whats a good plant for a dry but not shady area

the spot is underneath our overhang of roof-gets good light but when rains it barely gets wet.
a good flowering plant that likes it dry!-any ideas.?

Epimedium or Fairy Wings likes dry shade and comes in different colors and different heights. I am assuming this is not a sunny area as epimedium prefers shade.

http://home.earthlink.net/~darrellpro/

This message was edited May 8, 2009 8:18 AM

Hi, Pete - following up on Carolyn's assumption, you indicated that this area did get good light - is it direct sun or bright shade? If sunlight, how many hours per day during the summer months?

I've had good luck with sedums in a dry sunny spot.Daylillies do pretty well in dry spots as long as they get some rain in spring.Good luck

My purple coneflowers have self seeded themselves all the way back to the area under the overhang and it doesn't seem to bother them at all that they don't get a much water there.

Coneflowers...I so love them! They are the most drought tolerant plant I have ever seen. I added a new color to my 'collection' this year...Tomato Soup Red. I spent the entire winter searching the internet (that's how I found this wonderful site) and reading up on any and all flowers that I could. From what I've read...after the coneflower is established...rain water is really all the water it needs to survive.

From my own garden...and my ONE YEAR'S EXPERIENCE...I have noticed that the Purple Coneflower seems to be...for lack of a better word...'stronger' than the newer colors of coneflowers that are coming out...just by the way they are coming up in my gardens this year. Of course...only having that one year of experience...I could be totally wrong...:)

My stepmother has been gardening for over 40 years. She brings me Peonies and Lily of the Valley, Widow's Tears and Hibiscus and various other well established plants. I give her coneflowers. She'd never seen one until I sent her a picture of my Coconut Lime last year. She is as addicted to them as I am now!

Did I mention that I loved coneflowers...lol

Happy Gardening!
Lisa

Hi Lisa,
I agree with you about the purple coneflowers being tougher than the newer varieties. The new ones are beautiful but they just don't seem to be as resilient as the old standard purple. I love coneflowers too. Can't beat them for heartiness.
Marleine

the spot gets the sun first thing in morning-till about 11am,its not shady just dry,
sedums im not to keen on-bit boring,i want something with vibrant colour that will stand out! neighbour has a lovely fushia in same spot but dont want to copy her-!

Pete - if you get five or six hours of summer sun in that spot and you could provide a little supplemental watering, have you considered a Hybrid Musk rose like Felicia, Nur Mahal or Cornelia or a shade tolerant rose like Eutin, Perle d'Or or Gruss an Aachen? My goodness, man - you're in England, for Pete's sake!!! (Pardon the pun). That's rose heaven!

I'm in a very hot, dry climate and have many roses doing very well in as little as four hours of sun daily and - once established - they do quite well in drought conditions. I'd one-up that neighbor if I was you....

This message was edited May 12, 2009 2:32 PM

As for roses, the knock out and double knock out varieties would only need watering until establishedand do quite well in areas you describe. And for me the minimal fuss involved growing them is a huge plus! Providing they are availible to you.

Agreed, gcorrier, but some of the old garden and antique roses are really just as easy to care for as the KO's, (got to do a little research to find them - true), and ALL of them are going to be easy for Pete to find.