Gee Beckcol, I'm not sure where S. Texas has got off to, we only sent ya over here cuz its mostly Yanks up there on the Perennials Forum & ever one knows a Yank don't know nuttin' bout gardenin' in Texas, specially S. Texas.

Those ones recommended by wantanamara were some real good ones.

Maybe everyone's gone to the beach?

I guess they are all at the beach. Thanks for getting back with me I will take wantanamaras advice thank you.

Well, if you're far enough south, there's plants that don't go dormant like they do for us who are less fortunate further north so they might be considered evergreen in your zone. That Salvia regla might be one to look into, its a stunner in bloom & likes shade---it get pretty big too, I think it was on the list you got, check it out.

Maybe wantanamara will post & show hers in bloom. I got a serious case of zone-envy after seeing it & planted some seeds against the odds. I'm kind of an optimist that way.

This post was edited by TexasRanger10 on Mon, Apr 28, 14 at 22:47

I have seen some bottle bush gown in a bit of shade.Here is my salvia regal in mostly shade. It got to about 8' high before the big Freeze/drought of 2011. It is a very bushy 4' now. It blooms with the hummingbird migration.

I love putting this where the setting fall sun cuts under the tree and lights it up. It tags it every year when it is in full flaming bloom. Against the dark shadows, it is really startling.
If I think of more,â¦not tonight. I am dead tired.

What kind of soil do you have and what Zone are you in. Are you in the valley or more corpus Christi. South Texas is a pretty variable term garden wise.
Garrya , or Mexican Silk Tassel grows really well in the shade. There are some stunning examples of it that grow in Mexico. I have a native one but there are some varieties that are even more tasseled.

San antonio has a great botanical garden sale twice a year that might be of interest to you. Planting soon will be a little late . the summer will make it hard on the newly planted plants.

Beckol is in Three Rivers. I surmise, perhaps in error, that he is interested in a traditional, evergreen, low-maintenance "foundation planting." It would help if he were to make clear whether he wishes to limit his selection to plants native to Texas, which is what has been suggested to him, here and elsewhere. There are more popular options.

Doesent have to be anything native as long as its low maintance and will grow in a shady area down here in Three Rivers Tx(between Corpas Christi Tx and San Antonio Tx) Something I can trim up and keep square, which i guess would mean anything that blooms would be out of the question?

I'm in San Antonio, so your options are a little broader than mine. Will these plants get the same amount of water as your St. Augustine? How much sun and shade are we talking about here? That can make all the difference. Enough sun, and oleander could work well for you. Hardy hibiscus, aka althea or Rose of Sharon, can take a fair amount of shade, but is deciduous. For a hedge type planting, waxleaf ligustrum, photinia, boxwood, Indian hawthorn, elaeagnus and nandina would be the "old stand-bys." Some of the hollies are reasonably drought tolerant, but tend to be slow growers. You might take a look at Sandanqua viburnum, one of my favorites, and not often seen. It will grow to about 8' or more, and will stay bushy, with little pruning.

Since dchall has property in Three Rivers, you might be able to get some information from him about what works well there.