I have a bed smack up near my dryer outlet and everything is fine. I have planted there: rosemary, roses, a fig tree, salvias, coneflower, just to name a few. The fig seems to really like the warmth. The exposure of the bed is part of the southern facing wall of our house, and it was just too good a gardening spot to give up.

I don't think it's silly at all. I'd do what amyflora did and plant things that like heat there.

I bet the fig tree really does like that warmth.

My dryer vent is on the second floor and it comes out on one side of my Star Magnolia. That side always blooms first...well ahead of the other side. Not a controlled study, but I agree with the others that it does create a micro-climate of sorts.

Meredith

It it good to hear that others have plants doing well near the clothes dryer vent. I have a small area in almost complete shade that the dryer vents into. So far, I've just been using it to store pots and potting soil, but I would really like to plant some things there instead. I had been warned off of planting anythign there and was told that the hot air then followed by cool temps during the winter would kill anything I put there.

Any suggestions for shade plants that might work in this area? It is a pretty small area, maybe 3 X 3.

Thanks for all the feedback. I want to put a camellia there - do you think it will be OK? My concern has been about what happens when I run the dryer in the winter. I was afraid that the contrast between the very warm air from the dryer and the below freezing temps might cause problems.

Too bad it's a shady spot...you could plant a tangerine there!! The dryer could create a perfect microclimate for that tree to survive our winters just fine.

I have a courtyard garden that has the clothes dryer vent on a wall at the back of the courtyard. It adds warmth and has caused no problems.

We used to have an Azalea by ours. Seemed to do fine. We pulled it out at some point, but not for any bad reason. Right now we have nothing there. Its in a location that doesn't get much sun at all. Also remember to clean out those vents every once and a while. We found a nest inside ours once. Birds tend to colonize the vents, hoard their scraps, and could pose to be a fire hazard.