short perennials for SoFla?

16 years ago

I need to redo the front bed - again. And this time I'd like to just put in some perennials and just prunt for a couple years. No more ripping out and replanting.

The bed already has some "foundation plants" that are in the three- to four-foot range (or will be, when they get bigger) in the back. There are also some broms in there, many of them unhappy because they get too much sun. This is a full sun area. I've put a small sweet acacia in the corner to cool the area down, but it will be a few years at least before it throws any shade. So I need low-growing and up to two-feet perennials to put there for the next few years.

Bed is north of the house, but with no protection from the west, so it roasts.

Ideas?

I don't irrigate beyond getting the plants established and I don't use pesticides or fertilizer. Any great natives out there?

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Comments (7)

coffeemom
16 years ago
This will be no help but I got a small (5 gal) potted geiger seedling from a friend. Want to try again?
katkin_gw
16 years ago
What about Mexican heather? It will take the sun and loves the heat. And the bees love the flowers. But it's not a native.
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imagardener2
16 years ago
Hi Susannah

Gaillardia, rudbeckia, penta, periwinkle, lantana and salvia.
These are all trouble-free, non-invasive and need little water.

rudbeckia
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another rudbeckia
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gaillardia
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more gaillardia
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and more gaillardia
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salvia
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Denise

P.S. I have tons of gaillardia seeds to share and some rudbeckia too. LMK.
carolb_w_fl_coastal_9/10
16 years ago
What about the various trailing lantanas?
& I have a perennial rudbeckia that seems to stay @ approx 2' & loves the hot dry spot I put it in (tho I've been trying to keep it moist until it 'takes')

Floridata.com has a great tool for finding plants w/ all kinds of features....

Here is a link that might be useful: Floridata.com
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
16 years ago
Kristi,
You're tempting me. Stayed up late last night trying to think of ways to redo my "plan" to fit in another small tree. Think I've found a spot. sending you mail.

And thanks all for the other suggestions. I must be doing something wrong because Pentas are simply not perennial in my yard. After about a year, they decline and get so scruffy I end up pulling them out. But I like the gaillardia idea. I've tried them from seed without a whole lot of luck (another failing of mine, I can grow veggies from seed, but almost never get a flower to pop out of the ground/seed mix/peat pot, or whatever I try.)

But I'm on my way to HD. I'll see if they've got any gaillardia that someone else has germinated.
natives_and_veggies
Original Author
16 years ago
update:
HD was full of pentas and impatiens. So... I bought lavender pentas. At least they were on sale. And they'll contrast nicely with the red firecracker or fire-something that's finally taking off in the raised planter behind the bed.
HD also had a lot of yellow bilbergia which looked lovely, but I have that. Problem is, where I have it, it doesn't bloom. So instead of buying more of it, I vowed to move it. Soon.
Just planting the pentas and remulching the bed in this heat was all I could do - and I didn't start until after 6! Me and the bug spray, out there trying to make sure my neighbors don't think we've abandoned the house.
sharbear50
16 years ago
Funny, I have the same problem. I had some ferns growing in a small strip in front of my house, under a low window between the house and the driveway. They got too big so I had them yanked out. Now what to plant there? Unfortunately when the guy yanked them out he broke the soak-er hose that was there. It gets morning sun so I guess anything will grow there, but it has to be perennial and it has to not grow more than 2 feet. Can some of the suggestions here work for this area?