Kay,
My all time great performer is turk's cap. It just loves my shady yard. And the hummingbirds love it's flowers.

Other favorites:
ruella - any
Inland sea oats
pidgeonberry

And for my sunny areas:
anisacanthus - an all time best flowerer.

Happy Gardening,
compmom42

This is a reply to Suzan's post of 6/5 regarding "Daisy Gardenias".....am interested in this plant, and would like to know if yours is planted in sun or shade. The spot where I want to put it gets sun briefly over about a 2-hour period at midday, but then it is shaded by trees throughout the rest of the day.

Also, thanks for your link to the plants database.....it's very interesting!!

Compmom42,
Thanks for the input. I've never grown Turk's Cap, so I looked it up in Howard's Plants for Texas. He says it gets up to 10 feet tall and 8 feet wide! Is that your experience? Also, regarding your anisacanthus, is it in all day full sun? I had three planted too close together in a partly shady area. They flourished, but didn't bloom that much. I have moved two of them to sunnier areas, and one of them is now blooming, but not the others. Do you prune yours severely in the winter (like, to the ground)? I have been cutting mine back about 50%, but they are still pretty woody. Some of the ones I see growing elsewhere have more succulent, reddish stems, and so I wondered if cutting them to the ground would produce this.
Thx,
K

My Daisy Gardenias are in complete shade until about 3:30pm (or 4:00) and then receive direct sun until 6:00pm (or 6:30). So, they get somewhere between 2 - 3 hours of sun per day. Evidently, that is enough because they are getting ready to bloom again - they had just finished their first bloom when I originally posted on this topic. If you plan to plant them in an area that gets 2 hours of sun somewhere between noon and 3:00, I would think that should suffice since the sun is much more intense at that time.

Good luck. I'm glad you enjoyed the link. I will post some pictures when the gardenias flower (hopefully I won't be out of town at that time and miss it )

On the Turk's Cap, mine stays around 3 feet high and wide in dappled shade. One of my favorite plants. Kent

Kathe,
Which verbena cultivar are you growing? I love them don't seem to have much luck growing them.

Also, to everybody, have any of you been successful in growing Texas Mountain Laurel in the Dallas area?

Thanks,
K

Does pink Jasmine need full sun, or can it stand shade in order to bloom?

Sleeper, where did you buy your lavender from?

This reply is for Kathy, who asked if anyone was growing Texas Mountain Laurel in the Dallas Area.

I live in west Fort Worth, across from the Central Market, and I've had one for 3-4 years now. It's a beautiful plant all year round, since it's evergreen, but mines never bloomed. The blooms are beautiful and I've seen smaller plants with blooms for sale at Home Depot, etc. I'm sure their not using an organic growing method, so I just enjoy what I have with mine and keep it mulched and apply compost twice a year.

If anyone has suggestions on getting it to bloom, PLEASE let us know!

Terry in Fort Worth