Please tell me what your favorites are in your garden....and also what you've tried and just hated! Needing ideas for new blank landscape. I don't necessarily mean to stick with only native plants.
Thanks.
This message was edited Feb 18, 2006 11:11 PM
What's in your Texas garden?
I strongly suggest that you go to the Antique Rose Emporium in San Antonio and look at their landscaping. It's wonderful and will give you many ideas. I'm sure there are other nurseries there that will do the same, but that is the only San Antonio nursery I am familiar with.
Salvia greggiis and salvia microphyllas are native, evergreen, and bloom from spring to fall. (Mine were blooming a little before the last freeze.) They are beloved by hummers as well. They bloom best in sun, but will bloom in morning sun, afternoon shade.
I like yaupons for evergreen shrubs/trees. The bright red winter berries are eaten by birds and the leaves provided needed cover. They can take sun or shade and can get fairly large. They make a nice dense screen, but aren't particularly fast growing.
White ruellias are nice, but spread invasively. I don't recommend them.
Roses are lovely, some types are evergreen this far south, and can be very fragrant. They can be used as screens, in mixed beds, or as focal points and can be found in all shapes and sizes. Mermaid roses are bigger than my truck and extremely thorny. I use them to discourage dogs and children from cutting across my pasture to the creek. They work wonderfully. I prefer the old garden roses, which tend to resist black spot fungal diseases better than the newer roses in my yard.
I've had good luck with the native yellow columbines, whose foliage is evergreen, but they bloom only in the spring. Shade is best for them; combine them with the Brazos penstemons, which have bloom spikes of small lilac blooms and have an evergreen basal rosette. The two bloom at about the same time.
Lantanas do well and attract butterflies. Shrimp plant flourishes in both sun and shade and will bloom year round in a protected area. Texas star hibiscus freezes to the ground here, but gets over 5' tall and blooms early summer to fall. It blooms best in lots of sun, and the blooms face the direction that receives the most sun. Indigo spires salvias bloom from spring to fall and freeze to the ground. They attract bees, butterflies, and hummers. They will bloom in shade, but become lax. Copper canyon daisies become fairly large, but can be trimmed smaller; however, they bloom in the fall, sometimes so late that the bloom is foreshortened. That happened this year when we had the October freeze. Chile pequins make a nice light shade plant, freeze to the ground here, but return in most years. Salvia coccinea bloom from spring to fall and attract hummers, bees, and butterflies; they can freeze to death in cold years, but reseed themselves through the year and come back from seed for me. Some people don't like them because they can be invasive in good garden soil. Mexican bush sage blooms in early fall and is very nice. It also freezes to the ground here.
I have lots of shade under large pecans, so I use many shrubs that will take shade. American beautyberry, coralberry, bay tree (which is shrubby for me), leatherleaf mahonia (evergreen), two small hollies, nandinas, and mock orange (always buy these in bloom, so you can be sure they have a scent -mine do not, unfortunately) do well in deep or partial shade. I put in a sweet olive (very fragrant and evergreen) and a banana shrub (not the fruit) a couple of years ago. These two get large and have fragrant blooms. I'm waiting for them to take off.
Native clumping grasses look nice. Lindheimer muhly and Gulf muhly have both done well in rose beds for me. Pampas grass gets huge, so it's outside my fence.
Rosemary has done well here since I put it in 3 years ago.
Small trees that have done well for me: desert willow - this one may be blooming when you buy it, but may not bloom for a couple of years in the ground if you buy it small. Mexican plum is nice. Loquats have a tropical look. Mexican bird of paradise needs very good drainage; mine almost drowned, and I did lose Pride of Barbados to wet feet in the winter, I think. Wafer ash grows wild in the back and is used by butterfly larva. Anachaco orchid tree is nice, although I think the blooms stink; my friends disagree. I have mine in shade, where it is etherial, with several trunks. A friend has hers in sun, where it a regular tree. Mexican buckeye has made a large shrub in the shade of my large pecans. Cherry laurels get large and are evergreen.
In an area where water stands, particularly in the winter, I have swamp roses and wax myrtles, which attract birds in the winter. The wax myrtles sucker and are evergreen. Mine is experiencing some die-back right now on some of the trunks - cause unknown - maybe the drought?
I have lost a number of salvias (not those listed above) due to the wet winters here and heavy clay soil, which holds water. I can't grow plumbago for some reason, and bulbines and phlomis did not survive the wet winters. Camellias and azaleas didn't make it where I put them; I think they got root rot. I have also lost a viburnum to root rot.
Good luck and have fun.
bullnettle
thanks for the details! they really help. I have been to the antique rose emporiam in SA. i have found a, IMHO, better garden center called Milbergers. right next to them there is a place called Gardenville which sells alllll kinds of mulch and dirt, they get some of this "fertilized" dirt from Ratama race track though, found a vet needle once but they were very accomodating about it. they always have sales, and a bit more variety than the rose place. i did buy some salvia greggiis there though. it is wonderful!
i did plant roses, about the only thing so far, and every last one of them got black spot! i am not spraying them all. but am really disappointed because we had a rose up in michigan at my parents old place that my great grandma had put in, we lived in a valley and with the great lakes and the winters we have our share of wet weather and humidity. no black spot on that rose!!!!
Hello Alamoaimee, welcome to the Texas Gardening forum.
Since you asked about what is growing in my garden,I will have to say nothing much right now, we are having a really cold spell, the temperature wen bolow freezing yesterday afternoon, and we still are at 30 all day long. I sure don't like it.
During more propicious weather we do have a lot of native plants growing.
Here is a link to my website for you to see. I hope you like it. Let me know if you have any questions.
http://www.texasstar.org/
Sincerely, Josephine.
Bullnettle, I just love your name, we should make a good pair,
Bullnettle and Frostweed.
I just happen to love the Bullnettle flowers, although some people think I am crazy, but I love their lovely scent, and the seeds are edible too, although I have never tried them.
It looks like you are into native plants as well, which makes me very happy, since I am crazy about them myself.
Please check out my website and see what we have been doing.
http://www.texasstar.org/
Sincerly, Josephine.
Josephine,
Your great manners are a pleasant surprise! I sure appreciate it on this site because I am a novice gardener and am just trying to learn. I sure got an earfull about the Bradford Pear in another forum. *sigh! Arlington...what is that by? I'm not native to Texas and so I sometimes forget where all these towns are. I'm with you on this crazy weather. It really is frigid! My husband asks how in the world I grew up in the north if I think this is cold. But I don't care, snow or no snow, you can't deny that it makes THIS any less cold!
Thanks for your reply.
This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:30 PM
Arlington is between Dallas and Fort Worth, north central Texas.
Is this your first year in Texas?
Josephine.
Josephine,
No, I came in 2000, lived here 6 months, then moved back to be a permanent Texan in Feb 2002 =). I have just lived in several towns of Texas but decided San Antonio area was exactly what I was looking for! I love it here. And can't believe how long the growing seasons are and the greater variety you can grow because of that.
This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:30 PM
Yes, San Antonio is a lovely city, and you do have a warmer climate than we do here.
I do love Arlington too, have lived here 38 years, 37 of those at this same house, but I just started native plant gardening about 8 years ago.
Used to be big on vegetable gardening, when my family was young.
Now it is native plants, birds and butterflies. I also volunteer 2 days a week, at a wildscape in a local park, that, is very satisfying.
Josephine.
It has been wickedly cold in Texas this last week though. Brrrr!
Aimee, what you'll love is we only get winter about every 4 or 5 yrs. Mostly, winter is a few days here and there between Nov. and Feb. I love how in Jan. the rest of the country it's freezing and we're in our balmy 70's w/cool nights. 9 months of the yr. it's wonderful to garden, but it's a real scorcher in those grueling summer months. You just have to suck up and put wet clothes on and before long you forget you're frying. LOL Welcome to Texas, by the most part, we are a friendly bunch. Just stay off I-35 and you'll find us friendly. That road has left our jurisdiction and has been taken over by wild and crazy drivers... :(......
hilary
Check this link out:
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/540697/
Hag49,
You crack me UP!!!! Laughing wickedly about the rest of the country all bundled up. That is tooo funny! My parents recently moved down (I have to take I35 to their place...gulp I know!) and I used to complain when it got 50 down here and their all snowed in their house in Michigan. HAHA! Mom was so unsympathetic (rats). But now that they are down here she's saying the same thing~!!! Her friends back "home" aren't interested in our blight. But we did get to wear t-shirts on Thanksgiving! hehe.
I don't mind the heat too bad. I only run my AC at 79 in the summer anyways because I do love it warm. Looking forward to it soon......you hear me ol' man winter? Grrr.....or Brrrr.
This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:31 PM
Aimee, welcome to DG! Be sure to check out the thread posted by htop (I was looking for it to show you, she's got lots of good info on the thread, and she lives in San Antonio, too!)
Have you given any thought to coming to the RoundUp in College Station April 29th? http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/555362/
Here's where people are talking about who's coming: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/573122/
This promises to be a lot of fun!
Good link , htop, I enjoyed all the pictures. Here's a couple that grow native out in West Texas that I don't think were on the list. Mexican Hat and Prairie Coneflower.
Josephine: Yes, I like natives and have quite a few in my yard. All my pecans are natives and over 2' in diameter. I also like roses and have a number of those. I have a some non-native things as well, mostly acquired before I got into natives. I also was certified with the TWPD native habitat in 1998. I got into natives because I enjoy birdwatching. As to the name bullnettle, my DH thought it suited me, which may tell you something about me. I knew the seeds were edible. Several friends in the age range of 65-75 told me they ate them as kids. I enjoyed your website and have marked it as a favorite so I can mull it over at my leisure.
Htop: Enjoyed the links. I had blackfoot daisy, but it drowned in the winter here, as did salvia regla and agastache. Pentas and cigar plants froze to death one cold winter and didn't come back here; I live off a creek, and it gets colder here than other areas of town. Bog sage has spread prolifically for me and the bees love it. I have salvia guaranitica "Argentine Skies", a light blue, that has also spread pretty well. Hummers fight over it. Neither has spread so prolifically for friends with sandy soil. The dark blue salvia guaranitica tends to die from wet feet in the winter. I didn't take cuttings this year, and think I've lost it for good. I've lost Texas betony twice for reasons unknown.
Aimee: Thanks for the question. I've learned a lot. I forgot to mention red yuccas, truly beautiful plants. I bought two in bloom several years ago, but they didn't bloom again for 2 or 3 years. Then one would bloom one year, the other the next, then they both did fine. I had to move them last fall, as the site I had them in had become too shady. I'm waiting to see how they do now. (I move plants a lot, since I seem to have problems getting them sited right the first time. Roses are the ones I have the hardest time with.)
hag49: I totally agree about summers and I-35.
Another photo of Yellow Prairie Coneflower.
Bullnettle, if you have lost the dark blue Salvia guaranitica, I do have it and could bring a potted cutting to the RU on April 29th if you go, which I am sure you would enjoy a lot, I hope you can mke it.
I am so excited! you are the first Dave's member who has told me they have a certified habitat, I have been trying very hard to stir up interest in the program, and I beleive there are two or three members very interested, we shall see, I know that it takes time to accumulate the needed plants.
Josephine.
Aimee, welcome to the Texas Garden Forum! I love your name, since that is the way I spelled my oldest daughter's. :-)
I grow many of my plants in raised beds because my property has caliche (one of those difficult soils of central and west Texas). I have the gold columbines (which thrive here, in morning sun or shady spots), Texas Mountain Laurels (in my native soil), Elderberry (suckers but I remove those and give them away), Redroot, Rose Pavonia, Fendler's Bladderpod, White Mistflower, Gregg's Mistflower, Purple Coneflower, Damianita, Squarebud Primrose, Chocolate Daisy, milkweeds, Hill Country Aster, Baby Blue Eyes, bluebonnets (of course), Desert Willow, Possumhaw, Roughleaf Dogwood, Bigtooth Maple, Lacey Oak, Rusty Blackhaw Viburnum, Hop Tree, Texas Redbud, Black Cherry Tree, Wood Fern, several kinds of cold-hardy passionflower vines, Obedient Plant, Scarlet Penstemon, Fox-Glove (Penstemon cobaea), Brazos Penstemon, Rosemary, Mexican Mint Marigold, Mexican Flamevine, Sweet Autumn Clematis, Lantana, Red Yucca, Aromatic Sumac, Flameleaf Sumac, Brasil, many herbs including Provence Lavendar, a fig tree and well, I forget what else I have. I'm into wildscape and butterfly gardening and native plants. And I'm a ways west of S.A.
Maggie: Yep, I have been conversing with htop, she is a pro!
Thanks for updating me about the round up. What exactly is it? I used to live in CS! Just moved here from there, lived in several places around there and Bryan. So imagine my surprise of hearing of this site (based from there) after I'd already moved! Weird.
Trunnels: Thanks for the welcome! My parents wanted the French spelling of Aimee to go with our heritage. I do like that with an ordinary name it can still be different!
TXwillie, Bullnettle I am glad that you checked out the link that I posted above. I am hoping that the link has been helpful. Please feel free to add your plants and your comments. Plants do tend to do better in different areas of Texas due to the largeness of the state and the different habitational regions.
TXwillie, we especially need more input from your area. I have never been there. Your climate is so much different than mine that I would love to hear more about what successfully grows there.
Bullnettle, I love the Bastrop area and never want to leave the Bastrop State Park when I visit there. The Bastrop River Walk along the Colorado River is great especially in the spring.
hag49, I-35 north of San Antonio really is scary especially when its really foggy and crazies are passing me doing about 80 mph or more. I figure that they must have a death wish; but, they need not take innocent others with them to their demise. My knuckles turn white, my hands sweat and my shoulders hunch u even when its not foggy!
maggiemoo, I guess you have had a lot of rain.
trunnels, I hope you didn't slip and slide too much in the ice up there. My daughter lives in Plano. Her boyfriend said it wasn't too bad ... but then he used to live in Chicago and is used to ice.
frostweed, I love bullnettle too.
alamoaimmee, may have some plants to share in the spring. I'm not really a pro ... I have just killed a lot of plants over the years and know which ones have made it during my trials and errors. :o). In what part of San Antonio do you live?
This message was edited Feb 20, 2006 7:07 PM
Here are my ideas for my zones shaded plants (please tell me if you have any horror stories about these so I can omit them from my list):
1 FOOT OR LESS
Spotted Dead Nettle "Pink Pewter"
Gaultheria Procumbens "Creeping Wintergreen"
Begonia's Non-Stop Hybrid Mix
Convallaria "Rosea" (pink lily of the valley that does well in shade)
1-2 FEET
Hellebore "Ivory Prince" OR "Lenton Rose" (same flowering color so not sure the diffence)
Foamflower "Candy Stripper" (goll this looks So neat!)
Hosta "Red October" (long red stalks remind me of rhubarb)
Astilbe "Rheinland"
2-3 FEET
Athyrium "Ghost" fern
Phyllitis Scolopendrium "Hart's Tongue" fern
Athyrium "Frizelliae" fern
Arachniodes simplicior variegata fern (htop said this is the slowest growing ever)
Respond on these and then I'll ask about my sunny garden options I've selected.
Thanks!
Wow,Lindatx8 another native plant gardener, this is wonderful, I wish you two were closer, so we could exchange seeds and cuttings.
I have a lot of the things you mentioned, but I don't have Brasil, Redroot, Fendlers Bladderpod, Squarebud primrose, or Hill Country Aster.
I could trade you with, Salvia greggii, Frostweed, Flame Acanthus, Aster oblongifolium
Carolina Phlox, Prairie Parsley, Heath Aster.
Who knows, may be we can get to meet at the statewide RU on April 29th.
Are you planning on going?
Josephine.
htop:
DITTO on that I-35 deal! Whenever me and my husband travel up to Austin to work or to my parents in NB we cannot believe how people speed! My mom (so funny) was like, "I can't believe how long this road construction is taking! They have been doing it a year already!" Funny cause she's only lived there that long AND they've been doing it through there for YEARS! Hehe. I try to avoid it like the plague.
I live in Converse actually but it's easier to reference me as SA on here. I'm like 10 minutes NE of SA.
p.s. hope it's ok, I just posted my potential list in here instead of D-mail.
Frostweed, I sent you a D-mail! I think we can do a trade!
alamoaimee, the only plants that I have attempted to grow on your list are astilbe which I gave up trying to grow and 'Non-Stop' tuberous begonias. Some of the begonia tubers rotted. I probably gave them too much water or the soil in the containers (never tried them in the ground) retained too much water. Also, they never made it in the heat in the summer. Maybe someone else has had good luck with these 2 types of plants.
Here's a great link naming Neil Sperry's top 20 recommended perennial plants for shade:
http://gardening.timesrecordnews.com/reader.cfm?cat=evergreen&file=TOP%2020%20SHADE%20PERENNIALS
Here's a great link naming Neil Sperry's top 20 recommended perennial plants for sun:
http://gardening.timesrecordnews.com/reader.cfm?cat=evergreen&file=TOP%2020%20SUN%20PERENNIALS
This message was edited Feb 22, 2006 2:24 AM
htop! Wow, thanks for that list!!!! And your experience with some I was considering. Interesting they don't do well here cause Home Depot was selling them. Wish these garden centers would be more responsible about what they are selling....More later on my sunny bed options.
Alamoaimee, they sell hostas, iris and bleeding hearts at our HD and I know they don't do well here because we don't have a long enough chilling period in the winter.
forgot to add, I saw lilacs for sale at wallyworld today! I couldn't believe it!
This message was edited Feb 22, 2006 2:58 PM
Cal, Oh my gosh! LILACS! I didn't think they exsisted in Texas! LOL. At least until I researched them more when I found DG in Jan. Yeah they are neat, I had them in Michigan. Only thing that disappoints is that they are so large (which is great in bloom) but otherwise are unimpressive of a bush. In Michigan at least they only bloom the month of May, mom always said they were her Mother's Day present. =) I bet they bloom longer here!
Here are my sunny bed options:
1' and under
*Viola "Johnny Jump Up" (flowers look just like butterflies!!!)
* Sisyrinchium angustifolium "Lucerne" (one of the few true blue flowers)
* Oxalis triangularis (a dark plum colored leafy plant with small white flowers)
1-2'
* Coreopsis "Heaven's Gate"
* Dianthus "Heart Attack"
* Sylvestris "Marina" (long bloom = 5 months, another true blue)
* Heuchera "Marmalade" (multi colored pink/orange/yellow)
2-3'
* Verascum "Southern Charm" (same colors as above)
* Coneflower "Double Decker" and "Razzmatazz"
* Hydrangea "Forever Pink" (one of the smaller varieties of hydrangea)
* Persicifolia "Moerheimii" (one of the few nice white flowers I found, strong stems, long bloomer)
* Panicum virgatum "Shenandoah" (nice magenta colored tall grass)
* Lobelia "Monet Moment" and/or "Ruby Slippers
3-4'
* Lupine "Baptisia Pendula" (white again)
* Lupine "Purple Smoke"
Verbascum "Carribean Crush" (multicolored in pastels)
* Dahlia "Awaikoe" (one of the few to grow in my zone, and a brilliant red with yellow center)
4-8'
* Foxglove "Mixed" and "Excelsior"
* Pussy Willow "Weeping Sally"
* Clemantis vine "Durandii" (blue) and/or "Beauty of Worchester" (purple)
* Actinidia Kolomikta (kiwi vine that is green leaves with pepto bismal pink tips!!!)
I was thinking of a climbing rose for an arbor by some windows and was thinking of Constance Spry or Climbing Peace.
If you have any experience with any of these please clue me in! Thank-you!!!!
I also have a certified habitat Josephine.
Viola: love these and have all types growing now; they will do great until it becomes really hot and then they die; mine have reseeded
Oxalis triangularis: mine does well in part sun and have never stopped blooming all year
Coneflower is a great choice, but mine tends to wind down in August heat
Foxglove - grew it a few times, but it was persnickity for me and never made it past May
Coreopsis and dianthus have always done well for me; dianthus: try to top water and not water too much because they can develop a fungus that will kill them (the less I "baby" them, the better they do for me.
My Heuchera do better in morning sun/afternoon filtered sun; in full sun the struggle (especially if it is really hot like last summer)
My hydrangea have had leaf burn in full sun (need a lot of water too) and need part sun to shade.
Other gardiners may have had different experiewnces with the plants I have discussed.
Htop:
You are wonderful! You have given me just what I needed to know! Thanks for the input, it will help me think more about this.....
Any input on the use of azaleas in TX?
This message was edited Jun 2, 2006 4:31 PM
Debbie! thank you for telling me. I think it is a wonderful thing, and I hope there will be many more of us out there soon.
My certificate is #1227, which # is yours?
Josephine.
Aimme,
I haven't had success with azaleas in my area of San Antonio because of all of the limestone (alkaline soil). The soil needs to be acidic (the acidity developed organically - which I did not successfully do :o(). I tried replacing the soil 2 feet down, adding a raised bed and using acidic soil, but the lime leeched back up after a few years. The plants declined so badly and looked so ugly that I finally pulled them up to put them out of their misery. They do well in east Texas (as do all types of roses) because of the naturally occurring acidic soil. I don't know about the soil in Converse. Its sandy, right? This link states that they do best in sandy soil and what to add to it.
http://www.texasgrown.com/pages/articles/azaleas.htm
Here is a great link discussing how to grow azaleas in Texas. After reading how to acidify the soil, I may try growing them again even if it will take some work and lots of pine needles ... oak leaves I have in abundance.
http://www.organicgardentips.com/how_to_grow_azaleas.html
Htop,
Are you a master gardener? You have the best advice. =)
Converse is the same as SA I think....no sand, all clay with a few small rocks in it. I am trying to amend it by laying top soil over this junk....but it will be years before my yard could actually be nice.
I miss that about Michigan. I remember it being easy to dig a hole up there, it was REAL dirt. And we had so many less varieties of grass (including no invasives that we had....like crabgrass...grrr). The only weeds we had in our yard were small dandelions and clover. But......I say this to my husband and get off my soap box when he asks, "Do you wanna live back up there in the cold?" Nope, NEVER! I love Texas heat.
No, I am by far not a master gardner, but thanks for the compliment.
Oh, phoey ... I thought you had better soil that I do. In fact, I have very little soil except in my raised beds. When I first started trying to plant things in my "new" yard, I was used to being able to dig down quite far even though the soil was clayish. I started trying to dig holes. I told my husband, "I just can't believe that everywhere I want to plant something there is a huge limestone rock." Duh ... it took at few tries before realizing that my whole yard (under a few inches of topsoil that had been added) was a huge limestone rock. Almost solid limestone is no fun. Because I was a lot younger then, I bought a 25 pound metal bar used to break up stone and concrete and went to work. In some areas, I broke up the limestone at least 3 feet down and hauled it in a wheelbarrow down the slight hill and dumped it in the area in which no houses had been built yet. Then, I added lpurchased garden soil and happily planted. After weeks, weeks and more weeks of work, I decided that this was just too time consuming. I started adding raised beds which I didn't like to do because they don't look "natural". But, going up was a lot easier than going down. I guess, the old saying "if there is a will, there is a way" sure peratins to gardners' tenacity.
htop,
lol, your yard work sounds as tough as what i have to deal with! but "we" (that's the royal we but really means my husband) dg holes for 6 trees and he dug pretty far down because some of them were 45 gallon trees, but he never found large rocks. but we have lots of small limestone looking rocks, which may just be leftovers from all the new construction around here. i did the raised beds too, but just for vegetables. that's my husbands forte. mine is the plants. =). so that works good for that. i dread trying to dig in this clay to plant a lot of beds....but I can't do too much of a top layer of good dirt because of a cedar fence that's already up, i don't want to ruin it on the bottom..... maybe a nice sloped island just in the center? hehe. but then the animals and kiddo's someday might object. i guess it will just be blood sweat and tears.
i lived in bryan/college station before here. it was the sandiest soil i have ever seen. i kept looking for the beach! but i am glad we don't have that soil either because the area there is crawling with scorpions. which i have seen none of in SA.
Aimee, dont let Hazel fool you, she may not have the paper title, but she is a master gardener par excellence, and loving and caring one at that, the best kind anywhere.
Josephine.