I am in the middle of an oak forrest and get lots of dappled shade/sunlight, and some places get as much as 4 hours (sometimes more) of direct sunlight.

Some of the plants in the 4 hour area end up w/ scorched leaves, but fail to bloom (a multi-year old David Austin Constance Spry, for instance, which I know is only supposed to bloom in the spring.)

In one area I'm working on now, I've got bermuda grass (sun lover) growing right at the edge of a huge stand of groundcover vinca. I noticed this area recently (have been ignoring it for years), and realized it seems to be getting a LOT of sun.

I don't want to plant sun lovers that fail, or shade lovers that get scorched. For instance, my front porch is in shade all day til 4pm, then gets direct hot NW sun in summer. Burns the ferns, stretches the mums/pansies/etc. I'd like hanging baskets or patio pots in this area, just don't know what to plant. Ditto misc. shrubs. Too much light for azaleas? Not enough for hollies/cleyeras? Help!

I guess it's probably just trial and error, but if there are reliable (easy to understand!) formulas or indicator plants to "test" an area, please let me know.

Thanks

Susi in NE TX

This being said, as general - very general - guideline, sun lovers prefer 6 hours or more of direct sun. If you have all day dappled shade that is not too dense you can probablty find some sun loving plants which will do well here.

If you have 4-6 hours of full sun, or all day dappled shade (and again this varies) then some shade tolorant plants will do very well and bloom whereas they may not bloom if less sun is given.

If you have less than 4 hours of full sun or only partial day dappled shade, then most likely you need really shade loving species to grow there.

This is not very specific, and the reason is of course that you can not be. It depends on the intensity of the sun in your particular microclimate. as you have noticed yourself, in a matter of a few feet, you can have dense shade being replaced by full sun.

In most cases, keen observations can give you much help (and you do seem to have done quite a bit of home work). You would probably be ok putting roses and iris in the sunny spot, and right next to this, you may be 'stuck' with ferns and hostas.