Agapanthus are water hoggers here in Florida, interesting.

Although we are close to the ocean mile-wise (under 5 miles I'd guess), we are on the other side of the canyon hills so we don't get any marine influence what-so-ever. What is worse is the house is located in a micro-climate that push the temps higher. We typically run about 8 degrees hotter than the valley so we get about 3-4 weeks of 115-118 degree weather in late summer . I try to compensate for this by keeping a deep layer of mulch (old horse manure and shavings) in the garden beds and I try to encourage deep roots by watering more heavily but much less frequently than the neighbors. I also typically would plant in late autumn after the temps have broken so everyone could develop a good root system before the heat but I ended up waiting all winter long for cooler weather that never came. So I am stuck now either getting everything in to the ground next week or waiting until next autumn/winter and hoping that the cooler temps arrive. As you can tell, I went with the decision to plant now (even though I may have to water more frequently to keep everyone perky) as I cannot afford to lose yet another year if we get a repeat of last winter.

I have a ton of agapanthus here. I am happy to hear that it can be considered a "tropical-look" type of plant as it definitely is quite the work horse. I know it sounds silly but I seem to have a difficult time sometimes distinguishing if a plant looks tropical in nature or not. So, I really appreciate everyone's suggestions!!!

Dutchlady1 said:Agapanthus are water hoggers here in Florida, interesting.

That is interesting. Here, you see them everywhere - strip malls, medians, etc - and once established, they seem to laugh at the dry and heat long after all of the other plants have given up. I wonder why there is such a difference?

Yeah my agapanthus, which I grow in containers, hates being watered I think They like it dry and drier, hot and hotter it seems.

How about Adeniums? Those ones will really love your place too.

Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely research adeniums.

Oops, with Adeniums, depending on how cold or rainy your winter goes, you may have to put in container, so you can hide it indoors during that season.

Totally agree on Adeniums but would put them in containers, yes.

Crinum and as Elaine said gingers. For me specifically it's hedychium gingers, mine tolerate the sun better than the shade. And the wonderful scent they produce is an added bonus. The ordinary white coronarium smells like gardenias.
Crinum will produce flowers over several weeks, some such as JC Harvey are pink and they have the fragrance of Easter lilies. The cannas, bananas, and elephant ears round out my tropicals. You'll have to post photos!

Interesting, my one Agapanthus that has survived for at least 9 years is not a water hog. Wonder if, once they are well established (mine's in a huge pot) with lots of those fleshy roots, they get more tolerant. If I do water it too much especially in the springtime, I get no blooms. It needs a dry period when the weather is heating up to bloom well for me. It does put on lots of new growth through the summer, which is the rainy season here. Otherwise, it is not getting any regular irrigation at all.

Well - a very slooow morning and I only got a total of 2 bananas planted (a trying day yesterday - a fire in the morning and a small earthquake last night). However, I am getting a much better feel for where the yard should be going thanks to all of you!

I came across this Costus at Almost Eden: http://almostedenplants.com/sh...
and was wondering if anyone was familiar with it? I am torn between it and Hedychium "Luna Moth" but this Costus' variegation keeps crying out to me.

Again, thank you all so much for all of the help!!!

Oh yeah, that is a gorgeous Ginger. It likes part shade.

Thank you for the quick reply! I will order a pair of them right now for either side of the steps.

The 'White Butterfly' ginger does well in everything from shade, to part-shade, to full sun. It will bloom best with at least 6 hrs. of direct sun though. Canna (I only have the 'Sunset' will do well in almost any environment and blooms as well in part-shade as full sun. Bromeliads do well in part-shade and does even better with a couple of early morning or late afternoon sun. Schefflerra, narrow-leaf and fiddle leaf ficus (fiddle leaf is really tropical-looking), rubber tree, and most terrestrial orchids do well in the shade and like the bromeliads, flourish with morning and/or late afternoon sun. Of course, these are all tropical plants and won't do well with heavy frosts or freezes.

Thank you, doctor, for the great info!

drdawg said:The 'White Butterfly' ginger does well in everything from shade, to part-shade, to full sun. It will bloom best with at least 6 hrs. of direct sun though.

Does this hold true for Southern California? In the middle of summer, I have daylilies that go into dormancy due to the heat (115 - 118 degrees) and the intense sun so I am wondering if maybe this ginger would need some protection from the midday sun? If not and you believe that they would be fine, "White Butterfly" sounds ideal!

I am waiting until last to re-do the south-side of the house for this reason. So few plants can really take the heat let alone look decent while doing so... I also want to wait until autumn before planting anything there so that the poor plants stand a reasonable chance the following summer.

I have had cannas in the past and will definitely consider planting them again.

Again, many, many thanks!

Here in Mississippi, zone 8b, by July we will be getting into the mid-90's, but with (always) high humidity. We'll have lots of days approaching 100 F. Two years ago we had something like 14 days above 105 F. But that's unusually hot. The combination of heat and humidity is what kills us. I don't know what the ginger would do in 115 F (with low humidity?) . All tropical plants flourish when the humidity is high. Some of my ginger gets a full day's sun, some get morning and then afternoon sun, and some get sun until about 1:00 PM and then shade. They all bloom and look the same. The cannas are all planted along with the ginger. I like the combination of fire-engine red and pure white flowers.

Old Gardener, I think if you can put up some screened tarp or even an umbrella or anything that will cover your plants during the hottest part of the day, especially when forecasts go very high, it will help them.

Other than the cacti, most other plants really suffer in our very dry heat. I always try to remember, tropical plants, I do not find them growing naturally in arid desert like conditions which is like our conditions here in super dry Cali especially in summer. Even succulents that hold their own water also suffer with the intense heat.

I got the canopy of city trees that shadows my small garden, so my plants survive the heat onslaught, and I do the watering early in the day, and most of my plants are drought tolerant. But just the same, I do get the badly burnt tips, just too much ambient heat at the height of summer conditions.

In the Philippines where I was from, we got the hot and humid consistent temps year round, but we get on and off rainshowers always, then the thunderstorms and later on typhoons. So the tropical plants survive so well there. Oftentimes you find the smaller plants sheltered by large leaves the size of golf umbrellas. So you can just imagine the protection they get from the heat of the day. And the country is an island archipelago, so we are surrounded by huge bodies of water..similar to Hawaii..thus the effect of humidity there.
So shade and water....tropicals need it.

That is actually why I am grateful for the old Eucalyptus despite the upkeep - the dappled shade it provides is priceless and makes this all possible (along with deep mulch).

I am thinking hibiscus for the south side - they have always held up alright in the heat (few flowers at peak heat but the foliage is fine) and the rest of the year, they are blooming machines. Also, @Hetty suggested bird of paradise and I know those will do great there, too (40+ years ago, a neighbor had these in full sun and they always looked nice and they were quite spectacular in bloom).

I envy the Philippines - it sound like it is true paradise climate-wise.

Well, it is true paradise climate-wise before..but not these days...the effect of climate change there is extreme now..much more intense heat in summer, even the locals are complaining already about how hot it is, and our rains, when they do come, stronger too..and flash flooding is now a norm there. We used to just have typhoons, now they are facing super typhoons...ah just no perfect world.

That is my feeling too with the city trees here, lots of upkeep for me, with their falling catkins in Spring and foliage in fall..but their canopy protection helps my plants and our house to be cool during summer.

Btw, how about bougainvillea, it is a tropical that thrives in low rainfall and heat. I also have a citrus tree called Calamondin tree, which I grow in a container. It enjoys immensely the heat, as long as it gets good watering, has white blooms that smells so jasmine-like and later on bears tart little fruits you can harvest and use for marinades and juice it as a thirst quencher during the very hot days..love it with honey, my favorite flu remedy

I am sorry to hear that the weather has changed so drastically there. That actually is heart-breaking.

I actually already have bouganvillea - both as a screen along a fence line as well as the dwarf ground cover type. I am looking up Calamondin - it sounds absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much for the great suggestion.

OG, I'd be careful to keep that lovely variegated ginger out of the direct sun. The white parts of the leaves will very likely burn if the sun hits them.