Moved into a new construction house, and plan to begin the flower bed in the next 2 weeks. I have used the LSU Ag center resources to help me pick out plants so far, but curious if there is anything else you guys have that you love. The flower beds get mostly morning shade, with full sun from 11AM-Dark.

Overall looking for relatively low maintenance plants that don't require too much pruning/shaping but still provide some color.

Gardenia - Frost Proof
Nandina Obsession
Drift Rose
Pink Muhly Grass
Shi Shi Camellia
Distylium - Cinnamon Girl
Azalea Encore

Open to any suggestions as well as 1 or 2 small trees to mix in.

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Posted by SixthAndBarone

Member since Jan 2019

10453 posts

Posted on 10/1/25 at 9:31 am to cajuntiger26

Check out American Beautyberry.

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Posted by Baers Foot

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

Member since Dec 2011

3864 posts

Posted on 10/1/25 at 9:58 am to cajuntiger26

Full sun in Louisiana is rough.

From your list: I have nandinas, drift and oso easy roses, and shi shi camelias. All have done well under normal conditions. I lost my first set of drift roses to the brutal summer/drought last year, didn't keep up with watering.

I'd also recommend irises, fox tails, agapanthus, and groundcover juniper.

For trees, I'd roll with sweetbay magnolia or little gem/teddy bear magnolia.

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Posted by magicman534

The dirty dell

Member since May 2011

1792 posts

Posted on 10/1/25 at 10:35 am to cajuntiger26

My house faces southeast in south Louisiana so it’s full sun until the afternoon. My shi shi camellias and pacific junipers are rockstars. The vertical vincas and Angelonias I plant every spring are doing well also with a sprinkler system (cheap Eden system off Amazon with a rain bird timer). I find the vincas much more hardy than the petunias I was planting. However, I have about 20 petit knockout rose bushes and they look like hell all summer despite watering. Spring and fall they usually look great though. I’m probably gonna pull up some and replace them with sunshine ligustrums or dwarf lorepetulums. Hope this helps.

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Posted by sosaysmorvant

River Parishes, LA

Member since Feb 2008

1458 posts

Posted on 10/1/25 at 1:28 pm to cajuntiger26

Shi shi's are my favorite shrub. They are bulletproof.

I've done really well with distylium (vintage jade). Not sure how they would do with 11-am - dark full sun though. That will probably be tough on anything with our sun/heat.

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