A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 suggestions for flower bed that is sheltered from ALL rain!

Hi everyone!

I have a very wide flower bed in front of my house, and the back 3' of it is sheltered from the rain by an overhang :p

I could use some suggestions on what to try to plant there. Would adding a lot of peat moss help keep the moisture when I do get around to watering? ( I mainly like perennials and just let them go, spending more time working on veggie beds.)

Any thoughts would be appreciated! It's East facing, and gets some good sun in the morning, plus it's heated up by light colored siding on the house. Something tall maybe, because of being the back row.

Karen

Amend the bed with compost, not peat moss. PM will lower the soil's pH over time. Compost is a much better alternative. Rudbeckia may be a good choice. Very drought tolerant, but may not thrive without full sun. Good luck.

I agree rudbeckia,purple cone flowers,shasta daisies,painted daisies,verbena..what do you already have there??

Tough perennial herbs like thyme and rosemary may be OK there if the sun is more than 6 hours in summer. They love the heat and tolerate dryness well. You could always install a micro-irrigation system and then grow whatever you like.

what is a micro irrigation system??

coneflowers (they come in purple and white)!! the conditions are good, they grow pretty tall so they will be a nice backdrop for whatever is in the front of the bed and they just plain look great!!

what is a micro irrigation system??
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A watering system. If the area gets no rain, an installed irrigation system will negate that. There are drippers and microsprays available. You can put battery operated timers on them too and set and forget. I have one in my shadehouse. Works great.

If there are only a few hours of sun what's the possiblity of Malva in that location. They are an annual but I've heard that they self seed readily. And they are definitely tall and drought resistant.

Hmmm ... the Echinacea sounds good. You might also want to try Chocolate Bonset (Eupatorium rugosum). It's got beautiful bronzey-brown leaves, white blooms in the summer, and it's smells like chocolate!! A bit of the sweet stuff for the garden. Daylilies also grow well in dry light shade. Whatever you choose, you'll probably have to water the plants in well for the first summer, just to get them properly established ... then they should take care of themselves.

Thanks everyone!! I debate whether or not it's full sun there or part shade. The sun we do get there is intense, but I dont think it's quite 6 hours worth.

I did put in some purple and white cone flowers last year so perhaps I can do some surgery and move a few chunks there! (I hate spending $$ on plants that I already have, but LOVE moving and dividing them!!)

--Karen