What plants and flowers are suitable for growing in shady, cool spots?

Perhaps for beginners, growing flowers and plants must mean placing them in the light to be considered proper, but in fact, some plants actually prefer to be placed in a corner under the shade of a tree; if given plenty of light, they instead wilt. Who are they? Let's take a look.

Hydrangea

Hydrangea, also known as eight immortals flower, purple yang flower, and powder ball flower, its blooms open like clustered flowers, and overall it looks very complete and full. And when summer comes, hydrangeas need timely shading, otherwise their leaves will soar to 45°C within ten minutes, thereby damaging the permeability of their own cell membranes; if exposed to continuous blazing sun for 3 hours, it can cause the entire plant's yellow leaves to fall off.

Care method: place it on a north-facing balcony or under tree shade; it only needs 1 to 2 hours of scattered light in the early morning each day. As for temperature, in summer you can also spray the leaves morning and evening to increase humidity and thereby achieve a cooling effect. If it gets sunburned, promptly cut off the scorched leaves, cover it with a bag to retain moisture, and encourage new shoots.

Clivia

Clivia is a plant with fleshy roots, and it is especially sensitive to high temperatures. As long as the temperature exceeds 30°C, the lipid membranes of the root cells age faster, and it enters a dormant state; at this point its leaves become soft and yellow. If exposed to blazing sun in summer, the leaves will develop irreversible yellow-brown sunburn spots.

Care method: when receiving light, choose the light around 9 o'clock in the morning, avoid exposure at noon, and to relieve the roots being stifled, you can switch to a red clay pot with good breathability; at the same time, if conditions allow, place it in a space kept relatively constant at 28°C.

African violet

The African violet is hailed as the "indoor flowering queen"; under suitable care conditions, a single flower can bloom for as long as 40 days. It cannot live under strong light, because its leaf structure contains a special phytochrome, and only under weak light can it activate its flowering genes.

Care method: in summer, it is recommended to spray the leaves daily to add humidity, but avoid water droplets remaining in the leaf center; during the growth period, apply 1:2000 diluted phosphorus-potassium fertilizer every two weeks, which can promote the flower buds to swell. As for light, do not use a grow light, because strong light will scorch the fuzz and cause the center to rot.