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Container Gardening

Attractive, Hardy Perennial for Full Florida Sun?

17 years ago

Our Central Florida side yard gets full sun and is covered with creek stones. We have a couple of in-ground shrubs and cactus planted there with some driftwood and pieces of petrified wood scattered on the stones. We want to plant an attractive, hardy perennial in a large urn-shaped container which will be sitting in full sun. What do you think might look good there?

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Comments (9)

gardenguru1950
17 years ago
If by "hardy" you mean plants that will take cold winters (which means we assume you're in the northern part of central Florida), these are very good perennials for pots in sun:

Achillea YARROW
Erigeron karvinskianus MEXICAN DAISY
Eupatorium coelestinum MISTFLOWER
Gaura lindheimeri GAURA
Hemerocallis EVERGREEN DAYLILIES
Ruellia caroliniensis WILD PETUNIA
Salvias MANY SAGES
Scabiosa columbariae PINCUSHION FLOWER
Stokesia laevis STOKES ASTER
Verbena VERBENA
Zephyranthes RAIN LILY

If by "hardy" you mean EASY, however, and you live in the milder southern parts of central Florida, these are some fun plants:

Asclepias curassavica SUNSET FLOWER
Begonia hieracleifolia STAR BEGONIA
Begonia ricinifolia CASTER BEAN BEGONIA
Costus scaber SPIRAL GINGER
Corssandra infundibuliformis CROSSANDRA
Glandularia pulchella MOSS VERBENA
Habranthus RAIN LILY
Rusellia equisetiformis FIRECRACKER PLANT

Joe
madmouser
17 years ago
I'd plant a papyrus. I've been craving one ever since I saw it on Logee's catalog but I don't have a sunny enough spot for one.
See it at the link below.
It's such a neat looking plant, long and thin with the feathery tops.

Here is a link that might be useful: Papyrus
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Agree with Ken to some point BUT it *is* possible to have plantings under a maple. I've done it. Under multiple maples. The trick is to find plants that handle the root competition and don't mind some dryness, and to plant a bit out from under the tree - I'd say at least 6 foot away from the base of the tree. There are also a few tricks you can pull out of your bag such as lining holes with garbage bags or sink large plastic pots to plant in, use moisture-absorbing crystals, etc. I have even gotten hydrangeas (!!) established under a maple tree, and they are thriving (the moisture crystals were invaluable here). Here's an example photo. You can see the shadow of the maple in the lower left corner. We have turtlehead, hosta, fern, brunnera, and you can see the edge of a hydrangea. The bed extends closer to the tree, you can't see it in the first photo. Anyway, the edge of the bed begins about 6' or so from the base of the tree. Hey, I think the plants are doing pretty darn well. I used the garbage bag trick to get the turtlehead going, but they've been there about 10 years already and are firmly established. Same bed, different angle. There's plants behind/next to the hydrangea you can't see in this photo: Point is - it takes effort to garden under maples, but it is possible if you're willing to do some trial and error and be creative in how you manage the problem.
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carver
Original Author
17 years ago
Thank you for your helpful replies. By "hardy" I did mean a plant that will take cold winters. I live in Spring Hill, FL., just north of Tampa. We have mild winters, but have cold spells every winter, including some freezing temperatures.

By "attractive" I was hoping to mean a plant that looks interesting by itself, whether or not it blooms.

By "attractive, hardy perennial" I meant a plant that would look good all year. Some plants look fantastic when they are in bloom but fizzle away after that. We hope to find a plant that will look well all year long for several years while sitting in full sun and yet not be damaged by occasional frost. Does that mean a shrub?
gardenguru1950
17 years ago
Okay, how about:

Artemisia WORMWOODS
Bergenia PIG SQUEAK
Cerastium tomentosum SNOW-IN-SUMMER
Heuchera, Heucherellas CORAL BELLS
Lamium SILVER NETTLES
Ligularia japonica LEOPARD PLANT
Ophiopogon planiscapus ÂNigraÂ BLACK MONDO GRASS
Persicaria microcephala 'Red Dragon' RED DRAGON
Thymus variegated types THYMES
Vinca minor 'Golden' GOLEDN VARIEGATED VINCA
Vinca minor 'Ralph Shugert' RALPH SHUGERT VINCA
Vinca minor 'Sterling Silver' STERLING SILVER VARIEGATED VINCA

Joe
eldo1960
17 years ago
Are you saying these vinca minors can take full FLORIDA sun?
carver
Original Author
17 years ago
Joe,

Thank you for that new list of possibilities. I have to say that I am not familiar with them. So, I will "Google" them. I appreciate your help.
jenny_in_se_pa
17 years ago
carver - you can try cannas. There are a number with colored foliage in addition to flowers and they should grow year-round down there. The one thing that you may have to do with it (required for most perennials or bulbs, etc) is divide them and replant after awhile as the pot can eventually become crowded.
tcharles26
17 years ago
sophora secundiflora, the Texas Mountain Laurel. It's a slow growing small / medium tree. Evergreen. Large fragrant flowers in early spring. Very tough.
dawnrr
4 years ago
Hello carver, By any chance did you try the Cerastium tomentosum SNOW-IN-SUMMER that was suggested by gardenguru? I am looking for something to replace my "living mulch" of dwarf ruelli brittonia, Katies White which has joined Ruellia Simplex on the invasive list for Central FL

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