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!

Dwarf pentas will work for quite awhile. Lots of winter annuals, like marigolds, violas, pansies, petunias, etc. But they will have to be replaced when it gets hot. For year round color, you could try some of the newer sun loving coleus. When they get leggy, you cut them back, root the cuttings, and feed up the parent plants. They'll bush back out again in no time. Tri-colored oyster plant stays low and colorful, and isn't picky about light. Gulf Coast penstemon will get about 3 feet tall, reseeds and always looks full and pretty. It only blooms once a year, though. Tithonias...lovely zinnia type flowers that reseed happily, and that butterflies love. They are annuals, but you always have new ones coming up. There are several varieties that don't get too tall. Gosh, there are lots of annuals, and probably plenty of perennials, but I can't think of any right now. My mind is going blank. Will get back to you when other ideas strike me. OH! I know one more before I quit...African Blue Basil. It is a cheerful, beautiful herb that takes full sun with no problem. It can be pruned back once in awhile, if you need to shape it up. Bees and butterflies love it. And it smells great! (I also use it in cooking now and then, though the flavor isn't the same as regular basil. It's still tasty.) The plant only gets about 2 feet tall. I'll try to find a good picture. Good luck! Marcia

Mara, I don't know if these photos will help you or anyone else, but here's my experience. All of these are at least four or five years old, maybe more. The best examples of my "Color Guard" yuccas are these in the ground, raised bed with added decomposed granite, rarely watered, lots of sun, I'm pretty sure they were planted with a Agriform 2 yr. fertilizer tablet ... In a pot, soil mixed with decomposed granite, several hours of sun a day, watered about once a week ... Slowly dwindling away, watered -- probably too much, part sun ... A pup transplanted a couple of years ago has not grown, mostly sun, not much water ... So in considering what to make of it all after taking these photos my conclusion is: decomposed granite to insure good drainage, sun, little water. Fertilizer? Probably ... Gonna' try it on the little one. While photographing the 'Color guard' yuccas I noticed the "Brakelights red yuccas" (they are really of the agave family) are producing pups along the bloom stem. Glad I haven't pruned them. Lorelei passed along a couple of pups that her 'Brakelights" produced on the flower stem so I knew they did it, but these are the first ones for me. Yay -- more Brakelights! How do you know when should they be detached from the stem and planted?

Yes, it looks a pretty normal color for a squid agave in the picture. My camera is set on 'landscape' which makes things a little greener than they are on some monitors, but you can believe me that it was turning yellow fast. Even some of the established yuccas, like the native twisted leaf, and soft yucca, are suffering from the sudden triple digit temps and dry weather after the long cool spring with all that wonderful rain. The color guard yuccas and red 'yuccas' are still looking good. Wish I'd planted more trees way back when, but until a few years ago I wanted sun for all the roses I was growing. However, the two Ratamas are growing fast and their shade is appreciated.