I am on the 8b/9a border, and a few of those suggested plants are very iffy for winter survival here: bougainvillea, ponytail palm, jatropha, and plumeria are all likely to die without significant winter protection. However, you can overwinter a potted plumeria in a dormant state in a cool, dark (but not above-freezing) location such as a garage. Potted ponytail palms can be easily overwintered in the house, since they are happy in the dry heat. There are also many plants on that list that will reliably survive the winter, but will defoliate or even die back to the ground in the cold. Some of them are plants that are evergreen in central/south Florida (hibiscus, passion vine, etc.). You asked for perennials, so maybe you don't mind winter die-back, but I thought I'd mention it. If you want something evergreen to add some height and structure, you can use Indian hawthorn (as Carol mentioned above) or ligustrum. For a deciduous shrub or small tree, crepe myrtles (mentioned above) are great. If you get a bigger type and let it keep most of its crown growth (no coppice pruning, a.k.a. "crepe murder") it will eventually make a nice tree and give you a partly-shaded area to plant under. Knockout roses (mentioned above) grown in full sun will reach 5'-6' or more in a couple of years if you don't cut them back too aggressively. If you keep them cut back, you can maintain them at 3'-4'. They will defoliate briefly in the coldest part of winter, but generally don't drop their leaves until the hard freezes hit - so often they are green past Christmas. For edible landscaping, the blueberry bush (decidious) can be attractive. It has white flowers in spring, of course followed by the tasty berries. The dwarf Sunshine Blue only gets 2'-4' tall and has pink flowers. Blueberries love sun, but you have to maintain an acid soil. For an unusual color on a bigger shrub - IF you are willing to mulch very well and water regularly - loropetalum will do great in full sun. It has beautiful purple foliage and the brilliant pink flowers in spring are a bonus. My next door neighbor has some beautiful ones, and there are several apartment complexes and shopping centers that also have lovely ones that get all day sun. I am not kidding about the mulch and water, though - they will die or look terrible if you stick them in full sun without adequate mulch and moisture, and I'd wait until fall to plant them. They will need the cool months to get their root systems established before facing the heat next summer. Their foliage is much denser if grown in full sun, dense enough that they can be pruned into shapes - rounded top shapes are popular around here. The native saw palmetto or the king sago (cycas revoluta, which I believe Carol mentioned above) can be an effective backdrop or centerpiece for your perennial flowers, too. They are almost bulletproof. Ornamental sweet potatoes are a pretty ground cover to weave among your flowers. While they are not supposed to be hardy, mine have come back after the last two winters. Mine are out in the brick mailbox planter exposed to dawn to dusk sun along the street. However, the grocery store sweet potatoes I planted with them (some that had sprouted after I failed to cook them soon enough) have grown even more vigorously. I leave them in the ground all winter. One last thought: I bought some pretty purple African Daisies from HD this spring. They have done really well, repeatedly blooming in sun and poor soil with no deadheading. They were labeled as perennials, but since I just got them this year I can't report on their actual hardiness yet. Good luck!

I also have a bottle palm, and I used to have a spindle palm and they both were in some of the fullest sun I could offer them and they loved it. I agree take it outside slowly. Thats something I know very well, but a mistake that I still make with almost all my plants every year. They need at least a week to adjust to the sun.

Sorry for the late reply, HU-243901113. I don't regularly fertilize my Jiaogulan plants, but do occasionally water them with some 'Foliage Pro' in the water, which is what I water my citrus trees with. My first year growing them I kept them in a near total shady spot, and they grew very slowly. When I moved them to a sunnier spot they grew much faster, but too much sun wilted them badly. I now keep mine in a spot were they get the morning sun, and afternoon shade when the day is hotter. They have thrived in that spot. I started/grew Jiaogulan plants last winter in a SunBlaster Grow Light Garden kit I got off Amazon, and it worked OK. I also have put them in a window where they grow, but not as fast as when outdoors. Most of the Jiaogulan roots in the pictures above died this past winter (I should have moved them to a more protected area when the prolong super cold temps came), but they produced a lot of berries last year which I harvested for seed (berries are not edible by the way). Those seeds germinated and I now have replacement plants just as good as the ones above. When they sprouted, the vines had 3 leafs, but now they have matured into 5 leaf Jiaogulan plants. I don't think I'd be willing to sell any of my plants. I got my starter plants from Joe Hollis of Mountain Gardens Herbs, and highly recommend purchasing plants from him. I have purchased plants elsewhere. Not all Jiaogulan plants taste them same, some are bitter, some sweeter, some have no flavor at all. The bare root plants I got from Hollis were most vigorous and had a pleasant taste. I use mostly the leaves for tea, as most of the beneficial properties in Jiaogulan are concentrated in the leaves, from what I have read. I don't *think* the roots or flowers are edible (haven't confirmed they are), but I have read in Jiaogulan resource books that the berries should not be consumed. . Good luck!

The native Coontie cycad is smaller than sago palms,not sharp, and easier imo I grow them both in full sun and full shade. It sounds perfect for this. A very mature one might be more than 2 feet wide though (but again these grow pretty slowly).... Coral fountain plant might work here and there to tuck into places for flowers+textural interest. I grow some of mine in full shade but they are also a popular plant in Texas approved for full sun xeriscaping. If it weren't for the size limits I'd recc Firebush and Firespikes. I'd say they are containable, would not need more than an annual prune (assuming the Firebush doesn't die back) if their growth rate in Tampa is same as here. Firespikes hate full sun but mine tolerate it surprisingly well, they just will look upset... that's why I like to grow them under my unpruned firebushes (I just annually trim them a lil so they remain shorter than the bushes). Leadwort also probably gets too big but it doesnt mind hot sun nor a lot a shade. Begonia & Impatiens can work in shade but the sun part in the summer might be a dealbreaker without being protected by a larger plant overhead. An attractive large container and some other hardscaping features might help? My container dwarf figs go dormant in my zone 9 yard so they should not mind full shade in winter for example. Also I'd be careful with elephant ear.. they're a pretty nasty invasive species unless you get one of the tamer cultivars. I have a tamer cultivar (Black Coral) and even I keep it in a container, I see so many spread to forests around here.