The sheer number of plants that will thrive in the shade in zones 9 and 10 will overwhelm most gardeners. Aroids, bromeliads, Crotons, and ferns bring the count into the hundreds, nearly a thousand if you could find them all. There are dozens of small understory palms available in South Florida that grow in near darkness. Many plants will even bloom in deep shade, yet fry in full sun.

No question the folks at Disney, SeaWorld, et al, have this down to a science. Taking the time to notice what they've got growing and growing well, is a real education.

Have almost all the above mentioned (no crotons) plus coral bean, firebush, ti plant & Panama rose doing very well in the heavy shade of my live oak & seagrapes.

Also purple queen, sansevieria, dracena, peperomia, Chinese evergreen & oyster plants.

Hi
have always found full sun the toughest place to grow except during winter. Even the winter annuals do much better in part shade . Since my trees and palms have matured after the hurricane my whole grow area is shade .
Experimenting with "shady shade lol gary

Most cycads in the genera Ceratozamia, Zamia, Bowenia, Stangeria, and Lepidozamia love being in the shade and will produce cones easily. If you live north, most of the Ceratozamias don't even get tip burn until the temps go lower than 14F. Ceratozamia hildae, in particular, has gone down to 11F in Alabama without leaf damage. Our native cycad here in Florida, the coonties, looks great in the shade and naturally grows under oak trees on the east coast.

Sun isn't too terribly hard to grow in if you use the right plants. It does make it difficult for some of the 'generics' that one thinks about when they think of gardens. But there are definitely a LOT of things that need shade to grow and I have always wanted to grow some of them. Unfortunately, I lack shade in my yard and can't grow them. This is an issue that is slowly correcting itself as my shrubs and small trees start maturing, but it is still a fairly bright and hot yard in the summer.

I've been in the local palm and cycad society here in central Florida for almost 30 years. Most meetings are at people's homes, where everyone walks around and looks at the gardens. The common theme for people into both types of plants is that they plant their palms first, like Livistonas and Sabals that get a spread of around 10-12 ft. Then in a few years, they plant their small shade loving palms, like Chamaedoreas, but also, the cycads and bromeliads. These days, with the plant economy the way it is, good sized palms can be found cheap. 15 foot sabals for $65, 10 ft livistonas for $100-$125. Not that we should be growing these, but 8 foot triangle palms for $35 and royals 15 feet tall for less than $100. So instant shade can be had for an area for $100 and for about $400 you can have a really nice bed about 40 ft by 30 ft, of shade prefering plants in a few months as the palm canopies become fuller.

This post was edited by plantsman56 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 11:37

I love my palm trees but when the tree trimmers come they butcher the trees and break off the bark with their ladders. This year I let them grow and everything under it grew better. Do you advise trimming them or letting nature take its course?

I can only pass along what I have read:

Let them mature. If you feel a need to trim them, only trim off the gray and fully dead ones. Too many (uneducated) backyard trimmers seem to think that the Hurricane Trim is needed annually and they have the public thinking the same. Hurricane Trimming is only necessary for a newly transplanted palm to reduce wind resistance while it forms it's roots. Once they're established, there is no need for further Hurricane Trimming. Allowing the palms to mature naturally not only reduces stress (even removing yellowing fronds induces some stress) but give natural housing for nectar and insect feeding bats that will find shelter amongst the grayed fronds. I often find it ironic that many people in my local retirement community, The Villages, are frustrated and annoyed that bats have taken up shelter in the Golf Cart tunnels under streets, but they actively hire trimmers to remove the natural homes the bats could use, forcing them to take shelter in these tunnels. So if bats are a concern for you (and they shouldn't be), then have the grayed fronds removed, but allow the rest to do their bit to keeping the palm healthy.

Palms use up every bit of energy and minor elements out of the leaves as they turn brown. Anything green is still taking in sun producing energy. Palm stems grow fatter when you cut leaves off sparingly. Three reasons to only cut old brown leaves.
Also, you don't have to hurricane cut all species of palms when you move them. Certain species, like species in the genus Sabal, will have their roots die back to the stem when they are dug up and this is why cabbage palms need such a special treatment. Queen palms, for example (Syagrus) really don't have that attribute, so you keep leaf removal to a minimum when moving. Pindo palms, European fan palms, mule palms, same thing.

This post was edited by plantsman56 on Wed, Dec 31, 14 at 23:54

I gave the palm trees some palm food so it helped make them green again since that last photo in Oct. Funny how palm trees in the woods survive. Have many little palms growing from the seeds that have dropped. Like to keep them small. These flowering bushes really enjoyed the shade of the three palm trees.