Bluebonnets, Indian Paintbrush, and a variety of other native wildflowers have been blooming in yards and all along our Ellis County roads. For blooming plants and perennials (recurring growing season plants), it’s the most wonderful time of year! Spring rains bring consistent moisture that is full of nutritious chemical elements–mostly nitrogen. Nitrogen makes everything “green up” quickly which helps boost plants to show off their colors.
The weather is getting warmer and so is the soil. We are in the Blackland Prairie geographic region of Texas, and our soil is highly alkaline, black clay, and rocky. When it’s wet it doesn’t drain well and it inhibits the transfer of nutrients to the plants. When it’s dry, the soil can be very hard and difficult to work with. Amending your soil is the number one thing you can do to improve your chances of having a beautiful, bountiful, and blooming garden. The higher and more raised you can get your flower beds and vegetable gardens, the more your plants will thrive and boom.
Some of the first things that you will see annually as winter fades to spring are redbud and various fruit trees, quince, forsythia, daffodils, spireas, and as mentioned before, various wildflowers and perennials. Most spring blooming plants, perennials and accent or ornamental trees bloom for just a few weeks. There are a variety that will give you longer blooming periods based on quality of soil, temperature, sunlight exposure and moisture. Annuals (plants that have just one growing season) can bloom for six months or more. Planting different varieties that bloom at different times of the year will give you color almost year-round.
Some of the larger bloomers that I like are most salvias and especially salvia greggii, Gregg’s mistflower, gaura, blackfoot daisy, red yucca, knockout roses, blue plumbago, canna, Mexican petunia, rock rose, Turk’s cap, verbena, zexmenia, ice plant, and especially, lantana (borderline perennial.) There are so many others, but these are a few of my favorites that are proven winners and plants that are readily available in the industry.
Of course there are other ways to get color in the garden and one is by using varying colors of leaf variety. There are some beautiful variegated plants and different shades of green that will give you constant color. Some that I like are hostas, coral bells, yuccas, ferns, ginger, nandina, loropetalum, sunshine ligustrum, zebra grass, lamb’s ear, cotoneaster, Texas sage and kaleidoscope abelia.
-Scotty
Scotty Rigsby is a former board member and 2008 Texas Certified Landscape Professional (TCLP) with the Texas Nursery & Landscape Association (TNLA) and a class of 2008 Ellis County Master Gardener. He started Silverado Lawn & Landscaping LLC in 2005 and Rigsby’s Garden Center LLC in 2016. Both are in an “urban forest” located within the city limits of Midlothian at 3080 Shady Grove Road. They also host events and are very pet and child friendly with hiking trails through the woods and along Waxahachie Creek. There are a lot of great areas for photo ops and they are always ready to answer your gardening and landscaping questions. Visit soon!
Happy gardening with color and “bloom where you’re planted!”
