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Florida Gardening

Shade plants for use under overhang

12 years ago

I'm looking for some winter blooming annuals or perennials that will work in pots to go in the area under my overhang in front of my living room windows. I don't want large growing plants - just flowering ones that can go in window boxes or planters. I know I can use coleus, impatiens, begonias, torenias, but was wondering if anyone had other ideas. It gets shade all day - from huge oaks in our front island and our house faces south.

Here are a couple pictures taken this summer.

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Comments (5)

User
12 years ago
Most of the winter blooming annuals still require sun such as pansies and petunias, snapdragons and dianthus. The ones you mentioned are fine but they freeze. Do the oaks loose their foliage enough to provide enough sun in the Winter?
hester_2009
12 years ago
Here are a couple of pics of my favorites - cane begonias.
Great for shade and will flower off and on.

They may be too big for your use, but you can prune them often.
The more common dragon wings would work too.
It's hard to find winter flowering plants for shade I think.
Hope this helps,
Hester

When I previewed this, I see not only Photobucket still not resizing (sorry!), but I see a pathetic dragon wing in one pic. I should trim it! And also a hoya hanging next to the begonia - these would work for you but the flowering is sparse in winter.
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You could put common bedding begonias and impatiens in pots if the soil is solid roots. In Venice they'll last a long, long time since it is close to the ocean. In other parts of the country those are annuals but here by the ocean they may keep going for a couple of years, then when they start reseeding themselves you can save the best seedlings and get rid of the old plants. I bought one six pack of impatiens about 10 years ago and I still have impatiens, descendents of the originals. They are common but reliable. Pick one color and stick with that. Multi-colors look rather chaotic. White is the most elegant. Fuchsias would be lovely and do well near the Ocean, and they attract hummingbirds. If you trim your Privets correctly you can get them to dense up at the bottom. make sure they are trimmed narrower at the top than at the bottom, so sunlight is not blocked by the top of the plant. This helps the bottom dense up. Hostas are not going to do well for you in Venice California. They like winter chill.
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In nearly three months, you've only watered it once? That means one of two things - either you are keeping it VERY dry, or the mix is so water-retentive that it takes it a month and a half or more for it to dry out. Water more often, or change your mix. 8" pot may be too big, I also suspect - which may well be another reason the mix does not dry out (the third possibility). Show us a picture of the plant. Some very good growers say they never go beyond 6" pots, even for the hugest of their specimen plants. Hoyas like being in small pots, compared to a lot of other plants. As for your question... You did not specify in your profile which zone you grow in (you should - then you are likely to get better answers to all your growing questions). Things also depend on the geometry of the location - which side the hoya will face, how high above the roof is, whether it slopes and how much... To avoid all that uncertainly, you can measure the light intensity in that location - there is software for smart phones you can download for free if you do not want to buy a light meter. Or you can also simply try hanging it there and see if new growth will be elongated (not enough light then.) Generally, H. polyneura is a shade-loving plant, but it does not mean it'll be OK in a very shady location far from equator. How often to water? When the mix is close to drying out, but has not dried out completely. It's impossible to name the number of days, but you will gradually learn, from how the medium behaves in the particular location you grow in.
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Tom
12 years ago
You know me, Mary. I'm always thinking hummingbirds. Salvia Miniata does very well in shade and will bloom until it freezes.
mboston_gw
Original Author
12 years ago
I typed a response the other night but evidently I didn't hit submit! Funny you mentioned Salvia Miniata - I just started a couple cuttings of it a few weeks ago. Hadn't really considered Salvias in the rectangluar pots. I was considering puttiing a feeder out front anyway, esp if the Rufous come back this year.

Are you seeing any now, Tom? I have had 4 different ones - but none really staying to overlap more than a day or two. I had one adult male, then an immature male, either an immature one or a female, and today another immature male. This is all since 8/29. They tend to stay a week or so then move on.

Did you find homes for your Paw Paws? I didn't get your email for a few days and posted I think on the Hummingbird site but didn't hear back. I might be able to find you a Camphor if you are still interested.
katkin_gw
12 years ago
I know you said you wanted something flowering, but what about ti plants? They are so colorful, you don't need the flower. There are also dwarf types that would stay small or you could prune the taller ones and start them over.

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