White flowers for shady zone 8

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

last year

Any chance of a picture?

You could start with adding some white amaryllis.

kelli_ga thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

last year

Where exactly in zone 8? It makes a difference, as does not wanting to irrigate. That could limit things a lot.

I am a bit surprised you want suggestions for a garden that you seem to not want to take care of. Routine maintenance of a garden is a fact of life - either you do it, hire it out or leave it to become an overgrown, weedy mess.

Related Discussions

Tall (6-8') indoor plants for shady location?

Q

Comments (10)

Dirtslinger2...Aside from artificial lighting, are there any windows in the room? The tallest, low-light plant that comes to mind is Dracaena, 'Janet Craig.' One problem, aside from light is, 5-6' trees might be hard to find. Home Depot sells tall Dracaenas every so often, but unless they're newly shipped, more often than not, plants acquire insects. On the other hand, D. Janet Craig, although not infallible, is hardier (insects) than other plants. There's a Spathiphyllum 'Mona Loa.' Spaths thrive in low light, but do best in medium. I believe ML is the largest of Spahtiplyllums. We used to sell them at Rentokil. The tallest were 4-4.5' tall. They're beautiful plants, look great in an room with a lot of space. White flowers form periodically. Between the size of the plant and flower stalks it'd near 5', but you can't count on blooms. All plants need light. Will these plants be kept in the same location year round, or can they be taken outside in summer? Toni

Extreme Climate Winter Sowing......the HOT zones: 8, 9, and 10 (nati

Q

Comments (0)

Hydrangeas in Texas Zone 8b

Q

Comments (7)

Hydrangeas in Texas can be located in a variety of locations: dappled sun, morning sun or even in “bright shade”. Obviously, the more sun that they get, the more they bloom. Those that get morning sun should not receive any afternoon or evening sun. Look for morning-sun only locations that get shade starting around 11am or so. And I mean 11am in the summer time. Since our temperatures tend to reach into the 90s starting in May and remain in the 100s until September-ish, consider that span of time as “the summer time”. You do not have to give them that much sun of course; 1-2 hours of morning sun is fine too. The most sun tolerant hydrangeas are the paniculatas. You can put them in full sun in most places of the country but, the leaves suffer here and leaves/bush will not look good by the end of the growing season. So, if you can find a way to give them afternoon shade, I am sure the shrubs will appreciate it. While I have not observed lack of blooms issues in bright shade, Paniculata Little Lime blooms have failed to change their color.... from lime green to white in some years. Little Quickfire blooms have not done that but, its location in the garden gave it slightly more sun. Potted Vanilla Strawberry and Strawberry Sundae paniculatas bloomed fine but performed miserably because they tend to start blooming while we are in the 100s (who wants to bloom then?). As a result, the VS/SS blooms would open white and go from white to brown instead of white-pink-pretty magenta-magenta w/greens&pinks-brown. Mopheads, lacecaps and serratas can be placed in dappled sun, morning sun only or bright shade locations that are not windy; they will bloom fine there. If placed in morning sun, they should get shade by 11am or earlier. The leaves and blooms may be sensitive to winds, high temperatures and sun. Put them in dense shade and then they will not bloom as much. If unsure, leave them in the pot in which you bought them and test the pot in various locations. Testing means see how well they bloom and also see how well the leaves/blooms do. Default colors for these types of hydrangeas is white; shades of pink if one lives away from East Texas and shades of purple/blue if one lives close to or in East Texas. Smooth hydrangea, aka Annabelle-type hydrangeas, can be planted in dappled sun or morning sun only. On bright shade, I had good bloomage but… their blooms started green and stayed green throughout the growing season. The blooms should have turned white after a few weeks. These hydrangeas are very sensitive to soil moisture issues. I had one that died during winter. Oakleaf hydrangeas are the most drought resistant once they become established and once their root system has grown a bit. They can also be grown in dappled sun, morning only sun only or in bright shade. These hydrangeas produce spectacular Fall foliage but, the leaves require several hours of sun to get good reds, purples, oranges. If located in bright shade, you may still get some color change but not as nice as when they get more sun. At other times of the year, when the sun is weaker here, all hydrangeas could be placed in full sun temporarily. Hydrangeas grown in pots, for example, can get full sun in early-mid Spring (before temps hit 85F), mid-late Fall (once temps stay below 85F) and during winter of course as most of them loose all of their leaves. One exception is oakleaf hydrangeas, which may keep their leaves in some years and act as evergreen shrubs sometimes.If they are doing this for me in the DFW Metroplex, it is possible you may experience this as well. Once temperatures reach 85F regularly (in mid-late April or in May) then the leaves & blooms are more soil moisture sensitive so water them more then and try to keep the soil as evenly moist as possible. Lilacs can be grown here too. Our soils are alkaline, which they like. But their leaves get burned to a crisp in full sun. I lost my first one when I planted in full sun. You can plant them a few feet away and under the eastern edge of the canopy of Crape Myrtles/etc though. I prefer growing the lilac rebloomers like Bloomerang, Josee, Palibin and Superba but the Descanso hybrids (lilacs) do best here. Does that help you, Superteeth?

Plant Suggestions? Zone 8a, Eastern N. Carolina. Foundation Planting

Q

Comments (2)

What's the "tree" that is there now? Maybe that can go to that left corner. FYI the shape you show on the right = a small shrub at most - the large shrub category covers ones a lot taller than that. Might work best to convert the small section of lawn between the house and the walk into bed, concentrate your planting there. At any rate I wouldn't line the walk with anything, rather have the lawn come right to the walk.

kelli_ga
Original Author

last year

Thanks everyone.

Hi gardengal, I live in the woods. Everything grows great. Weeding and pruning are easy. There is a enough rain here to keep things from drying out.

The house needs a lot of attention right now which is why I cannot commit a lot of time to gardening. I am not going for a pristine landscape - just a landscape appropriate to the woods. It’s dark and green and lush, so I need a bit of white to keep it from getting depressing.

I suppose I could try to find some white cobblestones. I have not seen a lot of rock around here. Flowers would be better, but some scattered light colored stones 4-6” might be an option for year-round.

Christopher CNC

last year

If you live in the woods, pay attention to the wild, later blooming fall asters around you. Some of them will be white. Plant some of them in the garden.

kelli_ga thanked Christopher CNC

cecily 7A

last year

last modified: last year

green & white caladiums, lamium White Nancy

kelli_ga thanked cecily 7A

lat62

last year

I live in the woods too, (but zone 4, so maybe I'm not much help) and I love the way white pops in the dusk, good luck!

Looking around today,, I love white astilbe, they stay very tidy and don't flop, so that could work in front of house.... shady moist environment sounds right for them.

How about rhododendrons? Seems like there are so many choices, I bet you'll get more suggestions soon.

kelli_ga thanked lat62

kelli_ga
Original Author

last year

last modified: last year

Thank you!

We get some western sun, but not so much from the east. The front of the house runs east to west and faces north. There is about 30-40’ of cleared area on the west side of the house, but the trees start maybe 15’ in front of the porch, so only the light from the west (not the north) will hit the target area, and I’m not sure if it lasts 6 hours.

Right now at 3:45 pm (in August) the sun just came out and is illuminating the target area and about 4’ of the west side of the covered porch. But the boxwoods are 3/4 covered by shade from the house since the sun is in the south. The area where I want to plant flowers is in the sun right now.

I guess the area would start to see sun after noon, and it might last till 6pm in the summer, but I don’t know. I don’t think we should assume 6 hours. Filtered light maybe.

I don’t know if this helps. Sorry to make it so complicated. I don’t know how many hours of sun the target area gets.

einportlandor

last year

Instead of white flowers (which I love), how about white variegated shrubs? There are many varieties of pieris and euonymous, many with striking variegated leaves. They are both hearty and handle a sun/shade situation. Sarcocca has tiny white flowers and thrives in the shade in my yard. Vines are another option. Or stick with old reliables like white flowering rhododendrons, azaleas and hydrangeas, assuming you have the conditions they need. All of these plants, if appropriate for your area, are relatively low-maintenance -- but not no-maintenance. Visit a local nursery and see what they offer. Good luck with your landscaping project.

kelli_ga thanked einportlandor

White flowers for shady zone 8

Christopher CNC

Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Related Discussions

kelli_ga
Original Author

Christopher CNC

cecily 7A

lat62

kelli_ga
Original Author

einportlandor

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

White flowers for shady zone 8

Christopher CNC

Comments (9)

floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Related Discussions

kelli_gaOriginal Author

Christopher CNC

cecily 7A

lat62

kelli_gaOriginal Author

einportlandor

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

kelli_ga
Original Author

kelli_ga
Original Author