The purple flowers at the top of the fence are from Clematis Etoile Violette, a viticella clem that is very easy to grow. It is a very dark purple which is set off well by the very pale pink of the New Dawn rose. The picture was taken June 14, 2007. The bluer purple flowers at the bottom in the shade created by the rose are Zwanenberg Blue Spiderwort (Tradescantia). I just realized that I didn't show you any of the hybrid daylilies that are in the niddle portions of the long narrow bed. Didn't want you to think that there are only the orange ditch daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) that are shown in the 1st picture! The fulvas (spreading not clumping dls) are in the northwest corner in almost total shade due to the northern exposure and an overhead tree. These started blooming this year on June 10th. The dozen hybrid daylilies in this narrow bed are all new plants and eventually I'll have to move about half of them somewhere else when they grow too crowded. So don't be too concerned about overcrowding your bulbs - most all of us overcrowd something sometimes and then have to move things around. LOL I also wanted to mention that I tried to stagger the daylily bloom (mostly July bloom) in between the early June blooming Asiatic lilies & the late July blooming Orienpets, but tried to keep most things in the same red/yellow/cream color scheme because there is bound to be some overlap. The only exception was the New Dawn rose which is at the far south end near the fence - because that's the only space I have that is big enough. She can put out 20 foot long canes which I wrap around the corner walls on both sides. She has one main flush in early June and some scattered later bloom as does the clematis. The rebloom clashes a bit with the daylilies strong colors, but not enough to matter much. I am just mentioning all this to give you an idea of the progression that goes on in the bed through the season, even though it is a very narrow bed. I still have one cream-colored daylily , copper colored helenium, Orange Perfection phlox (not really orange in color) in bloom, along with some bronze-colored mums that are just starting & some rebloom on the spiderworts and clemmies. Oh, and I forgot to mention some blue berries on the Variegated Porcelain vine which is on the wall between two of the clems. Here are some of the daylilies. With various dls blooming at slightly different times, I get some nice punches of color over a period of about 6 weeks. Not boring waiting and watching for each to show its stuff. Francois Verhaert Larry Grace Royal Frosting Ruby Spider

i like to think of it being more of a function of heat .... morning sun.. cool .. afternoon sun .... hot ... all plants transpire or sweat ... they give off water ... some plants.. give off more than they can take up in afternoon sun ... e.g. .. i have a few hosta... and they do NOT like afternoon sun ... they wont die.. they just start looking like heck in late summer ... hydrangea.. would fall in that category ... IMHO ... as noted directly above... its all a function of your ability to give them enough water .... good luck ken

I'd love so see the suggestions anyone has for this problem, too. Doesn't everyone have this spot somewhere in their yard? I have a ~5 foot wide planting bed next to the west side of my house, and am grappling with the same problem. Mine does get winter sun. It gets the burning afternoon sun (only, with full shade all morning) all year round (though, of course, the sun's gentler in winter). It seems like every plant I read about that takes "full sun to partial shade" really means "lots of lovely morning to mid-day sun with some shade protection from precisely the nasty afternoon blaze" we're trying to deal with. I love the "yellow wave" phormium, and I'm in San Diego, too, but inland more, and I thought the lighter leaved phormiums need protection from hot afternoon sun? I'd love to be wrong about that! Help! Laura

I am in SW WA and have a similar problem. We're on a hill and have woods around us, except the SW exposure of the house. It gets 3-4 hours of hot afternoon sun. We have white stone siding and the whole area gets exceedingly warm. Many things I've tried there wilt in the pm, and/or just don't do well. The best perennial I've found is something that was tagged "Texas Sage" and it's one of those greggii sages. Loves it there. One cultivar, Hot Lips, is really happy - I bought a whole mess of them. Another plant that does well, surprisingly, is fleabane. It's low growing habit probably keeps it cool. And of course, there's always Walker's Low Nepeta. I know these aren't climbing, but they might help someone. I myself am heading out first thing tomorrow for some clematis and some of Zoomermom's suggestions.