Post by simchah on Mar 17, 2016 13:33:37 GMT -5
I need some inspiration from other gardeners.
I have what started out as an herb bed in a corner next to the house and porch. I am going to be mixing in some flowers as well to fill the space. It is roughly 8 foot by 11 foot. One side it the wall of the house with a window in the middle of the wall, to the west south west. On the north side is the porch which is about 3 feet to the bottom of the deck and around 5 1/2 or 6 feet to the top of the handrail. The spot gets morning sun and is shaded more and more as the day goes on. Under the window is a small hydrangea I was given when my youngest was born. On the other side (middle of the porch side) is a rosemary. The section between the two plants has me at a loss. It gets the most shade being tucked up where the porch and house meet. I would like to put something back there that is permanent to anchor the space. I would like it to be a bit on the large side to fill the back corner, (5 x 6 foot space) but can't have anything too large since it is up by the house and I don't want to cause problems. I am thinking somewhere between four foot and six foot tall. It needs to be something that does well in partial shade.
I tried ginger one year but it really isn't quite warm enough here for it to do well. I really would like something that produces, if possible rather than just being green. I was digging around the other day and found tea trees (for drinking tea rather than the Australian stuff). It is a type of camillia and seems like it would be a perfect fit. I started hunting for one and it turns out that they can't be shipped to Texas. I really don't want to start from seed if I can avoid it since my time for plant tlc is limited at the moment. Went back to hunting and found quince was about the right size but the site I was at said must be full all day sun.
I am not a fan of azalias, they look so nasty when not in bloom and already have roses nearby (probably not enough light for them anyway). I am fed up with the empty corner but every time I try to get something in it I can't seem to find anything that will work that I like. Any ideas? Or does anyone have a tea tree that might know if it would work there? I am half tempted to try to get one sent to out of state and have someone bring it in but don't know why is isn't shippable to Texas so it might be a bad idea.
I have what started out as an herb bed in a corner next to the house and porch. I am going to be mixing in some flowers as well to fill the space. It is roughly 8 foot by 11 foot. One side it the wall of the house with a window in the middle of the wall, to the west south west. On the north side is the porch which is about 3 feet to the bottom of the deck and around 5 1/2 or 6 feet to the top of the handrail. The spot gets morning sun and is shaded more and more as the day goes on. Under the window is a small hydrangea I was given when my youngest was born. On the other side (middle of the porch side) is a rosemary. The section between the two plants has me at a loss. It gets the most shade being tucked up where the porch and house meet. I would like to put something back there that is permanent to anchor the space. I would like it to be a bit on the large side to fill the back corner, (5 x 6 foot space) but can't have anything too large since it is up by the house and I don't want to cause problems. I am thinking somewhere between four foot and six foot tall. It needs to be something that does well in partial shade.
I tried ginger one year but it really isn't quite warm enough here for it to do well. I really would like something that produces, if possible rather than just being green. I was digging around the other day and found tea trees (for drinking tea rather than the Australian stuff). It is a type of camillia and seems like it would be a perfect fit. I started hunting for one and it turns out that they can't be shipped to Texas. I really don't want to start from seed if I can avoid it since my time for plant tlc is limited at the moment. Went back to hunting and found quince was about the right size but the site I was at said must be full all day sun.
I am not a fan of azalias, they look so nasty when not in bloom and already have roses nearby (probably not enough light for them anyway). I am fed up with the empty corner but every time I try to get something in it I can't seem to find anything that will work that I like. Any ideas? Or does anyone have a tea tree that might know if it would work there? I am half tempted to try to get one sent to out of state and have someone bring it in but don't know why is isn't shippable to Texas so it might be a bad idea.
I try to plant stuff that grows well into zone 9 so that the summer doesn't do them in. That corner might work with something that goes just to 8 but 7 isn't going to work 
(it can grow wild and I don't think it is pretty - they plant it in hedgerows for bird feed). The maples are lovely though - we have no "fall" color here like where I grew up with so many different trees as well as tamaracks to make wild reds, oranges, yellows etc - so the maple is one of my absolute favorite. A bright ping of color that makes me smile when our options are limited to nothing colder than 3b 4a. . . *G*
