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
Friday - May 15, 2009
From: Glendale, AZ
Region: Southwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Need plants for shade in Arizona.
Answered by: Jimmy Mills
QUESTION:
Please suggest plants that I can plant in a shaded area. I live in Glendale, Arizona. The shade will be 100% of the time.ANSWER:
Mr. Smarty Plants wasn't aware that that there was any shade in Arizona. Just kidding.
Seriously, since you didn't mention what kind of plants you have in mind, let's go to our website and let you make some choices. If you go to our Recommended Species page and select Arizona on the map, you will get a list of 224 commercially available native plant species suitable for planned landscapes in Arizona. Scroll down and click the "Narrow Your Search" box where you can become more selective.
You see that you have several parameters from which to choose. For the first run, choose AZ for the state, Herb under "Habit", Annual under "Duration", Shade under "Light requirement", the appropriate moisture for your site under "Soil moisture" (I chose moist), and the appropriate bloom characteristics (you can leave that blank for now). Click the "Narrow your search" button and you will get a list of two plants that meet these criteria. Clicking on each plant name will bring up its NPIN page that describes the plant's characteristics.
You can modify your listing by changing the choices in each box for the types of plants that you have in mind.
Once you have found some plant names, go to our Suppliers Directory to locate businesses in Arizona that have these plants for sale.
More Shade Tolerant Questions
Shade tolerant plants for Waynesville MO
April 09, 2013 - We moved to Waynesville, MO (gardening region 6) and when we bought our house there was a nice looking gardening area in front of the house. It is shaded moderately by a Redwood Tree and was "occupie...
view the full question and answer
Need help with stabilizing a partial shaded slope in Prince George's County, MD.
September 08, 2009 - I have a partial shade sloped area about 40 ft. x 100ft; that is at the top of a natural drainage. Slope is maybe 10%. There is a thin layer of topsoil on top of a heavier clay layer (it was pasture...
view the full question and answer
Grass to grow in the shade of pecan tree
December 10, 2008 - Dear Mr. Smarty Pants,
We have an enormous pecan tree in our backyard that had grass underneath the breadth of the branches, but not around the trunk. The grass isn't doing well (though we did fai...
view the full question and answer
Should Solanum eleagnifolium, silverleaf nightshade, be removed from yard
October 01, 2009 - I live in Upstate NY. I'm quite sure, after checking many sites/pictures, that I have a couple specimens of Silver Leaf Night Shade (Solanum elaeagnifolium) growing in the "wild" portion of my side...
view the full question and answer
Stream Bank Erosion Control for Bryan/College Station
August 16, 2012 - I live in the Bryan/College Station area and need a ground cover to abate erosion on the bank of an intermittent stream. The bank is shaded. Do you have any suggestions?
view the full question and answer
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. |