Plumeria
Full sun. A shrub the size of a small tree, with waxy flowers and a terrific perfume familiar to anyone who’s ever been presented a Hawaiian lei. The big tropical […]
Crape Myrtle
Full sun (crape myrtles will not bloom well in the shade around your live oaks.) Deciduous. Crape myrtle is a lovely ornamental with muscular trunks, colorful peeling bark, and a […]
Texas Redbud
Partial shade. The traffic-stopping sight of redbud in bloom is one of the earliest signs of spring; pink flowers smother the bare branches for a couple of weeks before the […]
Dianthus
Partial shade; best with up to 6 hours of morning sun. A short-lived biennial or perennial with blue-green leaves, blooming in red, white, pink and purple, mostly in spring but […]
Peach
Sun or partial shade. Deciduous (bare in winter) with flowers appearing in early spring, before the leaves. Peach makes a lovely small ornamental tree in south-central Texas, and as one […]
Canna
Full or partial sun. A large-leaved herbaceous perennial with leaves and habits resembling its close relatives, banana and ginger. Big, warm-colored flowers resemble iris, attracting hummingbirds and bees. Many cultivated […]
Byzantine Gladiolus
Sun to partial sun; narrow iris-like foliage is more delicate than that of many hybrid gladiolus. Bright magenta or fuschia blossoms appear with the first hot weather in mid spring […]
Butterfly Bush
Sun/part shade; semi-evergreen, deciduous in cold winters. Thin leaves on arching branches, with big, fragrant flower cones during the warm season. \n\nProlong blooming by pinching off spent flowers; since buddleia […]
Monarda
Sun. A tough, coarse annual wildflower with minty gray-green leaves. Common in fields and along Texas roadsides, its pink pom-poms are a standout in early summer when other wildflowers are […]
Globe Amaranth
Full sun; a drought-tolerant annual that with showy bracts in a variety of colors including white, purple, pink and red (the flowers themselves are inconspicuous.) Easily grown from seed planted […]