Thought I said "welcome to Gardenweb above," meant to! What you suggest is reasonable to augment shade. You could use lattice, sheer curtain, shade cloth, whatever would suit your setup. There's no such thing as a morning sun only plant, as it seems you already suspect. It's an easy instruction for plants that can be overwhelmed by too much sun and/or afternoon heat. You may be able to adequately shade, but will the heat radiating around it be too much anyway? Something to consider. In nature, shade is not adjacent to heat baking off of a building. A bonsai needs specialized regular maintenance for both the foliage and roots to maintain its' shape and ability to stay in a small shallow pot, which could need to be watered twice a day when it's hot, even with some shade. Not that anyone who wants to can't learn, but may not be what you had in mind. If you just like the look of a little potted tree, it would be a lot cheaper and easier to maintain many other plants that have not been or need to be "bonsai'ed" to live in a (much bigger) pot. That's one of the cool thing about plants, several different ones can look almost the same yet have quite different origins and culture.

The more colorful phormiums tend to lose their color after a while and revert to plain green. Some do this faster than others. The straight species are a lot tougher and more vigorous, and live longer than the hybrids. The color is most beautiful if given part shade to avoid bleaching of the foliage. They can get by once established on little water, but they do need some. They always get bigger than you think they will get. Make sure they have enough space! They can get HUGE, I mean HUGE, 10x10' if they revert or if they are the species. Here the only pest to watch for is mealy bugs. They collect at the base of the plant and will kill it. You have to get in there and look and apply a systemic insecticide to get rid of them. Maintenance means cutting off the finished flower stalks and pulling off the foliage when it is dead and can easily be pulled away from the plant.

Beachplant and Barbara, thanks for the info. Knowledge overcomes effort. I guess some might not make it. That is ok, I just want to give them a fighting chance. I am not sure what type they are but their name is Hemerocallis fulva, believe from doing a little reading they are evergreen. The Hybrids are Hemerocallis. roadsde daylillies Hybrids At least I know who can take the sun. It is a killer if you get it wrong. I would not want to be out in it all day. Forsythia and Butterfly bush are so pretty, maybe they will make it. I live back from the water now about 2 1/2 miles. I just went on a buying spree with cheap prices. I have purchase from this wholesaler before and everthing is growing very well. The wind is doing a number on my plants. I hope they adapt. We had a freeze line come within 200 yards of my house. How weird is that. My house was ok but driving to work as I went downhill on my street about 200 yards. There was frost over entire acres of yards. It did not even nip a single plant. Thank you lord. I am getting ready to plant 50 lbs of Bahia Grass for the sheep. I ran irrigation last Sunday and will put sprinkler heads on this weekend. Poor fellers, they are upset I swiped a 100 x 100 area from them. They are pretty smart. They would graze certain areas at certain time of the day and select what they wanted. Kind of like a buffet. They were managing their food source. Another nice acre of Bahia will make them happy. Thanks for the info. I do need all the help I can get. Remember I just startd back into gardening last November. I have gone from no plants to who knows how many. The eater and all of my other exotic/invasive roses received a special place, tree and fence line to grow on. I am growing Fortuniana rose for rootstock. Jim

I am enclosing a post I started regarding Santos Mahogany. It seems that Santos Mahogany starts off darker so the color change is not as dramatic as Brazilian Cherry that starts off much lighter. They both end up being closer in darkness with Santos having more red and Brazilian Cherry having more orange mixed with the Mahogany. I have Brazilian Cherry right now (but damaged from water) that I wish had less brown boards and more lighter boards mixed with more reddish boards. I still love the exotic woods and I am thinking of doing it again. I love Santos Mahogany also but it is a little more expensive. Maybe others will post pictures that have Santos Mahogany. Wish someone would have before sun darkening and after sun darkening pictures. Here is a link that might be useful: Post regarding Santos Mahogany