Too Much Sun!

[Brian M]

Need some suggestions for plant replacements. The flowerbed next to our pool has cordyline fruticosa and croton Petra planted throughout. The flowerbed gets 10+ hours of blazing hot sun in the summertime and both suffer leaf burns and look like crap until they recover when it colors down in the winter. Any one have suggestions for anything similar with color that can handle the heat in the warmer end of zone 9A? Would like to avoid anything that looks "weedy". There's lots of green already with liriope, a silver saw palm, and then ribbon palms anchoring either side of the bed, plus my neighbors unkept jungle on the other side of the fence. Thanks! 

[Looking Glass]

You can replace the Petra Crotons with Stoplight, Mammie, Yellow Mammie, Golddust, Sunny Star, and they will look great in full Florida sun, once acclimated, as long as you keep them well watered and fed.  

You can use medium to large bromeliads that are full sun tolerant like Aechmea blanchetiana, Hohenbergia castellanosii, Neoregelia cruenta subtypes in all day sun. 

Your best bet for Cordylines…. try Chili Pepper or Black Magic for you best chance in heavy sun.  

Some of these are not big box store varieties, so you’d have to hunt a little to find them.  Not sure of they fit your cold requirements.   
 

 

 

[Keys6505]

I have a fondness for Acalypha and mine take full faux9b TX sun with no issues.  They die back after freezes but come back even after being exposed to temps as low as the teens.  With an annual dieback they don't get much taller than 3-4'.

[Merlyn]

I have the regular Cordyline Fruticosa (the bright pink "Red Sister" stuff) in a few spots in the front yard.  It does okay when it was drenched every day with sprinklers, but did start burning when I switched that bed to dripline.  The dark purple stuff seemed to acclimate okay though.  I don't think mine is "Black Magic" but it looks pretty similar to "Chili Pepper."

[Calosphace]

typical succulents like Opuntia, Dyckia, Agave, Graptopetalum paraguayense / Paraguay ghost plant. the silver dyckia tend to grow much slower. Yucca color guard and coontie too of course
Cuphea x Kirsten Delight or Starfire handle that much sun better than most Salvia forms, Cuphea hyssopifolia (Mexican false heather), Salvia leucantha Santa Barbara (it is the dwarf variety)

and i like my native groundcover matrix of twinflower, fleabane, and local ecotype yarrow but that might be too "weedy" for most

Certain tank bromeliads also can take these conditions, look at Androlopsis skinneri and its hybrids including intergenerics (e.g. O Rourke). There is also something I suspect is xNeomea 'Strawberry' at Jacksonville Zoo that was undamaged in exposed site + 3 days in mid 20s. I also second Neoregelia cruenta which performs well there in full sun.

 

I really like growing those big tank broms with Bronze fennel personally..

Edited February 18, 2024 by Calosphace