George Davidson is like 2'-3' tall isn't it? You can certainly get Crocosmia shorter than that. I can't give you a name but I have a really vigorous orange-flowered form that is less than two feet tall.

This is a follow up. The original post was me, but I left for a while, and when I returned, it was with a different screen name. I did wind up buying 3 paw paw trees, from a local nursery. We finalized on the place in July, so that was when I bought them. Not wanting to wait until the next year. I planted carefully, and watered every week that first summer. I was surprised they survived, but they did. The varieties were Sunflower, NC-1, and Rebecca's Gold. I since read that RG is a bad choice due to being later, didn't know that then. At the end of the trees' 3rd fall now, NC-1 grew the best, now 5 feet tall, Sunflower a bit less, 4 feet tall. RG was eaten off twice by rabbits, but has grown to all of 18 inches tall now with a protective screen in place. This spring, NC-1 and Sunflower both bloomed, but neither fruited despite my playing the fly with a paintbrush. I still don't know if they will fruit at my place in Battleground WA, but it looks promising they survived. It was very foggy when I took the photo. It gives a general idea of the tree's growth compared to other species I planted the same year.

I am just south of Mrytle Beach, in Charleston. I am growing in ground still, root knot nematodes not a problem yet. Still get lots of tomatoes. Key is to get an early start. Be prepared to set some out a little earlier than you should and then protect them on cold nights. You may only get two cold nights in all of April. If you can protect them just those two nights, you will get a 30 day growing advantage. This makes a huge difference in plant growth, number of buds, and number of pollinated blooms before the humidity makes the pollen too tacky to work. This will happen some time in June. I leave my cages off so I can cover easily if necessary. I put the cages on after threats are past. I stagger plant out in case my gamble fails. At least some will survive. Try Big Beefs. They are tough, productive, resistant, red, and taste good. They are a good bench mark for other varieties. You can pick them up at the big box stores, but cannot not always count on real early in this region. As the humidity increases, your plant will cease pollinating(buds will be plentiful though) and the heat will normally cause a shut down in August. It will look alive, but the heat here impairs the function for normal processes. If it lives through summer, it may produce new buds in the fall. But the heat damage from the summer is pretty severe. Sometimes, it is best to start fall with new plants. Or just skip it if you have a good season. I used my fall gardening time to establish a winter garden. Since the ground never freezes, and there are many cold hardy plants that can easily handle 22 or down to 18, a winter garden makes a lot of sense. It is almost impossible to grow normal spring varieties like Lettuce (bolts in March) or carrots (gets woody) outside of winter, and easier than falling down to grow in the winter. To see the possibilties check the vegetable growing section New Year's Eve harvest post.

All Ficus carica want a sunny position, there aren't ones for sun and others for shade. But maybe the 5 hour stretch is plenty - what are the other involved details of the planting site? Including in what way it is shaded the rest of time.