5 Favorite Shrubs We Love for Your Landscape (and so will you)!
November 18, 2013 | By webadmin
Every landscape needs specific elements such as a focal point, repetition, and texture. Shrubs are the best way to achieve all these goals. Here are 5 of our favorites that we use in Texas landscapes with great success.
Texas Sage: This is just about the most perfect shrub for a low water landscape. It blooms, its heat hardy, it grows to 4’-6’ tall and about 3’-4’ wide. The foliage is silver in color and mostly evergreen. Plants bloom in response to increasing barometric pressure and humidity; that means they are really good at telling you when it might rain!
Texas Mountain Laurel: Some say the best attribute of this large Texas native shrub is its grape Kool-Aid scent! But, we also love its glossy green evergreen foliage that drips with deep purple blooms spring through summer. If you’ve always dreamed of growing lilacs in Texas, but have discovered that it’s a losing battle, then a Texas Mountain Laurel is a great substitute. Plants are very drought tolerant once established. It could also be considered a small, multi-trunk tree at 10’-15’ tall.
Abelia ‘Kaleidescope’: When you need a small shrub with amazing color and a long blooming season, we highly suggest Abelia ‘Kaleidescope’. At just 2’-3’ tall and up to 4’ wide, it makes a wonderful, colorful focal point in sunny landscapes. Foliage is variegated offers up a mix of colors such as green, yellow, orange and red! Butterflies and moths love the sturdy, long-lasting white flowers.
Beautyberry: We always promote providing habitat and food to sustain wildlife in your landscape, and Beautyberry is one that provides berries for migrating birds and nectar to butterflies. As an added benefit, its lovely pink summer blooms develop into gorgeous bright purple berries in late summer. Easy to grow and drought tolerant, too! Perfect for a shady spot, or one that received some afternoon shade.
Roses are truly wonderful, blooming shrubs that thrive in our Texas heat with minimal, but proper, care. If you thought roses were difficult to maintain, we’d like to prove otherwise. We made a Case for Roses at our blog recently. See the post here. Antique and EarthKind tested roses can be tough, easy-to-care for plants that offer up the best of blooms.
