Mike and Barbara have a great house and I bet their landscape used to be awesome. Unfortunately the last 3 years have been devastating. They lost a big tree in the back and the freezes have killed most of their existing plants. They know they could go get more plants and start over, but they want some new ideas. And they want to try some new plants. So, we got together and talked about it. Here's some of the plants they might try
-Mexican Oregano is an herb but in San Antonio it's more like a shrub.
-Variegated Liriope does great in part shade.
-Salvia greggii flowers most of the growing season, and you can find lots of different selections
-Variegated Japanese Sedge is great in the shade and deer don't eat it.
-Holly Fern is the same.
-Rose Creek Abelia will get about 3' tall and does pretty good in a shady situation.
-Sedum is about as easy as falling off a bicycle. There are many varieties to choose from
-Mexican Feather Grass sways in the breeze.
-Obsession Nandina add color in the winter and only gets about 2' tall.
-Pink Skullcap blooms on and off all summer.
-Dwarf Mondo Grass won't overgrow the area
-Chocolate Chip Ajuga is has lots of blue flowers in the spring
-Pink Abelia (aka Edward Goucher Abelia) is a great shrub for a little summer color and little maintenance.
-Goldsturm Daisy blooms all summer.
-Jerusalem Sage gets bigger every year.
-MIcron Holly is compact and has no problems
-Double Knockout Rose is carefree and blooms on and off all summer.
-Mystic Spires Salvia add color all summer.
-Rock Rose is a Texas native that likes hot, dry, weather.
-Snow White Indian Hawthorn won't get much bigger than 3' and blooms in the spring
-Country Girl Mum blooms in the fall and gets bigger each year.
-Philodendron selloum is tropical but is root hardy, and it will work in the shade
-Blue Plumbago blooms spring to late fall.
-Purple Heart Wandering Jew is also root hardy and one of the first to regrow in the spring.
-Giant Leopard Plant is crazy...it' blooms in the dead of winter
-Red Shrimp Plant is a favorite of hummers.
-Oakleaf Hydrangea is unlike other hydrangeas- it loves our soil. It will get 6'x4'
-Lady in Red Salvia is an annual that blooms all summer.
-Coral Bells Heuchera is available with many different colored leaves and flowers.
-Four Nerve Daisy blooms pretty much non-stop.
-Once Purple Coneflower get established it comes back every year and blooms it's heart out.
-Pride of Barbados blooms from May to October
-Goldsturm Daisy (aka Black-eyed Susan) is just like coneflower. It's my favorite.
-Mexican Bush Sage will bloom in late summer or fall.
-Milky Way Aspidistra has white specs on it's leaves and needs shade but only gets about 18" tall.
-Tiny Tank Aspidistra also stays about 18" tall and needs to be in the shade.
-Aztec Grass add color to a dark area
-Wooly Stemodia is a gray ground cover.
-Bicolor Iris blooms all summer
For summer color
-Alice du Pont Mandevillea pops big pink flowers all summer
-Kaleidoscope Abelia gets about 3' tall and has golden foliage
-Hyacinth Bean grows like a weed and has pink flowers that turn into bright purple seed pods.
Angelonia is a great annual for the shade that blooms the entire growing season. You can find it with white, pink, red, and purple flowers
-Persian Shield Strobilanthes loves the shade and is very colorful. It also is an annual.
-Powis Castle Artemisia is a gray perennial that is evergreen.
-Shishi Gashira Camellia is not seen often in San Antonio but it's possible to grow if you prepare the beds, water right, and fertilize annually.
-Inland Seaoats is another shade loving grass that puts on a show from spring to fall.
-Rajun Cajun Ruellia pops suttle color all from spring to first frost.
A shade loving plant that deer don't eat is Mahonia.
-Soft Caress is relatively new.
-and Soft Caress will get about 2' tall
-Leatherleaf Mahoni will put on clusters of berries.
But propably the star of the garden in San Antonio is Esperanza. They name their kids after it, schools after it, and even their restaurants after it. It starts blooming in early spring and goes on until first frost. Then next year it does it all over again. Here we some of the different blooms you see:
-Bells of Fire
-Sparklette
and
-Gold Star Esperanza
That's it for today. Let me know if you have any questions or comments. My email is on the previous page.
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