Ok, I have a crappy location...can I grow anything?

[bicentennial_baby]

We live in an apartment that faces East, the sun is on the porch from 5:30 am to about 10 or 11 am. After that, solid shade. Is there any vegetables or herbs I can grow out there? x(

Ps- Eastern MA, High Summer temps of 65-95, on average

[flying_wahini]

1. What about cilantro and lavenders?

wild ginger, goldenseal, pennyroyal, wild bergamot....
also some bloomers;
Impatiens, geraniums,ferns, hostas in a pot, torenia, coleus,

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Parsley. Baby lettuce greens. Maybe oregano and chives. Some radish varieties.

That's the sort of stuff that I can grow in the off season out here.

Other veggies are tougher to grow with those conditions but you may be able to find a shade-tolerant cherry tomato plant in a nursery.
There are varieties out here just for the coastal zone because they rarely have sunny, hot days.

Don't bother with peppers or eggplant. They'll disappoint you. Squashes, mebbe a zucchini or yellow squash would do okay if you have a large enough container.

[Kolesar]

3. My hunch was to put a flat white panel behind it to reflect more light

Since a panel to the west of the plants won't cause any shading. I don't know if this is well conceived. My brother grew cotton in Northern Ohio by planting it in front of a white utility building. I actually put red plastic mulch under my tomatoes to reflect red light back up at the plant.

[susanna]

4. You received some excellent replies from the very helpful DU gardeners...

Your thread interests me, because I have similar problems, though I'm north facing. I have a large house in an older urban neighborhood that once the sun gets high enough in the sky, my front beds are very shady and cool as the height and adjacent buildings block most everything.

A couple questions for you: 1) are you building-locked (neighbors on both sides), and 2) do you have any space in the back of your house (West exposure)? If you have back space, you can do more. That's been my experience, anyway. You can look into container gardening for plants that need more sun there.

I agree with some of the other posters about lettuces - they should do well in your front area (with the exception of the really hot part of summer, when most will bolt). Some of the available lettuces - especially heirlooms - are beautiful enough to be ornamentals, with the added bonus that you can pick leaves as you need them and leave the plant to grow more.

According to one of my books (I zipped through it real quick) some relatively shade-tolerant (you'll probably be looking at Partial Shade) Veg/Herb plants include:

Light Shade Tolerant
Pole Beans
Beets
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage (except Chinese Cabbage)
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Garlic
Onions

Partial Shade Tolerant
Broccoli
Most Greens (lettuces, spinach, etc.)
Raddichio
Chives
Cilantro
Kale
Oregano
Parsley
Peas (needs trellising)
Potatoes
Radishes
Sage

As for ornamental flowers and such, pansies like the cool and aren't that picky about shade from my experience; also, some hostas will do great on just a few hours of sun a day. I also have day lilies that are thriving in my mostly-shade front beds. Regular (not the sun-loving variety) Impatiens can be gorgeous in shade and there are so many beautiful colors to choose from. I like to carpet those suckers in my shady front. It makes it look like I know what I'm doing. ;-)

My final advice would be to try a few experiments, even if you think there isn't enough sun. You might be surprised at some of your results. I have placed plants needing full sun in my semi-shade spots and had good luck (of course some have croaked, too). Try a few things and see what happens. I think that I learn more from my mistakes in gardening than I ever learn from my successes. (Truth be told I have the sneaking suspicion that my successes are in spite of me, and not because of me.)

Enjoy whatever you decide to do and good luck!

on edit: clarity