Texas Tough

Though many of the plants I planted last spring have not made through to another year, there are some notable exceptions. In the photo above, you see one of these troopers-heartleaf skullcap which has grown to create a lovely green carpet  and creates a nice woodland feel to this shady area. It has spead quite a bit from the three 4" pots I originally planted. But it is not a bully and is also quite easy to transplant. I love it's fuzzy heart- shaped leaves and it will send up little blue bloom spikes soon. It goes dormant in the summer but comes back with cool weather.
At the rear you can see the American Beautyberry beginnng to leaf out. It is also one year old this spring.

This beauty is "Old Blush". Totally unfazed by the hot, dry summer or the winter, she has been blooming for a couple of weeks and is now covered with tiny buds. This was my first rose and she has prompted me to move on to several others. I chose her because the descrption at the nursery said it was the easiest rose to grow and they were right. She is no trouble at all.

I love the chartreuse color of the new growth on the
 "Tangerine Beauty" crossvine.
 It is covered with lots of buds and I can't wait to see it burst aflame with it's trumpet- like flowers.
So below is my list of Texas Tough Survivors of the Drought of 2009 and the deep freeze of 2010. While I have other more mature plants that did well, these were newly planted in the spring of 2009 and survived.
Texas Superstars in my Austin garden
American Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana)
Arroyo Sweetwood (Myrospermum sousanum), a small tree native to Mexico
Tangerine Beauty Crossvine (Bignonia  capreolata), covered in buds right now

Coral Honeysuckle Vine (Lonicera sempervirens), didn't grow much at all, but hanging in
Bamboo Muhly (Muhlenbergia dumosa)
Red Velvet Sage (Salvia microphylla x greggii "Red Velvet")
Roses- Old Blush, Heritage, Souvenir de Mal Maison, Belinda's Dream
Double Knockout
Texas Sage (Leucophyllum frutescens)
Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Heartleaf Skullcap (Scuttelleria ovata sp.bracteata)