Native Plants
Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?
A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.
Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
rate this answer
Saturday - June 23, 2012
From: Jacksonville, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Lists, Drought Tolerant, Shade Tolerant
Title: Drought-tolerant plants for deep shade in Florida
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
I am looking for indigenous, drought tolerant, leafy dense plants (kind of hosta like) that will grow in deep shade (under a tree that gets little sun) in Jacksonville, Florida.ANSWER:
This is not an easy assignment. I did a COMBINATION SEARCH in our Native Plant Database by choosing "Florida" from the Select State or Province option, "Herb" under Habit (general appearance), both "Part shade" and "Shade" under Light requirement and "Dry" under Soil moisture. This gave me a list of 103 possibilities and I used the NARROW YOUR SEARCH option to select "Evergreen" under Leaf retention. This narrowed the list to 9 results. The first two plants below resulted from that search. I did the same search two times more except that once I substituted "Grass/grass-like" for "Herb" and another time I substituted "Vine" for "Herb" to get the final two entries on the list below. You can do similar searches yourself. For each of the plants I have included a link to the USDA Plants Database distribution map for Florida. All but one of these plants occur in Duval County—Carex blanda occurs in adjacent Nassau County.
Hexastylis arifolia (Littlebrownjug). Here are more photos and information from MariesGarden.com. Florida distribution map from the USDA Plants Database.
Salvia lyrata (Lyreleaf sage). Here are more photos and information from Floridata. Florida distribution from USDA Plants Database.
Smilax pumila (Sarsaparilla vine). Here are more photos and information from TAMU Aggie Horticulture and from Southeastern Flora. Florida distribution from the USDA Plants Database.
Carex blanda (Eastern woodland sedge) is not broadleafed, but it is evergreen and grows well in dry shade. C. blanda occurs in adjacent Nassau County according to the USDA Plants Database.
From the Image Gallery
More Drought Tolerant Questions
Water eroding corner in Austin
October 25, 2011 - I live close to the Wildflower Center. My yard slopes - as do my neighbors' yards to one corner in my yard. The result is constant moisture in one corner. The rest of the yard is caliche, rocks (m...
view the full question and answer
Drought resistance of non-native Abelia from Austin
March 14, 2013 - Are abelias drought resistant? I have a spot that is sunny from early morning till about 2-2:30 in the afternoon. Is this enough sun?
view the full question and answer
Replacing St. Augustine grass from Dallas TX
April 10, 2014 - Dear Mr. Pants, we are replacing dying St. Augustine grass in a small, sunny back yard with ground cover. What are your recommendations for a drought-tolerant evergreen ground cover? We will till a...
view the full question and answer
Low water hedge for Sedona, AZ
August 19, 2009 - I'm looking for a shrub to plant along a 90' property line with my neighbor in Sedona, Arizona (high desert). Ideally, the shrub would grow to about 8' and would not require too much water. What wo...
view the full question and answer
Water-Wise Privacy Hedge for California
February 22, 2016 - I would like recommendations for a privacy hedge that would grow at least 12 feet tall with non-invasive roots and hopefully water-wise in Los Angeles.
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |