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Need some plant suggestions

WJS Herps

WJS Herps

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Hello all -

I'm looking for some plants for the backyard and wanted to see if I could get some ideas here. I currently have a large tree fern, a couple types of ginger, several types of bromeliad and pagoda plant. My challenge is that the area is shady. We are in Florida and it is hot, but we're in an odd zone that tends to get below 20 degrees a couple of times in the winter (I'm a bit north of Tampa). Do you all know of some semi hardy bamboo that can handle shade or some other type of smaller, atractive tree that can handle shade? Also, I was considering planting some hostas - any advice on those?

Thanks!
 
I highly suggest using some native plants. They tend to be locally adapted for your area, not to mention they won't escape and cause problems elsewhere.

For a shady site, I recommend using plants such as (click on underlines for photos) American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana), Redbud (Cercis canadensis), saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), or even switchcane (Arundinaria gigantea or A. tecta). Switchcane is actually our native bamboo, and is hardy in a variety of sites. Redbud is a beautiful tree and is the first to blossom in the spring. All those purple trees you see driving down the road in March are redbuds.

Hope this helps!
 
Hi Vanessa -

Thanks for the suggestions. I actually like bamboo but didn't know of any that were shade tolerant. Beauty berry is a great idea too. Now the trick is to find a place that carries them. My parents have tons of beauty berry at their place, maybe I'll try to sprout some...
 
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