If you are lucky enough to have shade around your Tucson area home, you may find that although shade is great for people, it can be tough to find plants adapted to shade. Here are a few species for shady to part shade spots to try:
Queen Victoria Agave: This petite agave has interesting dark green leaves with white edges. It can handle shady north facing planting areas as well as those that receive morning sun (but no afternoon shade). They also make good container plants. The Queen Victoria Agave stays a darker green with more pronounced white stripes unless it gets too much sun. If the leaves become pale green, it’s time for more shade.
Yellow Bulbine is a flowering succulent with either yellow or orange flowers. It can take a lot of shade, at minimum needs afternoon sun protection. It stays small, about 1 foot tall and 2 feet wide, making it suitable for containers.
Sago Palm is not really a palm, but actually in the coniferous family. Palm like in appearance, the Sago Palm appreciates full, but open, shade. Too much sun and the leaves turn brown. It is very slow growing, but will be large at maturity so allow plenty of room. Sago Palms reach 5 feet tall by 4 feet wide.
Reference: Landscape Plants for the Arizona Desert by the Arizona Municipal Water Users Association
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