Sunday, March 9, 2014

TEXAS COTTAGE GARDEN ~ 50 PLANTS THAT LOOK GOOD IN WINTER (PART 2)

This is part 2 of a series on 50 plants that look good in winter. These all live in my garden here in Houston, Texas. If you live along the Texas coast, these are plants that will win you over for their toughness and beauty.
Names are below the photographs.
Left: Agave bovicornuta (It's good down to 25 degrees, but after that cover it)
Top right: Native sedge (has leaves that look like green wires)
Middle right: Texas rock rose (Pavonia lasiopetala) This is one of my very favorites for a low wall.
Bottom left: Agave toumeyana (my best guess)

Left side top of photo: Agave bracteosa (Squid agave...very cold tolerant)
Left side bottom of photo: small-leaf Curry plant (Helichrysum italicum) The small leaf version is tougher than the larger leaf version
Right top: Buddleia davidii 'Nanho blue' has beautiful silvery foliage along with gorgeous blooms. It's rare that a buddleia does well in Houston, but this in now its third season!
Right bottom: Cape daisy (Euryops pectinatus) Blooms all year long if it feels like it. Stays green even with a light freeze.

Top left: Artemesia ludoviciana 'Silver Queen' (reported to be a Texas native)
Middle left: Agave salmiana var. ferox (As hardy as A. americana)
Bottom left: Native sedge (probably Carex texensis but not certain)
Right photo: Aloe saponaria 

Left photo: Variegated Yucca (Yucca gloriosa variegata or Y. aloifolia..not certain) shown with two agaves
Top right: Korean velvet grass (Zoysia tenuifolia)
Bottom right: Berggarten sage (Salvia officinalis)

Large photo: Aechmea bromeliad 'Burgandy' with Sago palm in background
Top right (top 2 photos): Aloe species (unknown but different from A. sapponaria)
Bottom left: Red mountain ice plant (Delosperma floribundum)
Bottom middle: Agave funkiana 'Fatal Attraction'
Bottom right: Antique miniature rose 'Rouletii' (very tough...introduced prior to 1818!)

Top right: Yucca gloriosa (bluish foliage)
Top right: Yucca elephantipes
Bottom left: Flapjack plant (Kalanchoe thyrsiflora) Not real good with cold, so don't chance it and take it in when the weather gets below freezing)
Bottom right: Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissuma)

Well, that's it for this second round. Hope you found it helpful! Have fun and thanks for stopping by!
David/:0)




4 comments:

  1. What a nice palette to choose from...in fact, you just helped inform a conceptual design I'm doing for a friend's school near you, though she gets colder that far out in Tomball. School = lots of cool season interest necessary! Great spike and foliage variety.

    I wonder if the Artemisia ludoviciana, also called Louisiana Sage, refers to it native within the Louisiana Purchase area...or it does pop up in dry, sandy uplands in your region and eastward? It's all over above me 1000'...

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  2. I'm amazed at the amount of winter plants you have - and color, too! Love that burgundy bromeliad. I'm surprised to read that butterfly bushes don't do well there. How wonderful to have a lush paradise even in winter!

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  3. So great to have some evergreen plants for winter! You sure have a lot of them! I had a butterfly bush in North Carolina ('Santana') that did really well in winter, keeping a lot of its golden variegated leaves. I love how you have some plants with some red in the foliage. Very pretty! I wished we had more evergreen plants up here in Boston - though they would probably just be covered by the snow, anyway... evergreen trees it is for me here!

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  4. You have a nice selection of plants that look good in the winter. I am not sure I could come up with that many in my garden. You have me questioning the ID of my variegated yucca since you think yours could be aloifolia. Mine looks very similar. I bought it on clearance at the big box whose name begins with L. This is also the store where I bought several little bluestem grasses that were labeled as switchgrass. Fortunately, I knew the difference between the two grasses.

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I always appreciate your comments & questions! Happy Gardening from David/ Tropical Texana