I would like to know what plants and flowers would be good in an area that gets sun half the day and shade the other half. I live in Florida so the climate is hot and humid right now.

It really depends on what you like.

It is always hot and humid in Florida.
Take a walk around your neighborhood and see what other people have. Follow that up with visits to local nurseries and big box stores. They pretty much sell plants that will tolerate your local conditions. You will learn over time that 6 hours of sunlight in Massachusetts for example is a whole lot different then 6 hours of sunlight in Florida. It is like the difference between gently warming and incredibly HOT!!

Welcome to NGA, @Rwilkinson10

Florida is a big state - are you in the north? middle? south?

Bill's advice to observe what other people are growing in your area would be a great starting point for you - and keep in mind that some things may do well for you during the winter months and others during the hotter part of the year.

A little strange that 2 Michiganders are advising you, hopefully some Floridians will have a bit more to offer!

Weedwhacker said:Welcome to NGA, @Rwilkinson10

Florida is a big state - are you in the north? middle? south?

Bill's advice to observe what other people are growing in your area would be a great starting point for you - and keep in mind that some things may do well for you during the winter months and others during the hotter part of the year.

A little strange that 2 Michiganders are advising you, hopefully some Floridians will have a bit more to offer!

Also...
Please tell us... how large an area are you interested in planting.... Next to the house? out next to the street? (hell strip)

Tall plants? short?

Edibles? Flowers? Understory trees?

Personally, I would start with lantanas and ginger family stuff (curcurma, canna, various flowering ginger)...

Also... Brugmansias, daturas, Iochroma...

And...
figs, citrus, pomegranate...

You are spoiled for choices!!!

One important consideration...
morning sun and afternoon shade is far more desirable than the reverse. Also... soil types are an important consideration... along with how close you are to those florida cenotes...

Well I did recently spend 9 of the hottest years of my life in SW Florida!! I could not adapt to the HEAT. Everywhere I went, I smelled bacon 🥓!
I realized that was me.

But then after Hurricane Irma, I moved north to be near my oldest son.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Florida! As an orchid grower and a bird photographer, it was wonderful but I would not consider going back.

I am in Orlando Florida, the part of the house is the front next to the house, it is not a big area, but I would like something pretty.

Welcome to the site!

Pics would help!

I did something a tad bit different. I turned the front bed of my home, a curved shaped piece roughly 8' wide by 22' long, into a bromeliad and cactus garden. It was anchored at one end by a bird bath with assorted bromeliads around the base, maybe 7-8 of them, all different with river gravel instead of mulch.
The remaining 15 linear feet had four taller growing cacti towards the back of the bed and a couple of large barrel cacti up front as well as a few smaller cactuses. It was low maintenance, needed little water and yet was interesting because of different textures and color patterns.
How about something like that???

Added: everybody and their mothers and brothers had Mexican poppy or Ixoras or dwarf date palms but nobody had a succulent garden!

Agree that expanding the garden area and removing as much turf as possible would be a very smart thing to do.

As much rain as Florida gets... lot of things you can grow...

What about salvia?
I have huge patches of salvia at my house... Hummingbirds go nuts.

Especially fond of salvia microphylla 'hot lips'.

In Florida... You must see large patches of hibiscus... They're not all that tropical tree which can't take frost...

Check this... White swamp hibiscus and snake cotton....



Like I said, you're spoiled for choices...

Personally, I wouldn't stop at pretty flowers... There's a lot of ornamental edibles you could grow... Ghost peppers look so nice in my garden that I planted some in town at a client's house... gorgeous!

Maybe lea f through the Baker creek catalog and check their edibles.
https://www.rareseeds.com/

BigBill said:I did something a tad bit different. I turned the front bed of my home, a curved shaped piece roughly 8' wide by 22' long, into a bromeliad and cactus garden. It was anchored at one end by a bird bath with assorted bromeliads around the base, maybe 7-8 of them, all different with river gravel instead of mulch.
The remaining 15 linear feet had four taller growing cacti towards the back of the bed and a couple of large barrel cacti up front as well as a few smaller cactuses. It was low maintenance, needed little water and yet was interesting because of different textures and color patterns.
How about something like that???

Added: everybody and their mothers and brothers had Mexican poppy or Ixoras or dwarf date palms but nobody had a succulent garden!

Agree on bromeliads.
They are beautiful, pretty much no maitenence, and once in a while you get a flower.

I also reccomend ginger lilys and those relatives, they do pretty well and have pretty flowers.

What kind of plants are the purple ones, would they work with not a lot of sun. I don't have a picture of where I want to do this but I will get one. I like the bromeliads idea.

Mexican poppy. Very bad!! Invasive! Spread rapidly everywhere. You may live to regret planting them.

Tall ones? Aren't those Ti plants? Cordyline?

Yes, they look like Ti (Cordyline)

Hi & welcome! Half a day of direct sun in FL is enough for almost any "full sun" plants, yet enough shade for a lot of plants that are known for doing well in mostly shade. There are hundreds of possible choices for your area, maybe thousands if one starts going into cultivars.

The pic you put has Ti plants (Cordyline fruticosa), maybe 'Red Sister' cultivar, some kind of ferns, Heuchera, and some kind of Bromeliad in at the bottom. Ti plants won't be evergreen (or ever-red, as the case may be) if your area has frost, but they do regrow quickly.

Your garden zone is probably 9. Perennial plants are labeled for the zones in which they are hardy. You can find your garden zone here:
https://garden.org/nga/zipzone...

I live about an hour East of you in Cocoa Beach. You can grow more things in Orlando than we can on the coast. Below is a link for the University of Florida. This website has a wealth of information that will help you choose the plants that are right for your area. You might want to consider taking the Master Gardener course (if you are retired). Applications are now being accepted here in Brevard County. The course starts in January and runs for 9 consecutive Wednesdays. It may be different in your county. You can check for this on the ifas website. Hope this helps.

https://ifas.ufl.edu/search-re...