June 21, 2024
Fill Your Home Garden with Plants that Thrive in North Texas
If you have a green thumb or you’re just a beginner in the plants and gardening community, this one’s for you! Make your backyard an earthly oasis teaming with a variety of plant species that will actually make you want to embrace outdoor living.
Achieve backyard beauty — Texas style — with our top picks for which plants and flowers thrive in our mostly dry, warm North Texas climate. We’ll give you the low down on each species based on how well they do in our weather, what seasons they like best, levels of maintenance, and more.
Copper Canyon Daisy
Tagetes lemmonii — Native to the Sonoran Desert region, which contains parts of Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona, the Copper Canyon Daisy is a golden yellow flower with narrow leaves. While the flower attracts butterflies and bees, the leaves put off a minty-pungent smell that deter deer! The perennial shrub does best in full sun to partial shade, and can easily withstand drought. It can suffer if soil is overly saturated, so a soil with good drainage is important. The Copper Canyon Daisy primarily blooms late summer through fall, and can grow to around 3-6′ wide. A sunny staple for your landscaping projects!
Boxwood
Buxus sempervirens — If you’re in need of a hardy, durable shrub to meet your landscaping needs, the Boxwood will uphold its reputation as being one of the most common evergreen shrubs of which you can’t really go wrong with. Because the plant is so tolerant of different growing conditions, the Boxwood does well year-round and with overall low-maintenance. It should receive at least 4-6 hours of direct sunlight with partial shade and only requires minimal watering, enough to moisten the soil and quench its shallow roots. The Boxwood is a great medium to make your yard look full of greenery.
Lantana
Lantana camara — Common Lantana belongs to the verbena family and comes in a variety of sizes and colors. This flowering plant is a hard-root perennial that will typically live spring through fall and die back in the winter months. Lantana thrives in the heat and full sun, so strategically plant them in areas of your yard that receive the most light (perfect for scorching Texas summers!). They also are very low maintenance as they are not particular about what kind of soil they are planted in and do not require much water intake. Check out our state namesake the “Texas Flame” which blooms bright red, orange and yellow!
Red Yucca
Hesperaloe parviflora — The Red Yucca is a beautiful, full-bodied plant that can make for a bright accent in your outdoor sanctuary. Its base can grow to be about 2-3 feet in both height and width, but the Red Yucca’s distinctive coral colored flowering stalk can add another couple feet in height. The plant does best in full sun but can also take some shade. Minimal maintenance is necessary because it is drought-resistant, meaning the plant can survive on rainfall alone. Perhaps the highlight of the Red Yucca is its popular flying-friend, the hummingbird, which is attracted to the flower buds and will make recurring appearances in your backyard!
Oakleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea quercifolia — The Oakleaf Hydrangea, native to southeastern U.S., is a shrub-type hydrangea plant and does very well here in North Texas. The shrub can grow quite large and boasts oak-shaped leaves (hence the name), as well as cone-shaped clusters of pretty white flowers. Their fullness would make a great addition to any garden space. The plant has a habit of flowering best in the morning sun but can also thrive in spots with full shade — the leaves will just turn a deeper green. The Oakleaf Hydrangea will withstand the extreme Texas heat, just be sure to water it accordingly during massive dry spells and plant in a well-draining soil.
Purple Coneflower
Echinacea purpurea — The Purple Coneflower is a strikingly vibrant, flowering perennial that thrives in North Texas. This herbaceous plant can grow up to 2 feet on average and looks quite nice clustered in groups of 3-5. The flower is drought-resistant and only takes water sparingly, no matter the heat — if the soil gets too wet, this can actually negatively impact its growth. Purple Coneflower shows off its beautiful pink to purple blossoms from spring through fall. The plant attracts many pollinators, and the flowers last a long time; though it is advised not to dead-head once they fade. Overall, the Purple Coneflower makes for a bright addition to your yard.
Rosemary
Rosmarinus officinalis — You may be thinking Rosemary is just your average herb, but it actually is a popular stand-out plant in many gardens across the region. Unlike many landscape plants, Rosemary thrives in the dry heat that takes over during the summer months here in North Texas. Typical maintenance requires a well-draining soil and positioning the plant in a spot that will receive either full sun or partial shade. Small lavender-blue flowers will blossom on the herb in the spring and summer, and the leaves themselves are what produce the Rosemary’s scented foliage — commonly picked, either fresh or dry, for a staple household seasoning.
UnionMain Homes is proud to build dream homes in a number of amazing master-planned communities across the DFW Metroplex. We take pride in putting as much care as we do in our homes into our land endeavors. We strive to participate in development projects in which we can visualize dream homes coming to life on beautiful lots. We hope our customers feel inspired to make the most of their outdoor living space and backyard with the Earth’s unique gifts of nature. Plants can bring personality to any space and make your landscapes yet another extension of you.
