What to sow in Austin?

I've moved to a new home this year. I was never much of one for starting seeds indoors, or even sowing them outdoors, but it occurred to me that a good way to keep my gardening budget under control (okay, there's no WAY it will be under control THIS year, but I could at least tell my hubby I am trying to save some $$) would be to start some plants from seed now rather than buying the established plants in the Spring.

What would be some good plants for sowing outdoors and when should I sow them? I did some bluebonnets in the fall, but I'm thinking more about flower beds now. So far, my list includes Cosmos and Coneflowers (been spending some time in the coneflower forum). My neighborhood tries to stay with as much of a Texas Native style as possible, so extra points if it's a TX native, and we do have deer so deer resistance is a really big plus!

I guess these are the factors I want to consider:

Deer resistance (although I *think* I have some areas safe from the deer, ie fenced, dog, etc.)
Native or well adapted (but I'll be relaxing this rule in back by the pool).
Color
Butterfly and bird attracting (I love berries like Yaupon, coralberry, etc. and I want hummers to visit too!)
Height (in the bed in the photo, I need some tall plants to cover the foundation on the house side, but shorter ones for the deck side so it doesn't hide the rest of the bed.)

Here is my back bed by the pool. It runs between the pool deck and the house and it is like a dry creek bed that slopes up towards the house on one side, up towards the deck on the other and has the riverstone in the middle. Here in the back yard, I want to stick with blues, pinks and purples and in the front yard I want oranges, reds and yellows.

Since I took this photo, I have put in some abelia shrubs, a Mountain Laurel, a couple of trellises with clematis against the wall, a Duranta and a few other plants here and there. I just don't have a more recent photo handy.

Here is a pic of the front yard (where I want oranges, reds and yellows).

Hi PeeperKeeper,

Are you in Austin or Georgetown? We are located in Hill Country SW of Austin proper...so I can only tell you what worked for us.
For great color with little work....Cannas. They have big leaves, huge blooms, and come back every year and bring more friends with them. You must whack them down in the fall after a freeze, but you do that with most everything. They also come in a variety of colors.

Yellow flowers that the deer won't eat in front...gold lantana, Jeruselum Sage. Red.....you can put in oleander, which is poisonous to everything, but the deer leave it alone. Smart deer. Red Rocket Crape Myrtle....get one that's tall enough the deer can't reach the blooms, or put a small fence around it. I'm still looking for an orange flower in front the deer won't eat. I plant Cosmos and tangerine Esperanza for orange in the back which is fenced.

Welcome to Austin.

Pam





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You need to observe the sun exposure each location gets at different times of the year or be able to imagine where the sun/shade will be each season. Decide on what kind of foundation plants you want. From your photos, it looks like your back yard will get full sun year round, while your front yard, appearing to be on the north side of the house and depending on exact location, will have some degree of shade. Most of what Pam suggested requires fun sun to bloom their best.

If you want to direct sow seed, wait until after the last frost date to plant. Contact you local Cooperative Extension agent for that date. They also have all sorts of free literature that may be of help to you. Austin also has an urban Coop agent that could help.

Thanks for the welcome, but I'm not really new to the area. Actually, I'm back in G'twn, where I grew up, but I'm still used to saying I live in Austin because I have for the past 13 years. Besides, more people know where Austin is than Georgetown and it's "close enough" when talking about climate/gardening.

Funny you said Red Rocket Crape Myrtle. Back in October, I was trying to decide whether I wanted the Red Rocket or Dynamite. I don't think there's much difference but I decided on Dynamite.

Pride of Barbados is a good orange flower that is supposed to be very deer resistant. I'll let you know how true that is in the next year. I have one planted in front, where I think I'll have the most trouble with them and they haven't touched it, but they haven't really gotten brave enough to come all the way in the yard (yet). I like the plant, but while it is well adapted, it's not TX native and looks more like something from, well, Barbados.

Betty, good eye for which way the house faces. That second picture was taken about 2:00 in the afternoon. Actually, I guess they both were. The back faces East-Southeast and gets strong morning sun and some shade in the late afternoon. The front is West-Northwest, but there are some spots that get a decent amount of sun.

At our old house, I had all shade, so I'm excited to be able to have some color! There are so many things I want to plant in that back bed that I'm afraid it's going to be a hodge-podge. But I guess if I plant a bunch of different things, I'll see what does best and move the rest.

So do I have to wait until after the last frost to direct sow even perrennials? I was planning to put some seeds out today because it's supposed to rain for the next 5 days, but it is also going to be cold. This is the coldest morning I think we've had this year at 25 F this morning. So I guess they won't germinate without heat, huh? As I said, I'm new to seed sowing, but not new to gardening in TX.

Oh, the last frost date around here is at the end of March.

edited to add frost date.


This message was edited Jan 20, 2008 9:12 AM

I have lived in Austin all my life and I am currently fighting the worst deer problems I have ever had. What was once the "country" has now been built in, trapping the deer and making them voracious eaters. What is hard about finding "deer resistant" plants, is that what they leave alone in one yard, they eat in the next neighborhood. I think it really is a matter of how hungry they are. Out in Georgetown, hopefully you are in an area where they have a little more natural browse and aren't dependent on your landscaping for their meal. Barton Springs Nursery on Bee Caves Road in Austin has a wonderful selection of deer resisant plants and could give you some suggestions. As far as what the deer have left alone at my house, the only flowering items have been the sages and salvias, periwinkle, mountain laurels (obviously a shrub), and lantana, and esperenza. I did get some wonderful color with a varigated ginger and that has been a lot of fun and attracted a lot of attention. The deer ate Pride of Barbados but I see it growing in other deer infested neighborhoods so it is worth a shot. I usually put the plant in the container out in the yard for a while to see what they are going to nibble on or not and after they have left it alone for a while, plant it. It is best to do this test run when their food supply is at its lowest level (late summer), because what they will leave alone in the spring when there are shoots and also when acorns fall later, they will eat it when all of that food is gone. But since we all know that nobody wants to wait until late summer to plant around here, I would go ahead and do the testing in spring. Maybe the deer will be brave enough to enter your yard at that point because otherwise the test is useless. Loropetalum adds some pretty red if the deer will leave it - mine even eat barberry so they mowed the loropetalums. Feel free to dmail me if you wish, I have tried hundreds of different plants. Will be glad to commiserate with you.

I forgot about our Copper Canyon Daisy. Our deer don't touch it...ever. And in the fall when most flowers are on their last leg it blooms beautifully....sometimes in spring as well.

Pam

Here is our Red Rocket. When your Dynamite blooms I would be interested what it looks like.

Pam

Oh, morganc those Copper Canyon daisies are awesome! That must be what my neighbor had blooming so well in the Fall. I kept meaning to go by and take a closer look and ask what it was but never got around to it. I bet those will go from seed, right?

The photo with the Red Rocket is fantastic as well. Not only the Crape, but the red lilies next to it (I know those would be munched by the deer at my place) and the canna in the background are beautiful! I really don't think there's much difference between Dynamite and RR. I actually took a bloom off a Dynamite from the garden center and compared it to my mom's RR over the summer and there wasn't much difference in the color. Some people told me Dynamite would be a slightly darker red, but I guess IF that's true, it's only true once they're established because there was no dif I could see.

Red Rocket is supposed to be taller, according to some site literature. Other sites list both in the same height category. They are both gorgeous.

My daisys thank you for your appreciation of them. They grow pretty fast....the picture I sent is just one plant. Planted 2 and 1/2 years ago from a 1 gallon pot.

We're probably going to be adding more in the front this year.....since the deer don't eat them! I put them in front of plants I don't want the deer to touch and they stay away.....so far so good. Happily our back yard is entirely fenced in.

We have only lived in Austin for 3 years.....moved here from California where everything grew great and easy. The heat, cold, and soil here is a bit of a challenge...but we are learning.

This pic is of some of the back.....my husband is still trying to get the perfect grass!

Pam

Morgan stole my suggestion about the Copper Canyon Daisies. They smell heavenly even when not blooming, and they don't mind direct sunlight here in Texas. Butterfly weed is another thing you might try as well. I don't have a deer problem so I can't address that. But the Butterfly weed grows easily for me.

Anne

AuntAnne, they self-sow so well. I need to transplant a few that came up in too much shade. I love watching all the butterflies they attract.

Yes! Butterfly weed/Milkweed was one of the few plants I had at the old house that would self sow (as I mentioned, I didn't have much sun, but a few spots had enough for them to bloom.) and I did bring some seeds from the old house to this one, so hopefully I'll have some semi-volunteers of that in the spring. The other plant that would volunteer was my passionflower vine. I LOVE those blooms and I would always give away the babies. I'd have to make my DH mow around them until I could get out there and dig them up in the yard.

So morganc, Anniejo (or anyone else) is the milkweed deer resistant?

This is the first year that I have had a fenced in back yard and that is where all of my milkweeds are. That being said, my neighbor has one in her front yard and since our deer are really mowing down a lot and have left it alone, I would say it is worth a shot. And just to be more confusing, some of the things that my neighbor has in her yard I have tried planting in mine and they are eating them because they are new vegetation, such as Abelia. So, you might possibly need to cage it at first but give it a shot. Mine went to town seeding this year so perhaps I will have some volunteers for you. Barton Springs Nursery propogates a lot of their own stuff so you can buy it from them pretty cheap, too. I saw that Logee's had a 4" sweet almond verbena for $22.95(gasp) and I bought a 5 gallon for $18.00. If you don't have one of these, and you want your yard to smell heavenly, it is wonderful!

I have some of those too. Do they start from cuttings?

Anne

I think Canyon Daisy fits the bill all the way to south Texas! I gave some to a friend in New Braunfels where the deer eat everything but they don't rouch the Canyon Daisies.

I also gave them lots of Cannas, including the variegated foliage ones.........they are planted in mass and are beautiful!

If you were asking about the verbena, the DG page says Propagation Methods:
From herbaceous stem cuttings
From semi-hardwood cuttings

There is an interactive plant database at the Hill Country Gardens website. You can sort it for height, color, deer resistance, etc.

Also try the list of deer resistant plants and tips.

http://HillCountryGardens.info

Best Luck (you'll need it with those deer :-) )

I do not know about the milkweed.....remember, we've only lived here for 3 years. We're still making friends with our deer :-)

What is Sweet Almond Verbena? Does anyone have a picture?

The other plant we put out front is the various grasses....deer leave it alone too.....just no bright color.

Pam

here is the link to the sweet almond: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59091/

you might want to visit the Botanical Gardens in Zilker Park during the various seasons. They are beautiful and they are dealing with deer,, also.

Yes, milkweed is deer resistant.

Here is a good list of deer resistant plants, I hope it helps.
http://www.npsot.org/plant_lists/deer_resistant.html
Josephine.

wow, what a good list, Josephine!

Thank you, I found it on one of my searches and I thought it would come in handy.

DOES ANYONE GROW VEGGIES IN AUSTIN,HILL COUNTRY,MARBLE FALLS,GRANITE SHOALS?

Brian,
Until recently I did not have a yard protected from the deer so growing most anything was out of the question for me. But last year I started growing tomatoes in earth boxes because 1) I could put them up on a deck away from the deer and 2) I could provide much better planting medium for them with the mix and fertilizers that come with the earth boxes and good drainage then what is available in my clay/rock soil. That is my only veggie growing that I have done in Austin.
Annie

Anniejo, I'm so excited to hear that sweet almond grows here! I was looking for it last Fall, but someone told me not to bother because it wouldn't do well. How long have you had it? What kind of sun, soil, water, etc.?

Josephine, thanks for the link to that list. I had seen it before because I remember it being divided into three categories, but I'd forgotten about it. I'm going to load up on the category 1's!

I love visiting the Zilker B. G. I'm kinda surprised to hear they have deer there. I guess I figured there was a tall fence somewhere out of sight. I wouldn't think they could have those rose gardens (not to mention everything else) with deer.

You are welcome, we don't have deer here in Arlington, but i think that is a very good list to have.
Josephine.

My sweet almond only went in last year so I cannot tell you honestly how well it will do here, but I do take stock in what my nursery guys tell me b/c they don't like to push the "froo-froo" (is that how you spell that word?) plants, they prefer natives and hardy naturalized plants. My soil is garbage rocky clay and it is sitting in a west facing position getting partial protection from some yaupons and a red oak. It has survived the winter (if you can call it that) and is still squeaking out a bloom here or there. Let me know if you want to know where they have them in Austin. Thanks,
Annie

Peeper,

Several things:
1. Try spraying some of the deer spray (I buy the one from Home Depot) that smells like coyote urine. I live in Lakeway and we're OVERRUN with deer! I have never had them eat anything unless I forgot to spray after a rain, and I stopped spraying after a year. I think they just avoid me now...smart deer? ha

2. When I moved here , I was told that for color, you could only plant lantana, rosemary (not much color!) and the Copper Canyon daisies. But now I have people stopping and asking what certain plants are bc they were told the same and then see mine. Here are pictures of the front (the part exposed to the deer...like your house). If you see any plants you don't know, just let me know.

And the year before

I wouldn't know what to sow in Austin ~ but I would extend an invite to Connie_W to advise me... Very pretty. Tell me what the brilliant purple blooms are in the front of the last photo please.

Pod...there are just verbenas, but I had fertilized them, thinking they were growing too slowly, and then they greened up, and the solid blooms followed later. I have a better pic of them when they look more like verbenas, but didn't post that one...couldn't find it at the moment. By the end of summer, they had cascaded all the way down that wall to the gound...about 4 feet.

That irridescent color jumps out at me. I had picked up a low growing verbena with fernlike leaves last year. I noticed today it has really spread and I look forward to blooms again. Thanks for sharing.

Connie, your place is gorgeous! If you can do that in Lakeway, there must be hope for all of us! I know all about the Lakeway deer. Driving through the neighborhoods they are like cattle, and you have to stop and honk at them to get out of the way.

In the first pic, I see lorepetalum and marigolds, and I guess that's holly in the center and sage in the background. What are the larger dark spikey-leaved plants? They look like my Ti plant but that's an indoor/tropical, isn't it? Also, what are the yellow-green shrubby plants mixed in with the lorepetalum?

I'll have to use that spray to teach my deer that my stuff tastes/smells yucky. Since I just put the landscape in, this should be a good time to do it. I bet it will be expensive, though. Do you have to really soak the leaves with it, or just get a little on them? I'll probably have to buy it by the gallons. :o/

What looks like lorepetalum is barberry...has THORNS all over it, so most deer don't bother it.
The golden one is Bonanza barberry...same as above.
The spikey things are cordylines...they are 2 years old and have tripled in growth! Bottom leaves freeze but I just remove them and it comes out larger than ever!

No holly or sage
Red Barron blood grass...
You might also use lots of grasses....like those in the backgroud (types of miscanthus sinensis, sp?)...they don't eat those either. I have learned to buy large plants over the years..not as tender as young ones.

My next-door neighbor joked when I was putting in the stuff that I was providing a "salad bar" for the deer, but it hasn't happened in almost 3 years! Crossing my fingers!

Well, I was just way off! At least I got the marigolds right, LOL! What I thought was holly is the dark green right in the middle. Is that another type of barberry?

I was planning to use some of the purple barberry, but I wasn't sure that was the plant I was thinking of. Seeing yours confirms it, and it's good to hear that even Lakeway deer don't eat it. Does it come out dark purple in the Spring and turn green over the Summer?

That's not sage in the background on the right?

Buying big plants. Good idea. I hadn't thought about them being less palatable than smaller plants. I tend to buy small plants thinking I'll save some $$ and they'll eventually grow to the same size, but not if the deer get them first. New mindset.

Peeper:

The dark green bush is just dwarf yaupon...I Think that's the one you're talking about!
And the bluish bush in the background IS a sage bush (blooms with lavender flowers?). I said "no" because that is in my neighbors' yard and didn't consider it, but you are absolutely right! That shot I posted is on the line between us.