I don't grow Senecio so I have no idea about hanging, not hanging etc. But I do live in FL and have for nearly 25 years, and pretty far south. The area you described that gets full morning sun but then shaded light in the afternoon might work well. My plants are all succulents. They are on a covered lanai that faces south. But again -- covered, so they get very little DIRECT or full sun but LOTS of bright shaded light. I even have cacti, Aloe, Euphorbia and Kalancoe in this light and they are fine. For your Senecio, I'd say -- give it a try. You will know soon enough if you need more light.

Robin, I used to live in SWFL and grew all my cacti and succulents, except for my COTs, under a huge oak tree in my back yard, where they thrived. Sadly, I don't have much shade here, so I need to put some things in morning light if I can. People think the sun isn't as strong up here in N. FL, but that's a myth. It's just as strong and can fry plants just as quickly.

Hey, DG - - I'm in SW FL, so my plants are in the ground. I don't have S. vitalis, but I have regular (fat) chalk sticks, either Senecio mandraliscae or maybe S. Serpens. Anyhoo - mine are on a raised island and they pretty much get full sun. There is a little while - maybe 2 hours - when they are shaded by a palm tree.

Here is some sprawl from my first 2 plants.

I have found that they go through cycles or sorts. The leaves get larger and lighter, almost yellow, and since it is summer I guess it is too much water. They die and new growth starts. So for a while, they look pretty ratty (for me! I don't know if this is the usual pattern.) Here is some new growth and older leaves.

Since I did not do a good job at pruning and maintaining these plants, I ended up with a lot of stems - some of which were pinched off or even rotting. I clipped off any plants I could find and started over. This was this morning -

That's probably more than you wanted to hear from me, but I wanted you to see how the sun, sandy soil and summer rains effect my plants. I've never tried a hanging basket, but now I'm intrigued!

Good luck!

Senecio vitalis can take full all day sun here no problem. It forms a substantial shrub in a few years.

hoovb, unfortunately, z9 in CA is very different then z9 in FL. You're mediterranean and we're sub-tropical. We have hot, steamy summers while you have dry, milder summers. A lot of succulents literally drown and rot during our summers, which is why we grow most of them in containers.