What kind of flowers can grow in afternoon sun only

[Ellie C]

I have a stone terrace in front of my house and I had a garden bed constructed there. It's a stone "bed" about 2 feet high, 8 feet long and three feet deep. I filled it with mostly sand and stone - and bits of broken terra cotta tiles, which are everywhere here - and then put about

6 inches of bagged planting soil on top of that. This bed gets a tiny bit of morning sun, then shade through most of the day and then a brutal session of hot afternoon sun.

This year I planted geraniums, fuchsias and impatiens, and also put in some nastutium seeds. THe geraniums seem very happy. The the impatiens that get the least amount of sun are very happy, those that get more sun in the afternoon are dramatically unhappy, and I've positioned a beach umbrella to shade them through the worst of the hot sun. The fuchsias are in pots and I ended up moving them from this garden because they wilted so dramatically - it also gets hot in this garden, which has high walls on all sides. The nasturtiums are strange - they have put out leaves that will soon take over the whole yard, but have just started producing a few flowers in the last week or so.

So now I'm trying to figure out what to plan for next year. The geraniums are happy, but I'd like to have something to give a bit of variety, and I'd rather not have to be worrying about an umbrella to shade the impatiens at the end of the garden. Any ideas?

Also, last winter I planted pansies in this bed and they didn't flower at all until late in the spring because the garden gets almost no sun through the winter. (I'm in the South of France, where the winters are mild.) Any ideas for something to give some color to the winter garden?

Thanks!

[William Wagner]

Consider Coneflowers.

Bill

[Vox Humana]

I think coneflowers would have a hard time in 6 inches of soil and might not survive the winter in a cold zone.

[Vox Humana]

First, you haven't told us where you live. What works in Miami wouldn't work in Anchorage. But from what you have said, I would think that any sun annual would work. Again, its hard to recommend winter blooming plants since we don't know what zone you are in. There really aren't ANY winter blooming plants where I live - maybe early spring, but not winter. You could put in some evergreens, but six inches of soil in a raised bed would be a tough situation for most shrubs.

[Celeste Evans]

You could try calendula and snap dragons in the sunnier spots, they work here in a similar clime... i.e. Central Texas. But shade in the winter is hard. Maybe a susquanna camellia in a pot and move it to a shadier place in the summer. The nasturtiums might do better in the winter. Sorry not much help.

Cea

[Cereus-validus.......]

Me thinks Ellie is looking for some "afternoon delight"!!

Nudge, nudge. Wink, wink!!

[Vox Humana]

Oh, I see "south of France." Sorry.

>

[Ellie C]

If you look at the last paragraph, I mention that I am in the South of France. From what I can deduce, this is about like zone 9 in the US.

[Ellie C]

Oh, yes, snapdragons are a very good idea. If they don't work in the front courtyard, where there isn't much sun in the winter, they will be very good as winter flowers in the garden behind the house. Hmmm. I'm wondering is hostas might work in the front.

[Snooze]

I think she did. Southern france :)

When I was in Marseille and Nice, for vacation their winters appeared to be similar to southern california.

-S

[DrLith]

I don't have direct experience in that particular climate, but I do have experience growing flowers on balconies with that go from absolute shade most of the day to blistering heat for a few hours. Petunias seem pretty tolerant of such conditions, but they do get leggy after a while so they probably wouldn't be a good choice to overwinter. Begonias also seem to do well in the same conditions as impatiens, so you might try those.

If you don't get enough sun in the winter, though, you might consider mixing in some foliage plants for interest--you can work with different leaf textures and colors to achieve interesting aesthetic affects that are subtler than blooming plants (but with a such a small terrace garden you can also perk up things up the color dept. with garden art. Some ideas are coleus, caladium, ferns, and hostas.