biggest castor bean tree I've ever seen.
I haven't planted any of my shrimp plants in the ground, I may just do that. I have tons in pots..but ..not the white one yet!
I am a little late on this but I too have them in light shade, doing great (plenty of blooms all summer). I started them as tiny 99 cent babies last month and they are getting fairly full and tall already. Mine are in composted soil as well.
I did see them in Ecuador, during their summer, in the amazon region. They were in full sun and massive! I think they do well in many light conditions if they are not allowed to dry out for too long. I suspect they would suffer in full, hot August sun in Houston without sufficient watering and in poor soil.
Brett