Zone 9 flowers are abundant, even for shady gardens. If you live in this zone, which includes parts of California, Arizona, Texas, and Florida, you enjoy a hot climate with very mild winters. You may have a lot of sun too, but for those shady spots of your garden, you still have great choices for pretty blooms.
Flowers for Shady Gardens in Zone 9
Zone 9 is a great place for gardeners because of the warmth and sun, but just because your climate is hot doesn’t mean you don’t have shady patches. You still want colorful blooms in those areas, and you can have them. Here are some choices for zone 9 part shade flowers:
- Banana shrub – This flowering shrub will thrive in your shady garden areas and grow slowly to approximately 15 feet (5 meters). The best part of this plant is that the flowers smell like bananas.
- Crepe jasmine – Another fragrant flower that will grow in zone 9 shade is jasmine. The pretty white flowers should bloom throughout the warmer months of the year and smell wonderful. They also produce evergreen foliage.
- Oakleaf hydrangea – This flowering shrub will grow to six to ten feet (2 to 3 meters) tall and produce white clusters of blooms in the spring. These plants are deciduous and will also give you fall color.
- Toad lily – For fall blooms, it’s tough to beat the toad lily. It produces showy, spotted flowers that resemble orchids. It will tolerate partial shade but needs rich soil.
- Lungwort – Despite the less than savory name, this plant produces beautiful purple, pink, or white flowers in spring and will grow in partial shade.
- Shady ground covers – Ground cover plants are great for those shady areas under trees, but you don’t often think of them as producing many flowers. Some of them will give you nice blooms as well as a green alternative to grass. Try peacock ginger or African hosta for subtle but abundant ground cover flowers.
Growing Flowers in Zone 9 Part Shade or Mostly Shade
How you grow partial shade flowers for zone 9 will depend on the exact variety and its needs. Some of these plants can thrive in the shade, while others only tolerate the shade and may bloom less without full sun. Determine the soil and watering needs to keep your shady flowers happy and thriving.