Looking for a perennial to replace verbena in San Antonio.

I have a 2-3 ft deep border around the front of my house. I have been using verbena (pink and purple) in the beds for the past few years. It looks great in the Spring, but by July it becomes very stressed. I've tried trimming it back by 1/3 after the initial bloom and then dressing with compost and fertilizing as suggested by Texas Gardener magazine. I have the beds on drip and have tried various schedules. All to no avail-by midsummer, the beds look like sticks with few blooms. Most of the pink (pink parfait) comes back in the Spring, but the purple ( Homestead) largely dies out.

I'm thinking of replacing it all with trailing lantana-will this work better? The beds get full sun almost the entire day. Any other suggestions? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

One final note-I want whatever I use to be able to survive on the drip. We travel a lot.

For me, the trailing lantana only blooms late in summer/fall. Perhaps with better care like the drip irrigation, you will have better success. It can also be a bit aggressive in spreading.

I like Tx Gardener and find it full of useful info statewide.

Lantana would be an excellent choice, and if you can go with yellow you could use Zexminia, Wedelia hispida http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/57912
It is an excellent Texas endemic that loves the sun and doesn't require much water.
Josephine.

I find that in Texas.................we really need two different plants for the spring and the summer............often times I see the verbena up until July 1............then people switch to periwinkle...........periwinkle won't take cool nights but loves our heat........................

There are so many outstanding cultivars of Lantana available...............still love the pink and the orange one..........can't think of her name............

Wedelia (the one with the shiny shiny leaves) does beautifully but she does need water.............the church uses wedelia for groundcover in so many contained areas........just beautiful.............

another flower I love is the series of zinnia profusion................the outstanding colors are a dream and these particular zinnias aren't finicky like others............and they each have a very appealing mounding growing habit................they look good here in south Texas from April though November..............and are easily grown from seed..........

Even a purple trailing lantana does so well from spring through the fall...............

i got a little carried away with 'annuals'..............but don't ever rule out the Esperanza either in orange or yellow.............the newer cultivars are easy to cut back and train them to be the size that you wish................I love them.................

one last suggestion would be the old timer Simplicity pink rose from Jackson and Perkins..........has a fragrance as nice as a hybrid tea...........requires nothing from you as far as bugs go.................and all you have to do is trim once a year and feed..............I still dream of having a hedge of Simplicity pink roses up and down the fence line...................

Have you considered Anigozanthos , Bush Emerald would look great with the brick colors.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/38360/ This is used extensively in Xeroscapeing here in So. Cal.

I hate to be a spoiler..........but I planted so much of this just this year...........have been so disappointed..................kangaroo paw seems to do great in big containers here but not in the yard itself........

You should also check out http://www.plantsofthesouthwest.com/ Their 'Wildflower" section alone is Spectacular.

This year I pulled out the verbena also (same problems) and planted a little orange zinnia...compact and not leggy like the ones I remember as a child...and it has bloomed its heart out this year!!

Profusion blooms are much smaller and the plant more mounded...............do you know what these are, Connie.........they look like a rudbeckia to me???????????

The narrow leafed zinnias are delightful. I wasn't thinking of annuals but the melampodiums are great continuous bloomers. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/231/ and the one commonly known as the blackfoot daisy
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/259/

podster, do yu know what cultivar of zinnia Connie has?????

It is possible the Profusion responds differently in different soils and moisture levels? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/61928/

The angustifolia has small leaved foliage also commonly know as the narrow leafed zinnia. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/255/ I can't judge by the foliage on her photo though.

I think her foliage is waaay too big to be the angustifolia...............would love to find out what she has............maybe she will be back................

Okay...I'm back, and I'll see if I have a close-up of what I THOUGHT were zinnias! :-) The two front plants (directly in front of the pot) are somethig different, but I don't know the name of it either! I had to replace 2 plants that I burned with fertilizer, and THOUGHT i was getting the same plant. ha

I'm more of a "decorating gardener" than anything. If it looks good, then I buy it, not really thinking much about the real name...sorry!

Thanks Connie..................it is pretty, none the less!!!!!!!!!!

I was just looking at my pics in Picasa and I found a close-up of what I thought were little zinnias!
Here it is...and I'll also post one of these in the bed.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2007 10:26 PM

And here they are in the entire bed.

This message was edited Oct 27, 2007 10:31 PM

Those are the Profusion series, Connie..........I just love them. Now they come in every color in the world including hot pink, corals, etc. They are so tough and full of life.

Connie, when I was in Austin I was going to make it out to Congress to look at hoyas ............The short of it is that I stopped in Seguin on loop 123 going to Austin and Green Gate Nursery has the most incredible selection of begonias and hoyas. The original owner has taken the nursery back. His daughter is the grower of 4 giant greenhouse bays of houseplants and patio plants which were very reasonably priced. My car was loaded down when i arrived in Austin.

If you love outstanding plants as I described (including staghorn ferns, etc) it is worth your hour trip from Austin to see what they have. You just come through San Marcos and take a left on 23 to Seguin which then turns into loop 123 around Seguin headed south to Stockdale. (The nursery is before you get to the junction of 123 and 46W to New Braunfels)

And here is the same bed but with another orange flower (? ID?) in front of the pot after I burned some of the "zinnias" with fert.

The orange and yellow look like the same series of profusion zinnias.

I'd love to make that trip! Perhaps next summer!

So they ARE zinnias after all? I went back up the thread and you said you thought the Profusion was smaller...and the plant more mounded. I fertilize with something every month (mostly RapidGro in the plastic bottles that mix with water from the hose) so maybe they grew too large?

Next time you come to Austin you wll have to come see me! I'll take you to all my favorite nurseries!

Do y'all have a DG group in Taft area?

Connie, of course we don't have a group in this area. My only DG friend in the county is Phughes from another small town.

I have lived all over the state so I have friends everywhere and we love to go garden shopping together. Next week a friend from Houston is coming in on Saturday and taking off a week from work. We are going to set up 2 more gro light stands for me inside for begonias and gesneriads and then..............tah dah!!!!! We are going to Boerne to the Texas Hill Country African Violet Nursery on the way to Kerrville for the big state convention sponsored by the Austin LoneStar group of AVSA.

I am looking in particular for streps and unusual gesneriads.

Next time I head towards Austin I will let you know ahead of time. I have adult children up and down I35 for at least 100 miles (LOL)

ksath...sorry for "hijacking your thread"!!! But I'm sure you don't mind--I never do when I start a thread.

So...have you decided on an alternate for your front border? Let us know and post pics, please.

Have you considered Bat Face Cupheas? I put those at the front edges of my entry beds this year and they've bloomed like crazy all year. One of them accidentally got completely cut off at the base of the plant, no top left at all, and within two weeks it was back stronger than ever and covered in blooms. I'm not sure if they'll survive the winter since this is my first year to try them, but they are sure strong spring to winter bloomers. I have salvias behind them and it makes a really colorful bed.

crowellli, bat face cuphias will probably be winter hardy for you. After a hard freeze, mine die back and return from the roots when the weather warms up.

Perennials

dianthus---often behave as biennials (pinks) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/67966/
catmint http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/53433/

Some annuals
gaillardia (indian blanket) http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/347/

scaevola http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/246/

Ksathelo, have u considered pentas for that area?

Thanks to everyone for your input-I have used pentas in the past. I am looking for a perennial that will work in that area. May not be possible-I have used both scaevola and zinnia linnearus in the past-even though more labor intensive, may go back to them. Crowelli is a possibility, though may be too tall for the area. Feel free to "hijack" my threads anytime-all good info!