While I cannot offer any suggestions as I am from PA, I want to say you have approached your project in a well-thought manner. I am sure it will become very a beautiful haven.

full sun.. is usually anything over 8 hours total .. and it does not have to be 8 hours in a row ...

i would barely call that shade at all ... as even when in shade.. its VERY BRIGHT ...

i would tend to think that anything will work there.. other than perhaps.. the biggest flowered foo foo plants ... plants with giant flowers.. really need the full sun ..

in other words.. you should be buying things labeled as FULL SUN.. not labeled as SHADE ....

as the reply above.. i am not qualified to make specific recommendations for FL.. heck.. you may as well be on the moon.. lol ...

i would suggest you find some local gardens with labels.. and simply spend a Sunday afternoon just looking at what is possible in your area ...

or even better.. join a local garden club.. if for nothing else.. their usual garden tours in season ... you can not believe the inspiration you can get.. just by walking thru a friends garden ...

good luck

ken

Thanks for the replies. Each area gets about 4-5 hours of sun. One area gets the morning sun (until 2:00PM) and the other gets the afternoon sun (after 1:00PM), which is why I mention partial sun). I am afraid to plant anything there that required full sun.

I THINK YOU HAVE THE GENE FOR BECOMING A REAL GARDENER..

AND THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO STOP DOING.. IS FEARING OR WORRYING ABOUT ANYTHING

so my best suggestion ... is simply go to a good local nursery.. not the big boxstore.. and buy a dozen or two... of whatever strikes your fancy.. whatever the budget will allow ... and give them a try ...

really.. gardening is not an engineering science.. make and draw plans.. finalize every uncertainty ... in fact.. i find very few gardeners who are engineers ... [the fence and the hardscape.. are those types of things.. but once you get to the plants ... become your inner hippie.. lol]

art students.. teachers.. and old hippies.. dont care about all that planning etc ... they just plant what makes them happy.. and usually end up with some of the best gardens.. simply due to lack of fear of trying everything ...

the first thing you need to think about.. is the backbone of the garden.. some larger .. long lived plants ... that will be there forever ... trees.. shrubs.. maybe conifers ... [and there is a forum for each]

and after you fill those few spaces... then you start thinking about filling in with some semi-long lived perennials ...

and then finally.. fill empty spots with annuals ...

and if it takes the rest of your life.. just have fun.. some quiet zen moments.. [actually my hard core gardener came out.. when i used to get so PO'd at work.. i would come home and dig large holes.. to work off the stress.. and it didnt take me long to figure out..i could plant things in the holes ... lol .. so then i started going to the nursery at lunch.. to have a reason to go dig more holes ...]

but i digress.. lol

BUT MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL.. PLEASE DONT WORRY ...

and they say you are a true green thumb.. when you have killed every plant.. 3 times .. before you succeed ... its how we learn.. and how we learn to push the envelop .. and it does not bother us in the slightest if it dies.. or we fail ... [well that $250 tree did bother me.. lol] .. and if something dies.. its another lunch trip to buy another.. and try something else ... and dig a new hole ...

good luck.. come back often.. we like to enable newbies ...

ken

ps: i will repeat.. even your shade.. is EXTREMELY BRIGHT ... and you will be able to grow 90% of the full sun plants to specification, all of the part shade plants.. and even shade plants there] ... do not let your shade.. limit you in choosing what might not fit there.. if it pleases you.. buy it.. insert.. roots down.. and water.. and see what happens.. if you blow 5 bucks.. who cares.. but if it lives.. you will have hours of joy ... DO NOT WORRY ABOUT IT ... and commit to memory.. that MOST shade plants.. are ONLY shade tolerant.. and do better in part sun.. or even full sun ... presuming they are zone appropriate for north FL ...

the short version of that is: buy what makes your toes tingle.. instead of choosing something OK to fit in a given space ... odds are.. it will live.. with just the minimum of aftercare ...

For hummingbirds, I suggest the following plants:

Canna Lily - big grows well in your weather. Comes in different colors. If the sun is bright and hot, then some shade may not hurt.

Cardinal flower - Red things generally what humming birds seems to go for. Grows ok in partial shade, especially in the south. May need some watering.

Great Blue lobelia - blue version of cardinal flower.

Salvia sage - drought resistant and generally do well in hot weather.

As Ken said, do the research and then plant and see what remains alive. There's no substitute for experience.

Paul

The more organic matter you can add to your soil (and continue adding over time since it will decompose quickly in FL heat & humidity) the easier your gardening will be. It will add nutrients, help hold nutrients you add, and help hold water. I usually turn some in when I start a bed before planting, and then mulch the surface after planting as well.

One (hard-learned for me when I was a novice) lesson: amend your whole bed well with what ever your soil needs: peat, organic material, compost, sand, lime, etc, before you plant the first plant. Don't get sucked into the "amend as you dig the hole" thing.

If you want humming birds, you need think about having something in bloom the entire season that humming birds are in your area or you will need to have a humming bird feeder so that they can hang around all the time.

I'm with Ken. First pick out a small flowering tree or big shrub or two to form the bones of the bed. You are mostly likely in zone 8A or 8B in northeast Florida. Maybe choose a Little Gem magnolia, firebush (Hamelia patens) or bottle brush and/or a couple of shrubs like the tecomas or firecracker plant (Russelia equisetiformis).

Then fill in with perennials especially to attract the hummers. Plants that attract humming birds that should do in your area will include the salvias, especially the blues, cape plumbago, shrimp plant, fire spike, red star hibiscus, cardinal flower and other lobelias, butterfly weed and coral bean.

Full sun is considered by almost any resource to be a total daily accumulation of 6 hours and over, especially in FL.

Each area gets about 4-5 hours of sun. Not everybody gets up so early, so you may not realize, but the sun comes up pretty early in the summer.

One area gets the morning sun (until 2:00PM) You might get away with part sun plants here, but at your latitude, they may be overwhelmed by the mid-day heat and harsh rays. This spot should have 7-8 hours of sun, depending on the date.

...and the other gets the afternoon sun (after 1:00PM), which is why I mention partial sun). I am afraid to plant anything there that required full sun. Sun that hits at 1 PM is extremely strong, and unless it's only for about an hour, I would only put full sun plants in this spot.

However, you will notice particular spots of the same beds are fairly different with some spots that get a lot more shade. Start with the less expensive, more easily replaced plants and expand from there as you see how they respond. For example, my entire veggie patch is in the shade during the hottest hours and everything I've tried so far has done well.

There is a hummingbird forum here on GW, in case you didn't find it yet. I've seen hummers visiting my zinnias often. I know you'll find something you and the hummers both like. Have fun!

Kimka gave the BEST advice...amend all your soil first...your plants will love you. Good soil holds moisture and encourages a good root system. Doing this now would be sooooo easy.

Also, if the soil is compacted, you may want to have it tilled.

to clarify something above ...

shade in mid to late afternoon ... is not singularly an issue of the lack of direct sun ..

but a period of reduced sun and direct insult .. so the roots can pump some water to help the plant recover..

its always wise.. to consider multiple variables.. rather than focus on one ..

a plant.. that is a heavy water user.. but full sun.. may struggle wildly ... in all day full sun ..

but given a 2 to 4 hour break in the hot part of the day ... will give it a refreshing break.. and allow it to otherwise thrive ..

sorta like suntanning ... you might go out in morning.. and late afternoon .. but you will cook yourself if you go out there from 2 to 4 ...

ken

Love the suntan analogy, Ken, very appropriate!

I have to agree with the soil amendment, I skipped that part when I was a newbie trying to save money and had to replant the whole bed. It will make you life so much easier later and your plants will grow really well.

As Ken said don't be afraid to try things, most of us change the plants around every now or then or even yank some out if they don't perform well. It's part of the fun of being a gardener!