I would go to a local nursery and look at the indoor plant selection. I did and all my plants are thriving on my patio (also without any direct sunlight).

I also have a bell pepper plant growing right now that is doing well also.

Young and/or small succulents do very well in shade on a patio.

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thanks tennyo, off the top of your head, what types of plants do you have out there? the large majority of houseplants i've seen sold around here are tropical in nature and are therefore not tolerant enough of our summer or winter temps. I had my ZZ plants out there for a bit before it got above 90F. They were doing okay, but after i gave them a place inside the home (which i keep below 80F) they exploded with new growth and are much happier. These are drought-tolerant South African plants so I figured they'd do better outside than inside, but I suppose not. I have a very large patio that just looks so lifeless without some plants, but I'd rather not get plants that I have to bring indoors since i barely have room for any more in the house lol.

haname, i hadn't even thought of succulents! for some reason i just assumed they needed direct sunlight. honestly i don't have many succulents other than an aloe or two, but i've always been intrigued by them. i guess they're just not the plants i usually end up with, but i definately will have to put them on the list!

about hanging plants. does anyone have any luck with these in this environment? i had petunias during the winter but i had to water them everyday. it was fun while it lasted but i prefer something that needs a little less maintenance. i tried blue star creeper, but after a week or acclimation they croaked in 2 days. it's doing ok in the shade though but it's a thirsty groundcover. i'm afriad if i go away for a 3 day weekend it wont be there when i get back. are hanging plants pretty much avoided in the desert?

Xill- I have a south-facing patio that gets zero sun after about mid-April through the entire summer.

I have several plants growing in these shade conditions that are doing great! I have a large potted ficus tree with cascading stonecrop from the base, potted coleus, a large garden mum, purple nemesias (not blooming in the current shade but the foliage looks nice) potted catnip, a container garden of succulents. These plants are all in 100% shade - they get bright light but never any direct sun.

I also have an area on the west side of my house that has large pepper trees and is thus under heavy filtered shade all day as well, in this area I grow (currently anyway) more coleus, wax begonias, four o'clocks, stonecrop, morning glory, bacopa, pothos house plants (these do okay w/no direct sun for me)

I also have several different hanging basket plants that are working well for me, although most get at the least about an hour or so of light; purslane (this needs sun) "Fishhooks" or "string of bananas" succulent (this one is like strand of pearls but much easier to grow - will grow in sun with little water or shade with moderate water etc - easy to grow and makes a nice cascading effect) I also have a spider fern that does very well in hanging baskets as well as hedera English Ivy and a succulent variety called "wax ivy" both do well even so far in the 110+ given proper water and lighting!

A lot is possible, it just depends on how hard you are willing to work for it!

Hi Xill and all,

I love patio container gardening in addition to in-ground gardening too. You've gotten some great advice! There is a TON of plants that should do well for your patio.

I have a covered patio as well and it probably has one hundred containers of thriving plants. Like the others mentioned many, many succulents will do really well in the Phoenix area on a covered patio.

Off the top of my head, here's a quick list of what I've got out there that is thriving: Haworthias, Gasterias, Rhipsalis, string-of-bananas (Senecio), stapeliads (Stapelia and relatives), pygmy date palms, some Epiphyllums (not all types), purple hearts (Setcreasa), and several crown of thorns types of Euphorbias. Below is a bad pic of just part of that patio.

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There's also a great fern that does very, very well in the Phoenix area and it looks just like a Boston fern, it's a type of Nephrolepsis called 'Kimberly Queen'. I grew it in previous Phoenix-area gardens in deep shade and it thrived as long as it got regular water. I was just at Berridge Nursery in Phoenix yesterday and they had a nice selection of them. They look so delicate but are 100% fine with our heat as long as they get shade and water.

Let us know what you select and how it works out. You really do have a lot of options. If you like color, you can always make sure to use brightly colored pots too.

Keep us posted, good luck, and have fun!
Take care!
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: Australian sword fern pic/info

wow! thanks for all the suggestions! now my imagination is running with everything i could do out there. i have a pygmy date palm and mediterranean fan palm out in the yard that dont seem to like their current locations, so maybe i'll bring them onto the patio as well. you guys have all given me quite a few plants to research, i'm very grateful. thanks for taking the time to help me with some ideas.

grant, your patio looks awesome! so cozy with so much life! looks like an awesome place to have your morning coffee. here's a photo of my patio, it looks so dead and empty right now :( you'll have to excuse the mess, but we live here lol. up until recently all my time and energy has been going into renovating the front and backyards. now that it's getting too hot to be out there, it's time to work on my patio. i'm hoping to screen it in soon, but it bugs me to not have anything living out there.

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Xill, I'm envious of how large your patio is! It has a ton of potential and I'm sure I'm not the only one who is eager to see and hear updates. What a fun project! I can totally see some interesting plant racks, filled with talavera or terracotta pots, brimming with non-spiny succulents (forgot to mention good ol' Portulacaria too (elephant food, or dinosaur food). You can even put small nails on the posts and put some interesting wall mounted pots on them. I have a big terracotta pot shaped like a bearded head (Neptune maybe?) with string of bananas tumbling out as long as I'll let them grow (I trim them off when they get too long).

Tons of fun and interesting options. I pick up a lot of plant racks (metal) at garage sales, Goodwill, and antique malls.

I'm excited for you! Definitely keep us posted!
Take care,
Grant

I ran out this morning and snapped three quick-pics of the covered patio thinking that pictures will show more of the plants than my brain can remember. Do keep us posted on yours!

Patio table and four chairs.

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Baker's rack plant stand, and one of two white obelisk-shaped plant stands.

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View from west end of covered patio. To be fair, this end gets a touch of sunlight in summer, and half a day's sun in winter (when the sun is so low it sneaks in under the roof).

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Take care,
Grant

Here is a link that might be useful: My June 2011 garden pics

well i got lucky today. i went to Lowes to get a bag of pea gravel for an aloe my wife surprised me with this morning and low and behold they had alot of great stuff on clearance. i snatched up quite a bit of plants (at least the ones i am familiar with). then i thought, well it is the end of the planting season, i wonder what walmart has. i was right, tons of stuff marked down 50% off the lowest price! long story short, i got a great jump-start on getting my patio looking more like Grant's lol. here's a few photos:

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I ended up with 3 5g cape honeysuckle, a 5g mediterranean fan palm, another boxwood, 2 star jasmine, 3 variegated pittosporum, a large african iris (which im positive i can split into 2-3 plants), 3 aloes, an upright rosemary, various succulents, a grafted cactus, a photina, a nandina, a small white bop, and a euryops. every plant cost from $0.50 to $4.00 with the exception of the palm which i think was $7.00. i'm amazed at how healthy every single plant was. usually the bargain bin plants need extra care but the only problems i see with the ones i chose are that they're ready for a larger container. the universe smiled on me today :) i think i'm going back tomorrow for a 5g white bop, i didnt have enough room for it in the jeep on this trip. this should use up the last of my container surplus though, so i feel a trip to the swamp meet this saturday is in order ;)

grant- love the new pics! your patio is so awesome! thanks for the link to your picasa album too. i'm in love with your plumeria! i love the tropical plants like hibiscus, plumeria, and mandevilla. your orange jubilee looks great too! i have 70 yellow bells seeds sown right now and i'm hoping to see some seedling popping out in the next month. i see we have alot of the same tastes in plants lol

Neat! You're off to a great start! Keep us posted as things progress. It's really fun to watch.

I'd suggest keeping an eye on those Echeveria for sure. Nearly all of them melt in mid-summer due to our hot nights, same for any jade-relatives too. They have a metabolism (CAM) which means they hold their breath in the day and do their transpiration/metabolism at nightwhen it's cooler in most climates, but in Phoenix mid-summer nights are so hot they hold their breath/metabolism 24/7 and croak. They're good houseplants here, but really, really struggle outside. The grafted cactus might not like it outside in summer either, so I'd just keep an eye on it too. If they were mine, I'd bring the echeverias and that little contorted jade indoors, but you never know, you might luck out.

All of the others look and sound great. I can't wait to see how things progress. Keep the updates coming!

Take care,
Grant

Xill - HUGE Patio.

You have several zones to exploit. At the edges, put the plants that need more light, and near the house put the plants that do better in low light.

FWIW, many 'houseplants' do OK in AZ as patio plants. My mom had Ficus benjamini, spider plants, sanseveria, asparagus ferns, shade-tolerant aloes, and a lot of other succulents.

Use stands made of chimney flue pipes or stacks of bricks to elevate some plants.
http://www.sitepalace.com/lazygardens/predator/predator_tips.html shows some of my previous patio's plants. They were in shade most of the time.

Here is a link that might be useful: patio plants

grant- thats one of the things i love about the imperial valley over phoenix metro, it cools off at night here! we're typically 30F cooler at night than midday. yesterday was 105F at 2pm, and last night's low was 78F and breezy. i can sleep with the windows open 10 months out of the year here. when i lived in phoenix i remember seeing the Shamrock Foods digital thermometer on I-10 reading 103F at 3am. i'll never forget that lol. but just to be on the safe side i moved the little guys indoors anyhow.

lazygardens- thanks for the link. whenever i move stuff around out in my yard or am watering plants i always stir up a few geckos. im careful not to scare them off too much because i think they're the coolest little creatures. but purposely giving them more homes and hiding places never crossed my mind. what a great idea! i'm going to have to put some of your tips in practice over the next few days.

well i got bored and started a plant stand from some spare 2x4s and 2x2s. just finished painting it yesterday with some left over exterior paint i used for the outside of my fence. it came out a little bulkier than i wouldve liked but it should last a good 10 years for sure if i dont get bored with it before then. now i just need to fill it with lots more plants...

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Nice plant stand! It's nice and sturdy and very professional looking. I love it. The color is neat too--it will definitely flatter any plant or pot color.

Keep us posted as you fill the stand, and the patio up. Nice work all around!

Thanks,
Grant