Azalea's, Camellia's, ferns, Bromelaids, Plumbago, Canna Lily, Impatiens, Begonia, Caladium, Cordyline, Clivea, Hydrangea, Zygocactus, Angelonia, Salvia's grow good under my bougainvillea no sun there, try anything, there are lots more out there.

Maybe someone else can help with the herbs as I only grow Rosemary and Thyme in pots and they get a bit more sun than one hour a day. Cheers.....MM.

Hi Geraldine,

Chervil and lemonbalm are said to tolerate shade. You may also get by with parsley. I do not know from personal experience, just from something I read...so no guarantees!

If you can't get flowers that you like, remember how much colour you can get from foliage.

Some other flowers to try are cinerarias, fuschias, bergenia, bletilla striata (Chinese ground orchid), lily-of-the-valley, native violet, Japanese anemone, aquilegia, begonia and daphne.

Cheers
Dee.

You can't go past a tree fern or two. They will look sensational in a large area like that. Underplant with other ferns such as birdsnest, and also some flowering plants like viola hederacea.

Doesn't your climate and locality suggests the exotic, the lush or the small raintree canopy? Why not something with really large (extra large)or colourful leaves? All importantly, start with your natural base - your climate with some humidity. When setting out your plan contrast one plant against the other, in size, tone, and colour. As well, as adding neutral coloured plants - such as soft greys or black tones. Adding some neutrals amongst the lush will add a livelier and vital effect. You could also add one or two flowering plants with a large flower as another contrast and highlight.

Lemon balm or Melissa officinalis is an excellent shade tollerant herb, bergonias are the famous flowering in full shade plants. Liriopes love shade, lots of the impatiens are nice little herbaceous plants with flowers. Ajuga reptans grows in the shade and might even flower on 1 hours of sunlight. Many colour foliage plants are nice too like Coleus, cordylines, cannas as well. A great herb for shade is Houttuynia cordata, the variegated one has pretty heart shaped leaves and is edible. Plectranthus flowers beautifully in the shade, australian native violet is a great ground cover with pretty flowers. Does that help at all?

If it's specifically herbs you are after, you should get some good suggestions on the Herbs forum ...
In pots in semi shade/bit of sun, I have kaffir lime, basil (quite sad at the moment), thyme, marjoram, curry plant (also sad). These have been in the same spot probably since last winter and most seem to have done quite well.

It would be good to know soil type and how much water you want to use. Also when does it get the one hour of sun? Without that information it is really difficult to confidently recommend plants. From my experience in Brisbane I would forget herbs in this spot. They really need plenty of sun and excellent drainage to do well. In Brisbane some useful flowering plants for dryish shade are Blue ginger (Dichorsandra), Ophiopogon (Cats whiskers), Some bromeliads (Aechmea), Drimiopsis, plectranthus,native hypoestes, native pseuderanthemum (Love flower),abutilon, asystasia,cypella,shrimp plants, otacanthus, acalypha reptans,eranthemum and justicia. Robyn