What would YOU plant here?

[JohnAndSancho]

Ok, I'm just fishing for inspiration and ideas. Already planted in the bed are a Filifera, Sabal Etonia, Sabal Bermudana, and 2 Filibusta. Zone 8b, the bed/front of house face east so lots of sun. I've got a hybrid cycad, the Butia x Lyto, and seedlings of a Birmingham, a Lisa, a C. Vulcano, a few Agave pups (that's what I planned for the bricks), and sprouts of Etonia, Sabal Minor Cherokee, 3 date palms (I forget the exact species), about 11 million Sabal Mexicana, a handful of Palmetto sprouts, a Trachy Fortunei and a couple WxP Trachies, Jesus y'all have been kind. Cheap perennial color and ground cover ideas would be nice too. 

Bed, facing east.

NE end of house, lots and lots of shade. This faces east too. 

Facing south. 

And the carport, also facing south. The giant weed looking thing against the carport (if you zoom in) on the right is a butterfly bush. There's lots of gravel under the grass here. 

I thought I took a picture of the driveway too, I guess not. There's more crape myrtles and some huge cedar trees, one was lovingly butchered by the power company. In a perfect world I'd edit the cedar trees out and just line the driveway with staggered Mexicana and Palmettos. 

I'd like to throw some statement stuff leading up to the carport too, maybe some Butia or Brahea? Butia Odorata everywhere would make me happy. 

 

 

[kinzyjr]

24 minutes ago, JohnAndSancho said:

Ok, I'm just fishing for inspiration and ideas. Already planted in the bed are a Filifera, Sabal Etonia, Sabal Bermudana, and 2 Filibusta. Zone 8b, the bed/front of house face east so lots of sun. I've got a hybrid cycad, the Butia x Lyto, and seedlings of a Birmingham, a Lisa, a C. Vulcano, a few Agave pups (that's what I planned for the bricks), and sprouts of Etonia, Sabal Minor Cherokee, 3 date palms (I forget the exact species), about 11 million Sabal Mexicana, a handful of Palmetto sprouts, a Trachy Fortunei and a couple WxP Trachies, Jesus y'all have been kind. Cheap perennial color and ground cover ideas would be nice too. 

In a bed like that close to the house, I would keep everything small.  Sabal etonia, Sabal 'Birmingham', Sabal minor 'Cherokee'', Agave pups, and Chamaerops humilis 'Volcano' are the best candidates for a tight space.  The Sabal minor 'Cherokee' are the hardiest of the bunch, so it would be understandable to put them out away from the house and use the space for stuff a touch above typical zone assignment.

[JohnAndSancho]

33 minutes ago, kinzyjr said:

In a bed like that close to the house, I would keep everything small.  Sabal etonia, Sabal 'Birmingham', Sabal minor 'Cherokee'', Agave pups, and Chamaerops humilis 'Volcano' are the best candidates for a tight space.  The Sabal minor 'Cherokee' are the hardiest of the bunch, so it would be understandable to put them out away from the house and use the space for stuff a touch above typical zone assignment.

They're gonna end up somewhere on the north end of the house. There's another little semicircle of crape myrtles in the front yard and maybe some Etonias end up in between them. @teddytn says his have seen stupid cold. 

[Kim]

Nepeta cataria would suit.

[JohnAndSancho]

26 minutes ago, Kim said:

Nepeta cataria would suit.

I think I'd put that on the edge of the woods as far away from the house and my future gardens as possible 😂

[DoomsDave]

Give agaves LOTS of space, like the universe.

[JohnAndSancho]

37 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

Give agaves LOTS of space, like the universe.

Oh I already know they get 6-8 feet around in a hurry. I'm hoping this raised area will be big enough for one of them. Obviously gonna need some cement and fill this up with gravel.

 

Right now they're in teeny tiny little pots chillin under a sun lamp.

[DoomsDave]

If you get hungry you can cut agave leaves and roast them with pork. SO GOOD!

[JohnAndSancho]

3 minutes ago, DoomsDave said:

If you get hungry you can cut agave leaves and roast them with pork. SO GOOD!

Really...we just had roast pork. Of course Sancho got his share. Pork and pain pills for his puppy dinner. 

[DoomsDave]

Might as well enjoy life while you can!

[Xenon]

I would add a bunch of evergreen Magnolia/Michelia, everything from the common Magnolia figo (banana shrub) to new hybrids like Magnolia 'Fairy' and Magnolia × foggii. All should be well adapted to your climate and soil. Smells good and adds to the tropical look too 

[JohnAndSancho]

20 minutes ago, Xenon said:

I would add a bunch of evergreen Magnolia/Michelia, everything from the common Magnolia figo (banana shrub) to new hybrids like Magnolia 'Fairy' and Magnolia × foggii. All should be well adapted to your climate and soil. Smells good and adds to the tropical look too 

There are sooooooo many magnolias on the edge of this property. They're all just the common white ones though.

I think it'd be cool to do an Asian themed area with the Trachies, some colder hardy Rhapsis if I can get my hands on some, and a cherry blossom tree or 2. It's just a challenge when your budget is literally "Hey, what are you guys throwing away this week?"

[ZPalms]

just throw hundreds of morning glory seeds all over 😂

[DoomsDave]

8 minutes ago, ZPalms said:

just throw hundreds of morning glory seeds all over 😂

🤣

[JohnAndSancho]

1 hour ago, ZPalms said:

just throw hundreds of morning glory seeds all over 😂

I'd rather just stop fighting and digging up the wisteria roots 😂 it went under the house. I'm a little concerned by that. 

[JohnAndSancho]

Mom loves hydrangeas and elephant ears. I think some alocasia with some purple and some caladiums with some pink and something with some white needs to end up around the house. And a propane flamethrower to clear out lots of this grass. And I know I'll have to dig up bulbs in October and plant them out again in April. 

[happypalms]

Oh wow free happy palms real estate to plant out ok let’s see what I have in the greenhouse to start with the obvious Johannesteijsmannia magnifica, throw in a few Kerriodoxas or two, couple of chambeyronia hookeri, a nice kentiopsis oliviformis, Dypsi rivularis would look nice in there followed by a nice allogoptrea arenaria, then we could have a nice howea bellmoreana, a cute little dypsis black petiole baronii, that’s the canopy now the understory it’s obvious iam a chamaedorea fan so adscedans a few  metallicas, dypsis lutea, dypsis louvelii, dypsis brevicaulis, a nice trio of calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana and to top it how about some Calpytrocalyx julienettii. Oh and I forgot a nice Pinang distichia. That’s all I could find in the greenhouse for now pretty busy so let me know when I can deliver and plant them for you free of charge of course! Ps almost forgot lanonia dasyatha lucky I remembered!

[happypalms]

On 7/28/2025 at 2:20 PM, ZPalms said:

just throw hundreds of morning glory seeds all over 😂

He would kill em knowing his track record 🤣

[SeanK]

C.radicalis or microspadix?

[SeanK]

I think Arenga engleri is rated z8b. If you're willing to cover it below 20°F, maybe try one.

[JLM]

Get you a super mule from Moultrie Palms. Mine has performed well and will take low 20s with little to no damage. It survived the snowstorm with a low of 12F. Major leaf burn and latent spear damage but it has grown out nicely. Pic from just now

[Jim in Los Altos]

I love groves of same species palms in varying heights. It’s so tropical even in less than tropical locations. In your zone, perhaps Trachycarpus fortunei. Palm groves help cool the home in summer and offer some insulating properties in the winter. 
 

[amh]

Passiflora incarnata, also known as maypop would be a good flowering, vining plant, they are native, but they can be can be very invasive.

[happypalms]

Actually John I changed my mind, what I would plant there would be a treasure chest full gold bullion, this way I could go on treasure hunt and be mega rich, and buy @realarch property in Hawaii and sit back in glory land and just watch my newly acquired palm wonderland grow, simply by looking at them, those lucky Hawaii growers and there mega Joey palms!

[JohnAndSancho]

24 minutes ago, happypalms said:

Actually John I changed my mind, what I would plant there would be a treasure chest full gold bullion, this way I could go on treasure hunt and be mega rich, and buy @realarch property in Hawaii and sit back in glory land and just watch my newly acquired palm wonderland grow, simply by looking at them, those lucky Hawaii growers and there mega Joey palms!

Works for me as long as I get a finders fee. And we'll have biscuits and gravy for breakfast and fried chicken for dinner.