Sun Can Damage Some Plants

All plants need some light to grow, but some light and sunlight directly on the plant are two different things. Plants that thrive in the shade usually have more green pigment and they use it to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and sugar. These plants can be easily burned and they perish in too much sunlight.

Sometimes we think that the only plant that will do well in the shade is something all green and lacking any other color. Wrong.

Not only are there plants with as many variations of green, as well as leaf variegations, but there are plants that flower as well. The more common ones include azaleas, rhododendrons, camellias, impatiens, begonias and a few other flowering plants. But others are fuchsia, coleus, agapanthus, astilbe, clivia, foxglove, bleeding heart, leopards bane, Christmas rose, hydrangeas and Japanese iris.

The mimulus , better known as the monkey flower, does well in the dense shade as well as in shade bordering on full sun. Its bright tuberous flowers come in many colors. The nierembergia does well in shade in the warmer areas, but can go into the sun along the cool coast. It has a small purple flower smiling from its cup of blue, with a yellow throat.

Plants that live in the shade will not tolerate the same amount of food as plants in the sun, unless the food has been specifically formulated for shade plants.