As Spanishlace recommended, nandinas are an excellent choice for shrubery, especially if you don't like the 'traditional' hard edged shrub look. They pretty much add interest year round. On many of the cultivars, the leaves turn various shades of dappled red and orange in fall/winter... and there are the winter berries. They will also flower in the spring. The taller 'bamboo' nandinas are particularly nice.

For cool weather color, you could do pansies, ornamental cabbage, mums, snapdragons. Someone had even mentioned to me on the Texas forum that petunias and marigolds would bloom thru fall [didn't know that].

Or... you could use that time to prepare your beds and get them ready for spring.

In terms of planting directly into the garden this time of year, it is just too hot to get most plants established and you'll probably have a low success rate in proportion to your effort. Don't waste your money at the box stores. Just my $0.02.

Of course, you could start some of the above suggestions from seed now. Marigolds in particular are easy, and you could probably get away with direct sowing those if you wanted. Or cosmos... mine bloomed until first freeze last year. They will both take the heat and give you color in a few weeks.

Also, late Sept - Oct is generally a pretty good time to plant perennials as it's cooled off enough not to stress the plant, but it has enough time to get established before the first freeze. I'm talking decent sized perennials, not ones from a cell pack.

You can also winter sow as recommended. [see link]

You may also find the book "Month by Month Gardening in Texas" by Groom & Gill helpful. The way the book is laid out is very easy to follow and a great book for the new gardener. It begins w/an overview that goes into gen'l techniques. Then there are chapters on the following:

annuals, bulbs/corms/rhizomes/tubers, houseplants, lawns, perennials, roses, shrubs, trees, vegetables/herbs,
vines/ground cover/ornamentals

Each one of these chapters gives you an intro and planting chart followed by a month by month list of what to do.

--Katt

First, I must congradulate you on being willing to take on that black gumbo hell that stands in for soil up there. gah.

Now then...
Tulips are only so-so in the dallas area. I usually only have had a few continue to rebloom as it's really too hot in the summer for them to thrive.

Daffodils and paper white narcissus on the other hand thrive like mad. The paper whites have a wonderful smell.
I put bulbs in as late as new year's day in Rowlett one year...They did fine.

Biggest problem with winter gardening in Dallas is wind damage. That cold arctic wind barreling down the plains will just sere away alot of plants so keep that in mind and protect your plants from that harsh northern wind.

Pansies & ornamental kale, boy that brings back memories. Go to the mall and look at what plantings they're putting in in the next month. For best results plant your pansies with a little dab of blood meal (pew!) in each hole before you set your plant.

That's the extent of my 2 cents.
nuffsed
Ana

Hey - this invite goes out to all those gardeners living in the DFW area or those willing to drive down.

There is also a link to the North Texas Fall Swap on the TX Gardening exchange page.

Hope to see you there
Anu