The picture was taken in the morning; these plants face south, so they are only in shade until late morning, and then they get a strong, south/southwestern exposure the rest of the day. These are all drought-tolerant plants that can take a lot of sun and reflected heat from the concrete around the pool, including buddleia, argyranthemum (marguerite), phlomis, pelargoniums, grasses, succulents, etc., many of which probably wouldn't work for your shady situation. The background, which I refer to not-so-affectionately as Hedgezilla, is podocarpus gracillior, which provides great screening, but is a maintenance chore which I would have torn out in a second if I could afford to and plant something more interesting besides "green concrete". However, my neighbor planted two p. gracillior as an untrimmed tree-sized screen in a shady, north-facing exposure three years ago, and now they are at least 20 feet tall. There was a house in HB on the Heard garden tour this year with a south-facing exposure that featured, surprisingly, several beautiful Japanese maples. I would have asked if they did anything special, but I didn't have the time. Anyway, I suppose it's possible to grow them, but I'm guessing they baby them. IMO, many plants are more forgiving of a little too much shade, than a little too much sun. Some plants may get a little rangey in the shade searching for the sun, but you can always trim them. Others may not bloom, but plants with colorful foliage can take care of that. Sometimes only trial and error will help you find out what will work and what won't. I was just reading in the current issue of Garden Gate about an average-sized yard in which the amount of sun varies from two hours a day to six hours a day from one end of the bed to the other.

Hi Basic, "The tag says its a native to N. India. I recall reading somewhere that India only has one native conifer--would this be it?" Nope, the quote isn't correct, it should be "only has one native conifer south of the Ganges River", and the answer is Nageia wallichiana (Podocarpaceae), which occurs in the Western Ghats in southwest India (and also in Burma, Thailand, etc., so it isn't endemic). The Himalaya (i.e., north of the Ganges) has plenty of conifers (6 pines, 2 spruces, 2 or 3 larches, 3 or 4 firs, a cedar, a hemlock, 2 cypresses, several junipers, a yew, an Amentotaxus, and probably some others I've forgotten of off-hand - at least 25 species). The technical point of the quote is that the Indian Tectonic Plate lost all of its conifers a fair few million years ago when it drifted across the South Pole, long before it collided into the Asian continent (to create the Himalaya). That Nageia wallichiana isn't endemic there shows that it is a recent colonist (within the last few million years), presumably by migrating birds with the seeds in their guts. Resin

"if this accurately represents tree hardiness, a number of trees deserve colder ratingscolor>" Let's look at which trees those might be.... From experience (three winters) I would say Picea breweriana is quite happy in my zone -- versus the Z6 designation above. Especially this year, the new shoots are extra long ! By contrast, I would probably move Pinus thunbergii from Z6 to Z7 -- no end of grief with this one (yet). My Taxus baccata 'Fastigiata Aurea' is doing a lot better, despite being rated the same Z6. That Z8 rating for Sciadopitys verticillata seems totally out of whack with what I've been told recently on this forum, although I have no experience with it myself. Z7 for Picea sitchensis seems a bit overblown too.... and probably likewise for Cephalotaxus harringtonia. And Pinus contorta rated Z7?! ....give me a break ! Not easy to find a reliable list, that's for sure.

Hello again Rodaf, I've done a little research and come up with the following list. A couple reinforce my previous thoughts. I think you may already have considered and discounted some of the others, and some may be long shots. But if I was in your position, I would try them all and see how I went. Cheers, Frank Angophora floribunda Geijera parviflora Brachychiton populneus ssp. Populneus Brachychiton rupestris Brachychiton australis Petalostigma triloculare Flindersia maculosa Flindersia australis Atalaya hemiglauca Pittosporum phylliraeoides Pittosporum rhombifolium Santalum lanceolatum Ficus platypoda var. platypoda Erythrina vespertilio Agathis robusta Grevillea robusta Euroschinus falcata var. falcata Callitris glaucophylla syn. C. columellaris var. campestris Araucaria cunninghamii Syzygium corynanthum