You're where I was 40 years ago, I had never gardened when we moved into our house.

What I did was read, read, read! Lots of good books out there on gardening in Texas, including some specifically for the DFW area. Then I asked lots of questions at the nurseries; most of the plants tell whether to grow in sun or shade. Then I made tons of mistakes, but during all of this I learned a lot, and am still learning!

Have fun!

You mentioned herbs. Sage and rosemary are easy to grow. The globe variety of basil is easy to grow, though it doesn't grow as big as much as sweet basil, which isn't difficult to grow. Oregano also seems easy to take care of.

As far as vegetables go, radishes and kale seem to be the easiest. If you have a list of ones you're interested it, we could maybe provide more specific feedback.

Take care to get information specific to our area. Lots of plant books and websites are written for middle America growing conditions, and do not take into account our Texas summer sun and relative dryness. You've found one good place to get realistic Texas information here. Good luck !

My addition to the good advice you're already getting concerns water. Water slow and deep, don't give things a once-over sprinkle with the hose. Also, don't get caught up in fertilizers and/or bug sprays. You're way more likely to do more harm that good until you've got a little more experience under your belt.

Oops, you wanted plant recommendations, not general advice. I'm a perennial person, so here's my list of easy flowers:

Brazos penstemon
Coneflowers
Verbena
Hellebore (for shade)
Texas Gold columbine
Gladiolus

This fall, plant lots of bulbs like daffodils, anemones, ranunculus, Dutch iris, and hyacinths.

Above all, keep trying. We all learned by trial and error.

DFW Mom,

You should come to one of the plant swaps, and garden tours. You'll learn a lot.

Culinary sage is very easy. Just plant it in full sun and water every now and then. Curly parsley needs no care either. Rosemary needs full sun and left alone. Each of these you can just walk out and cut what you need as you need it. They are live year round here.
Basil you'll have to grow spring- fall and then it dies.
Cilantro is a cool season plant.
Oh there's so many herbs you could grow.

What ever you're thinking about growing feel free to just ask here and we'll be glad to chime in on it.

Your established plants.. why aren't they performing for you?
Maybe we should take a look at them and see what's going on? Could you tell us where they are planted--how much you water them and maybe post some pictures of them?

Welcome to the world of gardening! It will take a while for you to gather information that will apply to your garden in particular, but wonderful general information on gardening can be gathered quickly here and through reading, attending seminars, plant swaps, and plant sales that are done by local plant societies.
It will help if we know a few more specifics regarding your garden's location, and the type of soil and drainage you have. You mentioned skinny plants and a non-blooming crepe myrtle, which indicates to me you may not have your lantana, sages, crepes, etc. in enough sun......just guessing.
Molly

Thanks for the advice so far! I would love to attend a plant swap or tour. Where can I get more info?

For the plants I already have....My sage is planted in full sun. They are inbetween a crushed granite sidewalk and a brick wall. The flower bed that it's in is a little narrow. The myrtles are in full sun next to some very large shrubs I have which I *think* are Japanese boxwood. I've noticed where some people have recently cut the tops off of the myrtles but I've never tried that. Could that be why mine aren't blooming well? My lantanas are always great. I just cut back the dead branches and leave it in the ground and it always comes back every year.

I will say as far as watering I am very neglectful sometimes which is why I need plants that require little attention. For herbs, I have several that I would love to try and grow like oregano, mint, basil, thyme, rosemary, and lavender

For info on the plant swaps check out the exchanges page. You'll find it on the main page just above where the list of messages starts.

It looks like this:

On-Topic Discussions Switch to: Exchanges:Gallery:Conversations

just click on which you want to go to and you'll go there.

on your mint.. do not plant in the ground. Keep it in a pot, elevated so roots can not touch the ground or you'll have it everywhere and will spend the rest of your life trying to dig it out. Trust me on that.

There is quite a divide in the gardening world about topping off crepe myrtles... I'm in the DO NOT DO IT CAMP.

Your sages may not have enough room to spread out and that's why they are skinny? You could cut them back and see if they don't thicken up some. Don't cut them all the way to the ground, just to about 10-12 inches. Throw some alfalfa pellets around them, water and stand back. If they're blooming now, I'd wait though. Hummers are coming through and they'll be looking for those blooms on their way to where they're going.

Lavender isn't usually happy here. :( It needs to be in a raised bed that drains fast. I keep trying and every time I get a good one going we have nasty winter that kills it off.

Thyme is happy here. I haven't grown oregano, but have some sprouts waiting to go in the ground now.
Rosemary does very well in our area. Give it plenty of room to grown, it won't stay little for long.

I'll second Melva's advice on the crepe myrtles and mint. Crepe myrtles look ever so much better to me when they haven't been chopped back. Mint grows nicely here, but don't plant it in the ground as it will spread everywhere!

I've had good luck with thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, mint, and rosemary in pots. I recently put the rosemary in the ground and it's doing fine. The rest don't like full sun in the heat of the summer, at least for me. Maybe I don't water them often enough then? But, if I move them back to where they get afternoon shade, they're happy. I've tried lavender, it did really well in a pot for a couple years and even rooted itself into the ground. Then we had a bad winter and it croaked. The one I tried last year didn't make it through the summer. I'm debating trying again.

As for regular plants, I like lantana, salvia greggii (Autumn Sage), Texas Sage/Cenizo, Henry Duehlberg salvia, Mystic Spires salvia, daffodils (some survive our summers better than others, I've had good luck with Ice Follies), gladiolus (although some don't come back), and iris. Oh, and cast-iron plant (aspidistra) is a good one, too. Also "Wandering Jew" (can never remember the "proper name") can be good, I've had good luck with the solid color one with thicker leaves, BUT it will spread quickly and easily and is difficult to get rid of. I've got it surrounded by the house and driveway.

If you're willing to put in a bit of time and effort on amending the soil, the Earthkind roses can be easy-care once they're established. They're grown on their own roots and typically don't require pruning unless you just want to, don't need to be sprayed regularly as they're not prone to the mildews and such, and really only need to have their mulch replenished to a 3" depth every year.

I also have a number of tropical and semi-tropical plants in pots that move into the greenhouse every winter. They do fine outside under the oak trees during the rest of the year.

Good luck and have fun with gardening.

DFWmom. I have oregano and thyme and will GLADLY share. They both grow in morning sun, afternoon shade. No particular water schedule. The thyme is used as a ground cover near a sweet gum tree, a large rose bush and an Indian hawthorn and is happy as a lark. I also have garlic chives and some small basil plants that are ready to replant...or I have seeds. I'm north of Ft.Worth and will gladly share.
(I might could be talked out of a daylily or 3 and even have some rooted cuttings of some OGR's)
Welcome to gardening.

Crape myrtles aren't cut back to promote blooming. They're cut back to keep the blooms and foliage at the desired height, same as any other shrub. Considered as a specimen, they are more attractive if left alone. I don't find helpful the advice that, if your plant has become too tall, you should have selected a lower variety to begin with. Sounds like yours just isn't getting enough water.

Do you want to try some seeds? If yes, and will scratch up a patch of soil and water until they get going....

orange cosmos, zinnias from short to tall, datura aka moon flower, tithonia,

herbs: basil of every kind. Thyme and tarragon.

how about vines? How about gourds and winter squash? Once it gets warm, gourds need little water. and are very dramatic.

just some thoughts...

I like ornamental peppers in pots. Color all summer long. Pick some with interesting leaves and even if they are fruitless they are pretty.

Or course, there are sedums that laugh at drought but so do zinnias. I just had better luck with z's from seeds than from transplants but you might have different luck.

I also like salvias in pots and have good luck with the lemon lollipops of the shrimp plant series. Blue glory vine is tough too! a mannerly vine it is intriguing but needs more water than say the moon flowers/ datura plant.

you'll have a great time getting to know what you love

oh! I almost forgot gomphrenas!

c

Salvia greggi. Just needs decent drainage.
Coral honeysuckle.
Red yucca.
For a garden tree or small lawn tree, everyone should have a blackhaw viburnum.

Go to Texas A & M horticulture. They have list of shrubs that are for each area of Texas and if they need sun or shade or will grow anywhere. Your biggest loss will be from planting things in the hot afternoon sun. Just because the tag says SUN does not mean 110 for several hours. Talk to your nursery person. Good luck and happy gardening.