Regional Picks: Plants for Dry Shade – South

‘Spek-tacular’ cast-iron plant

Name : Aspidistra elatior‘Spek - tacular ’

USDA Hardiness Zones:7 to 11

Size : Up to 30 inches tall and wide

weather : Light to full nicety ; moist , well - drained grunge , deep in organic issue

Maybe plaster bandage - atomic number 26 plant is too cast - atomic number 26 for its own good . It takes forethought of itself , so no one else does . crop back and feed those onetime clumps — they’ll stand up and shine . And while rediscovering the beauty of this erstwhile - fashioned plant , check out the cultivar ‘ Spek - tacular ’ , not only because it ’s so munificently flecked but also because of its graceful posture and the graceful dip of its leaf backsheesh . Like most cast - atomic number 26 plant life , ‘ Spek - tacular ’ will survive the worst conditions , but it ’s so well-favored that you ca n’t facilitate but pamper it .

‘Raven’ peacock ginger

Name:Kaempferia rotunda‘Raven’

Zones:8 to 11

status : Light to partial ghost ; moist , well - drained grease , rich in constitutive matter

Peacock gingerroot is a hobo camp brute , grub for moisture and light beneath overbear tree , and it can be just as tough under the greedy trees in your yard . Think of Inachis io ginger as the hosta of the deepest South . But it ’s far more tolerant of gamy heat and humidness than hosta , and hosta ca n’t compete with the variety of leafage formula and people of color of the newfangled cross of Inachis io ginger . ‘ Raven ’ is exceptional because it not only hold in its fire - stitch patterns high for all to see but also pull round difficult shadowiness . If you give it some direct luminance , it might bring about charming orchidlike blooms at its base . But it ’s those grandiloquent , elaborately patterned leaves that draw a crowd .

Silk grass

Name:Pityopsis graminfolia

Zones:6 to 11

Size:6 inches tall ( with flower stanch up to 2 foot tall ) and spreading indefinitely

Conditions : Full Sunday to fond tad ; well - drain stain

This southeast native is full of john . The leaves look like grass weave out of turquoise silk . Silvery stalks produce dozens of gilded aster in late summer , follow by snappy grazing - clash seed pass . Silk Gunter Grass is an aster , and like so many of its golden aster relatives , it is a master of dry , acidulent soils . It blooms most abundantly in brutal sun , yet it ’s remarkably patient of of shade , and its leaves can persist even under the shadow of a live oak tree . For best effect and blossom , give it at least a yoke of hour of direct light . But where the sun rarely shines , those silken leaves are always a surprise .

Giant leopard plant

Name:Farfugium japonicumvar.giganteum

Size:18 inches grandiloquent and 2 feet wide

For a century , Farfugium japonicumcrept in and out of coastal gardens as the leopard flora , recognized for the yellow spots of its most democratic cultivar , ‘ Aureomaculatum ’ . Now leopard plant is back , along with its spotless kin . elephantine Panthera pardus plant has will heavy than most . What the name does n’t give away is the dark green gloss that shines on the leaves like shellac . In surfactant soils , jumbo Panthera pardus plant descend to steady down rot , but in well - run out soils , it thrive with only occasional irrigation . It create a showy craw of golden daisies in sufficient sun , but the leaves are even showier .

Bill Finch is chief horticultural advisor for the Mobile Botanical Gardens in Alabama .

photograph : courtesy of Bill Finch ; courtesy of Plant Delights Nursery , Inc. ; courtesy of Agri - Starts , Inc. ; Michelle Gervais

Get our latest tips , how - to article , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Regional Picks: Plants for Dry Shade - Northeast

Regional Picks: Plants for Dry Shade - Midwest

Regional Picks: Plants for Dry Shade - Mountain West

Regional Picks: Uncommon & Unfussy Plants - South

Join Fine horticulture for a free mesh live webinar feature Dr. Janna Beckerman , a renowned plant pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical manager …

When I spotted a peculiar grit buck cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in bother . With a delightful colour pattern …

When we only prioritize plants we need over plants our landscape painting pauperism , each season is filled with a never - ending leaning of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amending , and fertilizing , with …

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you come in the backyard of garden interior designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to get off on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a twosome …