What thrives? 2-3 hours intense mid-afternoon sun
indian_blanket
15 years ago
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lindac
15 years agoRelated Discussions
3hrs mid-day sun, rest of the time shaded: what to plant?
Comments (5)Hi tomatotomata, Neither am I :) I think some varieties of daylily might do well there, and they have a tropical look. Have you tried them? My sister-in-law has a really tall one called Acupulco Nights that is dark maroon- almost black. That would look nice with white agapanthus. Impatiens will flower in those conditions, but they require so much water. I have also found sword ferns do just fine in some sun if they have time to get acclimated, and the evil spreading Sprenger Asparagus fern is good in any shade or sun exposure. Succulents would do well- they probably would not get burned in three hours. I also have bromeliads in a spot where they get about an hour of direct sun, and they have done fine. You may want to try some, if you haven't already. Renee...See MoreWhat should I plant in an 'morning shade/afternoon sun' spot?
Comments (2)You haven't said whether there is anything there at present, so I am assuming not. As you are planting in a long narrow strip, you will need some shrubs for the "back bone" of your garden--somethings that will provide some interest while your perennials are growing and before they bloom. I also imagine that this is a side of your home--generally side plantings require some height to offset the long and narrow aspect of the space. A mix of evergreen and deciduous shrubs is also desireable so that you continue to have some interest in winter. You don't have to do this all at once, but you should consider purchasing a few shrubs each year. Look for an upright/columnar evergreen, maybe some boxwood, hydranga should do well with this exposure, as long as it is well watered, and will give you blooms as well. There are also some roses that will do ok with this amount of sun. Rose of Sharon (not a rose) is a lovely arching shrub with beautiful blooms; magnolia is another possibility. For perennials, look at coneflower, monarda, as well as those listed above....See MoreHydrangea that tolerates afternoon sun only?
Comments (24)Very Nice NHBabs - very nice! Our droughts can last weeks in the Atlanta area but at least we can water, on our watering days up to 10 AM (wet years no one pays attention to these rules). Been here 38 years and have had two summers where we had a total water ban - talk about brutal. We often get sued by AL and FL over the Chattahoochee River so we get a total water ban while AL folks continue watering like its nobody's business (but then they also have the TN River running through the upper end of the state) - not quite fair but what can you do? Use grey water collected in the tub, washing machine, and sinks; AC condensate and hope everything ekes by until the fall rains come in....See MoreAfternoon sun
Comments (26)We're about to get into the weeds but here we go: stillanntn6b, Here's a UV index diagram from NOAA/ the National Weather Service. In the diagram, the blue line is UV dosage. As you can see, the UV line peaks in mid-day and falls off in the late afternoon just before 16:00 (4:00 pm). Here's a graph that plots the spectral strength of light at sea level. Unfortunately, this graph is from Wikipedia. It's not exactly a proper academic source, but this is a rose forum, not a college classroom. Pay attention to the yellow dotted line in this diagram, it's a graphic representation of the spectrum of afternoon light. You can observe that the spectral power of the sun's UV (100- about 400 nm) is roughly half that of IR light (700+ nm) in the late afternoon. As Valrose explains, plants use the visible light range for photosynthesis. This is roughly the same range that the human eye can detect. The reason UV light peaks between 10 and 3-4 pm is that it is highest in the sky (the widest angle) at that time. But, while the visible light range is responsible is photosynthesis, that doesn't mean that UV light is "invisible" to plants. We used to think that plants could not detect UV light. We now know plants have UV receptors. However, UV light is so powerful that the plants use the UV receptors to protect them from potential UV damage. This process is akin to how human skin tans (produces protective melanin pigment) in response to UV damage. [I'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to wear their sunscreen. EVERYDAY. There's no such thing as a healthy tan; it's a bodily response to sun damage.] If you've ever seen a plant that turns red from sun exposure it's because it's producing a protective flavonoid pigment like carotenoids (the orange color of carrots, sweet potatoes and autumn leaves) that absorb blue (UV) light and anthocyanins in dark berries. And, of course, those pigments don't just protect the plants, they also serve as antioxidants that protect our bodies when we consume them. The human body is so well adapted to the consumption of these pigments in plants that we depend on them as vital nutrients. And yes, this is why the ozone layer is so important. If it is depleted, humans and plants would need more UV-protective pigment than we could ever dream of producing. But IR is not useful to plants in that it is too weak to support photosynthesis and does not induce physiological responses like the flavonoid pigment production of UV light. The National Institutes of Health's website has an article up that was published in the Journal of Plant and Cell Physiology. It details how a plant's UV receptors are essential to seedling establishment and can even help the plant tell time by regulating its circadian clock....See Morelindac
15 years agocarrie630
15 years agovetivert8
15 years agoagardenstateof_mind
15 years agoalbert_135 39.17°N 119.76°W 4695ft.
15 years agolindac
15 years ago
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