I send these types of questions now to Andrea Meckley. She LOVES these kinds of questions. So thank her for answers to your question, “What plant should I use for…..
Your “which plant should I use” is now answered by a Certified Horticulturist.
A list of plants for specific purposes is fairly easy to compile and readily
available on the internet. The problem I have is giving recommendations to
homeowners, they go to the nursery, the nursery doesn’t have the plants, they
come back to me, I send more examples, they find it at the nursery and don’t like
it or the nursery person doesn’t recommend it, they come back to me…etc.
This is the reason I usually send people to the nursery and tell them to
come back to me with five plants they find at the nursery and then I go through
and tell them the pluses and minuses of each. This is why I hate recommending plants
in a blog. You are faced with availability problems and the likes and dislikes
of a homeowner. It is not like making a pesticide or fertilizer recommendation.
That's part of why I hate being a landscape architect…many clients are like pitting the cult of personality or popularity up against climate, and few listen. Just not enough people that have the backs of those who try to help. And no helping people who will almost always choose a huge (Red-Tip Photinia, Crape Myrtle, etc mesic habitual) fresh from the coastal grower, over a smaller (xeric native or adapted plant) that's hardened off but healthy.