Texas Native Plants That Use Little Water
- Spanish bayonet yuccas and Texas rain sage are two Texas plants, which don't require much water.yucca conference image by Brenton W Cooper from Fotolia.com
The Chihuahuan Desert in Texas has freezing winter temperatures and hot, dry summers. Plants native to this area are candidates for drought-tolerant landscaping, because they don't need much water and can withstand temperature extremes. Many bloom with colorful and fragrant flowers. - Texas rain sages can blossom several times a season, depending on rainfall. Flowers have a short trumpet shape, with color ranging from white to deep purple and lavender, which attract butterflies and bees. Several species are used in landscaping. All bloom after summer or autumn rains, with fragrant flowers so plentiful they obscure the foliage. Bushes grow five feet in diameter from four to six feet tall.
- Use autumn sage as a border plant or background planting for shorter flowers. This is a low-growing shrub with fresh green minty-smelling evergreen leaves. Flowers appear from spring through fall on branch tips, attracting hummingbirds and butterflies. Most common blossoms are red and pink.
- You can find the dramatic yucca in western Texas. It grows to 15 feet, with many branches. Spiky leaves have sharp tips and store water against drought. Creamy white bell-shaped flowers hang from the flower stalks at the tops of branches in spring. Yuccas are often planted in parks and large spaces.
- On desert hillsides, Texas mesquite grows to 25 feet, with a dense, spreading canopy with a graceful look. Foliage is bright green with many small leaves. Small yellow flowers form an elongate fuzzy structure, followed by slender dry yellowish bean-like seed pods. Flowers attract bees and butterflies, and pods lure many desert animals foraging for food.
- Candelilla, an unusual shrub in the poinsettia family, appears to be leafless. Stems grow thickly together to form a clump about a foot tall and three feet wide. Small pink and white flowers appear on the stems during warm weather. In the drought-tolerant landscape garden this plant can serve as a stand alone, or as an accent paired with dark greens of leafy plants.
