Lose Plants This Summer? Replace Them With These Water-wise Shrubs & Perennials.
October 27, 2014 | By webadmin
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, certain shrubs or perennials succumb to the summer heat or drought. No plant or landscape is permanent, so occasionally a specimen simply runs its course and needs to be replaced. Fall is a great time to replace plants that didn’t make it through summer. We love to plant this time of year because of the milder temperatures and increased rainfall means you’ll use a lot less water to get new plants established. Waiting until next spring to replace shrubs and perennials just means you’ll have a tougher time establishing new plants just as the heat comes on. Plant now and your new shrubs and perennials will have plenty of time to put down new roots before next summer arrives.
Looking for some new Texas-tough, water-wise plants? Some of our favorites include:
Texas Sage This is one of our most reviewed shrubs on Houzz.com. People can’t believe the show of blooms these Texas natives put on, even during the hottest part of summer. Plus, Texas sage is mostly evergreen; that means you’ll enjoy the silver foliage almost year-round. Texas sage is an excellent forage plant for honeybees and other pollinators. Once established, these tough shrubs require only minimal irrigation.
Daylilies Who doesn’t love daylilies? These tough perennials put on a stunning show of impressive blooms spring through summer. Some varieties will even rebloom in fall. Daylilies don’t mind our summer heat and their foliage will remain bright green through to fall. Plant these clumping bloomers in a sunny location that stays on the drier side.
Turk’s Cap Looking to add some low-maintenance color to your shade garden? Turk’s cap is one of the prettiest and easy-to-care-for perennials for the shade garden. Plants will even take full morning sun. From spring through fall, plants produce red, pink or white spiral shaped blooms that are irresistible to hummingbirds. Plants often die to the ground after a hard freeze, but they'll re-emerge the following spring with gusto. Foliage is either light green or variegated.
Abelia For a low-growing shrub that flowers continuously through the year, you can't go wrong with Abelia. These low-maintenance beauties also attract a bevy of butterflies and moths to the garden. Abelias love the sun but will take a bit of shade, especially in the afternoon. Abelias now come in a variety of foliage colors to brighten up your landscape. ‘Twist of Lime’ has beautiful variegated foliage and tiny white flowers. For a darker show, ‘Kaleidescope’ offers shades of red, green and orange spring through fall.
Ornamental Grasses If you have a lot of sun in your landscape or spots that receive minimal irrigation, ornamental grasses can be a great solution. We love the romantic, wispy blooms of Pink Muhly grass and Pennisetum ‘Hameln’, but we also love the smaller varieties such as Mexican Feather Grass and Blue Fescue. Inland Sea Oats offers up wonderful texture for shadier spots, while Zebragrass sports striking foliage patterns. Most ornamental grasses are drought tolerant through summer and only require pruning in late-winter.
Looking to replace more of your landscape with hardscape and water-wise plantings? We can help with that! We design with your lifestyle and your senstitivity to the environment in mind. Call us this fall for a consultation.
