If you love the idea of planting a spring and summer garden but don’t love the Texas heat, you can enjoy some bright colors and structures in your garden from your air-conditioned window view. These native, perennial plants fit the bill.
Zexmenia– Wedelia hispida.
This super-tough Texas native mounds to 18 inches and spreads to around 3 feet. The dark green, rough leaves are covered by nickel-sized, orange-yellow blossoms that bring pollinators from mid-spring to frost.
Flame Acanthus—Acanthus wrightii.
A drought-tolerant, 4- to 5-foot standout all summer with bright, orange-red blooms set against tiny leaves. The plant booms non-stop, drawing in hummingbirds from late spring until frost.
Blackfoot Daisy– Melampodium leucanthum.
Blackfoot’s white, daisy-like half-inch flowers have one of the longest bloom times of any perennial, flowering from May to November. The low-mounding, drought-tolerant 18-inch-high and 2-foot-wide plants attract all sorts of pollinators.
Salvias—Salvia spp.
Different species of Salvia, such as Mexican bush sage (S. leucantha), Mealy cup sage (S. farinacea), and others offer a variety of plants sizes ranging from 1 foot to 4 feet and a variety of bloom sizes, from white to deep purple, blue and red. There are types of Salvias for both sun and shade areas, and their tubular blossoms are an absolute favorite of hummingbirds and butterflies.
Purple Coneflower–Echinacea purpurea.
This native plant is taller (around 3 to four feet) than its cultivars, with large, 3- to 4-inch magenta-purple flowers, attracting a huge variety of pollinators from summer into fall. In winter, brown-black seedheads feed goldfinches and other birds.
To learn about these Texas plants and others that grow well in the hot Texas summers, visit North Haven Gardens at https://www.nhg.com. North Haven’s garden coaches can offer advice about which plants will grow best where–and for an affordable price. Garden coaches can help you identify areas in your landscape ready for improvement, suggest new approaches to refresh outdoor living spaces, recommend the proper plants for your needs, and provide planting and maintenance information. To make the most of your time, bring at least three goals you want to accomplish to the nursery, a few pictures with images of plants and garden features you like, and a plat of your property if possible. An in-store, virtual, or phone garden coach session costs $35 for a 45-minute meeting and $25 for each additional 30 minutes. An at-home consultation is $125 for the first hour and $50 for each subsequent 30-minute block, including travel time. Appointments are available within North Haven Gardens’ delivery area. The coaching sessions come with a 20% coupon voucher that’s good for in-store purchases for the next month!
Learn more and make an appointment at https://www.nhg.com/garden-coach-program/.
