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| Okay this is the location: Full sun from about 2 or 3 starting in late May (this spot does not get sun in the winter or spring) up against a brick wall. It gets realllllly hot, but i think anything i plant here will need to be a fairly late starting plant because this soil stays cold late into spring.
I need a perennial to fill this spot that grows fairly tall. I would like it to somewhat shade this wall as it heats up my bedroom pretty good in the afternoon. As of right now I; dont have a color preference, dont want gladious (too droopy), and dont have a texture preference. Basically i just want them to grow tall and dense and give this side of the house a little relief. One thought I had was Sunflowers, even though they are annual they self seed okay, but this might attract too many birds near the veggie garden. Thanks in advance for your suggestions! |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by booberry85 z5NY (becky@leadtesting.net) on Fri, Jun 29, 12 at 10:10
| Some daylilies can get quite tall. Asiatic or trumpet lilies, perennial sunflowers, ferns are a few thoughts. Just how tall were you looking for the plants to get? |
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| I do not think daylilies and lilies would give much shade for the wall. Besides, lilies do not like soils warmed by a house wall. Something like Inula magnifica, or Inula helenium or Silphium perfoliatum or so. |
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| Perenial sunflowers? That sounds interesting! As for height, at least 3 or 4 feet. Wie, i like the looks of all three of your suggestions, especially the cup plant. Is this one started from seed? Also, does it take long to flower? My main worry is that whatever I plant here wont have enough time to get big and flower before the frost (which is usually late September). Can you eat the seeds from a perenial sunflower? I would love to plant something that not only shaded the house but had other uses as well. More bang for my buck! Thanks again! |
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| Wanted to bump this up and ask if purple cone flowers would work for this spot. Thanks! |
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| No. It is too small to give any substantial shade. |
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| Are there already plants growing here? How large an area is it? Do you have a photo? You could consider a vine on a wide trellis. One of the more rambunctious clematis like Betty Corning should provide shade. Annual vines like scarlet runner beans will bring hummingbirds and you can eat both the young green beans and the dried beans. Or if you have a large area, how about Jerusalem artichoke/Helianthus tuberosus AKA sunchokes. They have an edible tuber and are tall sunflowers, but they don't play well with others. They multiply, even if you dig tubers every year, and need something to contain them (a border, mowing, etc.) to prevent them spreading too much. Also, why not birds in the veggie garden? I don't find that they do any damage in mine, and I have lots of birds. |
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| Babs, The trellis idea is a fantastic suggestion, especially to grow edibles on it. The area is really shaded until 2 or 3, but then its super heated. Would beans and squash produce alright? Would the vines get burnt by the bricks as the grow up the trellis? I guess as the vines matured they would shade the brick enough to keep from gettin burnt, but i worry about new growth. I could always try it i suppose and it would free up space in the veggie garden. The area is definitely too small for sunchokes and the like. Im really thinkin the trellis is my best bet. Clemantis would loose their leaves in our winters, but then leaf out from previous growth next season right? Almost too many possibilities! |
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| Babs, The trellis idea is a fantastic suggestion, especially to grow edibles on it. The area is really shaded until 2 or 3, but then its super heated. Would beans and squash produce alright? Would the vines get burnt by the bricks as the grow up the trellis? I guess as the vines matured they would shade the brick enough to keep from gettin burnt, but i worry about new growth. I could always try it i suppose and it would free up space in the veggie garden. The area is definitely too small for sunchokes and the like. Im really thinkin the trellis is my best bet. Clemantis would loose their leaves in our winters, but then leaf out from previous growth next season right? Almost too many possibilities! |
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| Babs, The trellis idea is a fantastic suggestion, especially to grow edibles on it. The area is really shaded until 2 or 3, but then its super heated. Would beans and squash produce alright? Would the vines get burnt by the bricks as the grow up the trellis? I guess as the vines matured they would shade the brick enough to keep from gettin burnt, but i worry about new growth. I could always try it i suppose and it would free up space in the veggie garden. The area is definitely too small for sunchokes and the like. Im really thinkin the trellis is my best bet. Clemantis would loose their leaves in our winters, but then leaf out from previous growth next season right? Almost too many possibilities! |
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| I grow clematis on black iron and rusty steel trellises, so if that doesn't burn the vines, the heat from the bricks won't. Type 3 pruning clematis are your best bet. They do fine in the southeast as well as colder and less humid areas, and the pruning is easy - just cut the stems down to 1 or 2 buds each in winter and they will regrow quickly when the growing season starts. I've grown scarlet runner beans in an area that was shaded by a building until just after noon, so you should be fine with slightly later sun, as long as the morning shade is reasonably bright. There are lots of other edibles that do fine growing on trellises, like cukes, melons, and squash, but they may need more sun. |
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