lantana is a poisonous plant and it attracts butterflies and bees. I love it! Figs are nice trees but where there is fruit there are critters who want it too. Many folks put a net over a fig to protect the fruit but is not lovely....sorry.
Plumbago blue is a great plant, but not hardy except in the southern regions of TX...same for Jasmine.

Duranta gets tall, and keeps the butterflies and bees up high rather than down low like lantana. It needs more water but does great in big pots and again will keep the nectar seeking visitors up high.

Others will have better info. I like fire cracker fern too. Color and interesting plant without being a big insect attractor. Maybe tapioca plant? Great color. Not sure if these can handle your winter in a patio. Will look forward to others' comments. c

I don't know about the plants listed, but we have ferns on our patio. They like the shade and we have not had any trouble with insects. They might work for you.

If you want something that is easy to grow, take a look at Texas Superstar plants and Earthkind plants.

I have latana everywhere. Easy to grow. Abelia plants are also easy to grow and seem to attract hummingbirds quite often. Some roses are very easy to grow as well and not so thorny like Marie Pavies and Ducher.

Take a stroll at Natural Gardener Nursery if you live close by.

Visit Austin's Grow Green website for some great info. See link below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Austin Grow Green website

As Lou mentioned checking out Superstar plants is a great way to get some ideas on where to start. Also drives around the neighborhood helps give a good idea of what's growing well in your area.

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Superstars ...plants that is :-)

thank you all for the excellent advice!! I will definitively check out the links!
Sunnysa, do you take your ferns inside over the winter? I would like also some plants that are hardy enough so they survive the winters.
Am I being too picky? I guess I am...sorry! :)

Plumbago is hardy in Austin. I had lots when I lived in Austin. Magnolias are marginal and need lots of coddling and water. With our droughts , they have been hard to keep alive unless you live in clay. They do not really like the dry limey hills. Remember, we have water rationing every summer and our soils are alkaline.

Sago palms are good but the seeds are poisonous. It will be years till your plant makes seed, by then, your kids will know not to eat them.

The Natural gardener will be a very good place to start. They are very helpful and will fill you in on what is workable.

I recommend Sally wasowski (sp?) book on gardening in texas. They will have it at the Natural gardener. Their demonstration gardens are great.

Re the ferns.... we don't bring them indoors but we do have a shed/greenhouse where they spend the winter. The large ferns we have are about three years old and they come through the winter just fine. Everything gets misted in the shed but for the most part, we just let them 'rest.' In the Spring, we just bring everything out.

Plants like plumbago that are hardy in the ground won't be as hardy in containers. Ornamental grasses like mexican feather grass are soft and don't attract bugs and you can surround them with annuals for color.

We're in your same neck of the woods and have experience with some of those.

Magnolia can be iffy. As mentioned, it depends how much soil you have. In my neighborhood in NW Austin we have a decent amount of soil before hitting rock and there are some fairly large, healthy specimens here.

Figs seem to do just fine with supplemental water. As others have mentioned, you take the good with the bad being a fruit tree.

Not familiar with St. Elmo's Fire.

If by Jasmine, you mean Asian Jasmine, it makes on tough groundcover, especially in shady areas. Just make sure you really like it since it would be a chore to ever get rid of it.

Plumbago does great in the hot summer weather. Usually it's a die-back perennial in our area, but if we get a really nasty cold snap, they can die. It happened to me a few years back.

Lantana is pretty hard to go wrong with. One of the toughest for our area IMO with pretty much non-stop blooms throughout the growing season. Just note that it is poisonous, so keep that in mind with kids in the mix.

As mentioned, Austin's Grow Green Guide is a great resource. The Natural Gardener is a great nursery as is my favorite, Barton Springs in Westlake Hills.

Some favorites of mine I've had great success with include: Lantana, Red Yucca, Dwarf Pomegranate, Goodwin Creek Lavender, Rosemary, Autumn Sage, Bicolor Iris, Rock Rose, Cenizo, Bush Germander, Golden Thyallis and Crape Myrtle.

Big question and most limiting factor is your soil and that depends where you are in the Austin area. Austin is ion the edge of three very distinct ecological regions that you can see from a satellite. There are some amazing natives here that really need a looking at.

It is imperative that you recognize the strengths and weaknesses of your soil and amend it accordingly. In austin, We have pure chalk, "RED DEATH' clay, Black Gumbo, Caliche, limestone rubble, cut banks of a red clay gravel aggregate, pure sand, and all sorts of things in between. Some areas of town have been worked for a while and are fertile.

Soil tests are a good place to start . Knowing your PH and learning to live with it is lesson in itself.

thanks again yôall!
Iôm trying to plan what I will have in my new house. Itôs quite shady in the front (faces East, but thereôs a big tree) and really sunny in the back (although thereôs like a little space where the previous owners made what I call Small Woods, with some shrubs and trees that may get dappled afternoon shade). I would get the plumbago in the ground, and the jasmine (which I just LOVE how it smells) I would like to have it as a climber in our pergola.
I really donôt know if there will be an issue with the lantana. We used to have it in my home country (we call it Cariaquito) and I never ate it (nor my sisters, and I never heard of anybody doing it). My children are not prone to eat plants...unless itôs poisonous just to be in touch with the sap? I love the different colors and the fact that they attract butterflies, although I am a little hesitant since they also attract bees.
In containers I will probably have my succulents (which I will bring inside for the winter) and maybe coleus. I would love to have some colorful perennials in very big containers that I wonôt have to worry to bring inside during the cold season...thatôs why I thought about the lantana.

Wantonamara, I will be in the Cedar Park area, north of Austin. Are there kits to measure the pH in the soil? or how do you test it?

And I thought just choosing the plants would be difficult! :)

A good nursery will have a kitand you can send a test to the County agg department for the best and most complete test. It is best to do several from the different areas that you are gardening. . The Natural Gardener is a bit of a drive for you but , it is well worth the trip. You cab call them and ask where one would get a county soil test.It sounds like you will be in a limestone soil, There are several limestone soils. and fill might have been brought in during the building and previous owners time. Cedar Park is very prone to water rationing and sometimes their water rationing is worse than Austin's. I would stay away from Magnolia., A confederate jasmine is great for a climbing jasmine and tolerant of our alkalinity.

This is a good time to plan and get your soils ready. It is a bit late to plant most things unless you like watering for ever and ever.. Our heat will hit and unless it is a cactus or an agave, it does not like to be planted. October and winter is a great planting in Texas. I plant very little from May on. This year was an exception due to our cool weather.

I have not been to these nurseries in your area but they will know about what works and be a little more informed than the Red Barn. Note I have not been to the red barn in your neighborhood but I was underwhelmed by a red Barn several years back and never been back since.

Here is a link that might be useful: Countryside Nursery

Hill country Nursery in Leander. This has been on my list to visit. I just haven't been up that way.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hill Country Nursery

I've found its important to recognize that South Texas has two growing seasons: Sept thru Dec and Feb thru May. We had fresh tomatoes alongside Poinsettias for Christmas last year. Jan-Feb can be shaky regarding freezes, but definitely forget about planting anything in full sun during June/July/August. Your best bet is anything that is considered drought tolerant. Plumbagos are stunning and love dappled shade and sunlight.

thanks for that information! I was not planning on planting anything now!! But I do appreciate all the advice and reminders I get!

Don't worry about the lantana, it's only poisonous if you eat a lot of the berries and the plant doesn't taste very good. I have to wear long sleeves and gloves to prune it back every year because it's an itchy plant for me, but I doubt that would be an issue with kids. They should quickly learn to leave the plants alone. Most poisonous plants that you'll possibly grow don't taste good, so you'd really have to work to get enough to hurt you. The best thing is to teach the kids not to eat anything that they do not KNOW is truly edible.