Help With West Facing Sun

[Gweed Mulch]

We have a raised deck with a roof attached to the back of our condo that faces west and gets 4-5 hrs of sun a day. I have
tried ferns and petunias placed in hanging baskets suspended form the deck bottom by 18 inch chains to shade the
plants from the hot sun and have had no luck whatsoever! We live in Illinois and the summer afternoon sun can be brutal.
Any ideas as to what flowering perennial may be handle these conditions?

 

[Silentrunning]

Instead of changing flowers why don’t you go to one of the box stores and get roll up bamboo style shades? We had a built in garden on our front porch that the previous owners had covered over because it cooked the plants on sunny days. We got some of those shades and would roll them down about noon and roll them up once the sun cooled down. It worked great.

 

[alp]

Do you mean plants in hanging baskets to shade the sun or plants in the border?

https://www.enjoycontainergardening.com/drought-resistant-plants.html

might be useful to you.

For perennials in west facing BORDERS:
Bearded irises, cistus, eryngiums, heucheras, peonies, alstroemerias, osteospermum.

Indian Chief bearded iris - perfectly happy in the sun. Eryngiums might self seed everywhere. Don't blame me!

 

[Marck]

Greetings, welcome to the Forums.

Plants in hanging baskets are often high-maintenance plantings. In warm weather you may need to irrigate every day.
The best choice for hanging baskets are succulents as they will be able to last at least several days without irrigation.
There are many arching, trailing and pendant types that can look very attractive when suspended in air.
In Winter, in a cold climate such as Illinois, they should be brought inside and kept in a sunny window.
If there is no room for the full basket indoors, at least take cuttings to maintain the plant in your collection.

In other plantings for a hot, dry, western exposure, either in containers or in-ground, should be similarly drought-tolerant.