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Tue, Aug 14, 07 at 23:32
| I live in central Texas (Round Rock to be exact), and I want to create a butterfly garden in my backyard. My backyard gets really hot since it faces east, the direction in which the sun rises. I need some colorful flowers that can survive this heat. Any suggestions? I don't mind fruiting plants, and I would love some climbing flower suggestions as well since I'm planning on putting a trellis up. Thank you :) |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by missinformation (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 9:18
| Autumn sage, skullcaps, dalea, silverado sage, flame acanthus, cuphea, lantana, russian sage.... the list goes on. Stick with natives, and you'll find you have loads of options. |
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- Posted by cynthianovak 7/8 TX (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 11:21
| if you want some flowers that are not shrubs, try these: Perriwinkles Zinnias....plant them in the heat and they are blooming from seed in 6-8 weeks I have some fern-leaf lavendar that is doing great pentas big and small mona lavendar ...really plectranthus celosia...best if from seed or really young plants |
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| The butterflies in my garden love zinnias and lantana, and these are both heat-loving. I also have a passionvine (another heat-lover) that hosts caterpillars - they strip it, but the plant bounces back and then there's butterflies! |
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- Posted by ocdgardener 8 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 11:51
| I remember when this question was easy for me. With all the rain we had this summer, and the predictions I've been hearing of more in the coming summers - I don't know what to answer anymore. I lost some of my reliable 'heat loving' xeric plants this year because they thought they were in the tropics! Like I ALWAYS say 'If you can garden in Texas, you can garden ANYWHERE! |
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| Check out these two websites. The Texas Smartscapes allows you to search for plants that attract butterflies or hummingbirds. These plants will do just fine down in Round Rock (even look up those that are deer resistant since I know you have a higher deer population down there that can be a problem). The other is a list of Texas Superstar plants that will grow anywhwere in Texas. Texas Superstar Plants: http://texassuperstar.com/ |
Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Smartscape
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- Posted by lakedallasmary 7/8a - north texas (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 12:48
| Evening primrose is blooming now. Wild asters are also in bloom. I have a few sunflowers in bloom |
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| My Cigar plant (now a bush) is doing great...hot or drowning...it just keeps going. It did not like the freezes too well, but we cut it back and you cannot even tell it was damaged. The butterflies and hummers love it. |
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- Posted by cynthianovak 7/8 TX (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 15:41
| Oooh, don't forget cosmos...the orange ones are most reliable and my favorites. I love the dwarfs....they stand about 3 ft tall in my garden. They can take full sun or part sun, reseed reliably and grow from seed quickly. Wish I could remember the name.... |
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- Posted by cynthianovak 7/8 TX (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 15:43
| ocd, I feel your pain! Not a flower, but my rosemary that is big and made it through at least 5 summers here looks pitiful right now. I can only surmise that it was the rain. ....not that I'm complaining about the rain.... |
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- Posted by jardineratx 9tx (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 18:08
| Tithonia and ratibida (mexican hat) both are terrific sun worshipers. The tithonia is an annual and the ratibida a wonderful perennial. The tithonia is most definitely a butterfly attractor. Daylilies may not be "butterfly garden" plants, but they sure go thru the summer beautifully. |
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| gomphrena, they grow like crazy, even blooming in the cracks of our driveway. |
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- Posted by mikeandbarb z8 D/FW (jetman1979@aol.com) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 22:02
| Daylilies Stella De Oro, Yellow bells I love this plant for me it goes dormant but has come back so far, verbena, hibiscus hardy and Texas star hibiscus. |
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- Posted by cynthianovak 7/8 TX (My Page) on Wed, Aug 15, 07 at 23:18
| what is the trick to Tithonia? I had 2 gallon comtainer plants this spring. They were planted in my Sahara bed, it gets very little rain and lots of reflected heat. My guess is the moisture in the air may have killed it with something akin to mildew. They bloomed, but turned grey and brittle without growing. Very sad, I love their flowers. cynthia |
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- Posted by jardineratx 9tx (My Page) on Thu, Aug 16, 07 at 8:17
| Cynthia, this is only my 3rd year w/ tithonia. I winter-sowed the seeds then planted them out in early spring in a mixed bed that gets sun all day, but is not in relentless heat such as next to a driveway/sidewalk, etc. They have gotten brown crispy leaves toward the bottom of the plant...why, I don't know. They have volunteered themselves in the garden the last 2 years. I have one volunteer that came up in a rose bed with very amended, rich soil and that plant is beautiful. Although they have "bare bottoms", they are worth growing for me. I have verbena and other low growers covering their legs. Oh, I forgot to mention calylophus (sun drops). It is a heat tolerant, drought tolerant blooming machine. molly |
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- Posted by ocdgardener 8 (My Page) on Thu, Aug 16, 07 at 9:58
| btw- Loved the rain too --- I'm ready to live in the tropics in Texas, if that's what happens as a result of global warming! Cosmos b. are a sure bet for our heat - they come back every year too! |
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| Pentas, Duranta, mini roses are exploding in happiness, morning glory, Esperenza, primrose jasmine has a little yellow flower, but becomes a behemoth of a bush, jasmine of most varieties have done well, Portulaca (kiss me quick) I'm probably one of the few cursing the rain since it has got me locked into an endless war on leaf spot. Even the oak trees in front of our house are infected. :-( Come pay day when I can afford another round of ortho, you know where I'll be. |
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| Copper Canyon Daisies. And as others have said -- Lantana horrida, Cigar Plant, and Esperanza. Carla in Rowlett |
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| Blackfoot daisy...minimal care, getting full sun from about 8 am on and reflected heat from the concrete pool deck. They've bushed out considerably and created a full, low bush of white flowers that have bloomed since March...about when I first planted them. They're still going gangbusters! Too much care and water, however, is NOT what they need, so should be planted with like-minded plants. |
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- Posted by mikeandbarb z8 D/FW (jetman1979@aol.com) on Fri, Aug 17, 07 at 19:08
| Rock rose and Brazilian rock rose these bloom their heads off and can be in the ground or in container's. My problem has been to much rain this year with little sun in the spring and most of June and July. |
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- Posted by stitches216 8/9 Hou-Galv (My Page) on Fri, Aug 17, 07 at 19:19
| Mexican zinnias - now, if only I can remember to add some of them to OUR gardens! |
Here is a link that might be useful: Frank Henning article
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- Posted by west_texas_peg z7b TX (My Page) on Wed, Aug 22, 07 at 1:05
| My gardens are quite busy with lots of butterflies and hummingbirds....I have blooming at this time: 4 Lantana horrida, several Rock Roses, numerous Lady in Red Salvia and Coral Nymph Salvia, 3 New Gold Lantana, a Miss Huff Lantana, a Lucky Yellow Lantana, a Lucky Peach Lantana, a Dallas Red Lantana, 2 Silver Mound Lantana, 2 Orange Cosmos, many Zinnas, 2 Flame Acanthus, several sunflowers of various sizes, Gaura is covered in buds about to open, Zephyranthes citrina, Zephyranthes drummondii, Fairy Rain Lilies, Peach colored rain lilies, LOTS of May Night Salvia, numerous cannas, Lavender Trailing Lantana, a dozen or so Russian Sage, Cardinal Climber vines, Belinda's Dream rose, Don Juan Rose (red), Dill, chocolate mint, spearmint, 3 Arapaho Crepe Myrtle, 2 Japonica Kerria, Caryopteris Blue beard, Amaranthus, crocosmia, tropical hibiscus, passionvine, Purple Heart, Spiderwort, lirope, Rhodophiala bifada-Oxblood Lilies, Tuscarora Crepe Myrtle, Natchez Crepe Myrtle, several light pink Crepe Myrtles that are at least 48 years old, 3 Vitex trees, Queen's Wreath, Noah's Morning Glory, Pink Oleander, Summer Poinsetta, White Marigold, Yellow milkweed, comfrey, lots of tomato plants, pepper plant, squash vines, watermelon vines, Black & Blue Salvia, a J.C. Harvey crinum just finished blooming and Esperanza. |
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- Posted by cweathersby NE TX 7b/8a (My Page) on Wed, Aug 22, 07 at 21:49
| Roses, roses, roses. They are about the only thing that I am really enjoying right now. Of course some of them have blooms that don't survive the sun, but if you do your homework you can find ones that don't. Salvias of course. My favorites are the blue ones and the lipstick ones. |
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| my yellow/orange bird of paradise, bulbine, penta, and of course the butterfly weed, and the butterfly bush,the four o'clocks, meyers lemon and the rosemary and the salvia and cosmos, just about everything that is still blooming is attracting them this year!!! (the lemon and the rosemary aren't blooming now, but they do still hang around them a lot |
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| My first pick would be blackfoot daisy - first to bloom in the spring and goes straight through to fall without missing a beat. New to me this year, and just as steady at blooming are rock rose and hardy ageratum. They've never been without blooms since I planted them in April. A new-to-me vine is butterfly vine, which is doing great too. Carol |
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- Posted by brookfield(judydoughty@att.net) onMon, Apr 11, 11 at 12:16
| I have read w/interest the flowers/plants listed in the messages. I live in Port Isabel, TX, sorry haven't figured out the zone yet. We get not only excessive heat, but also, high winds, salt air and drought conditions. Will most of the plants listed do well down here? Also it looks like most are started by seed, I know many will reseed themselves, are the others perrenials? I need help! |
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